I did question the influence and came up with nothing on the Church Hierarchy influencing the Govt.
Can you?
Don’t be afraid of the answer.
This is from the Council of Foreign Relations:
“The United States works with the Holy See on a huge number of issues: trafficking, aid, development; the idea that all this stopped because of different prudential judgments about what to do about Saddam Hussein is just wrong,” says George Weigel, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
The Catholic Church and the White House do clash on several important social issues, however, including the use of the death penalty, as well as the Obama administration’s support for global programs that permit abortion.
Is THIS what you are looking for?
How about these?
The Vatican has increased its pressure on major global political players, including the United States, to take a firm stance on climate change policy.
In a July 2009 meeting at the Vatican, the Pope and President Obama discussed a myriad of issues (Religious News Service), including the global food crisis, the Mideast peace process, and drug trafficking in Latin America, but the Pope also gave Obama a booklet condemning embryonic stem cell research and arbotion rights.
Timothy Shah, former CFR adjunct senior fellow for religion and foreign policy, adds that the increasing importance of Hispanic Catholics within the U.S. Catholic community has encouraged Benedict to turn toward the new issue, including immigration.