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Just days before he is to meet with Pope Benedict XVI on his first trip to Italy, President Obama told FOX News that the Catholic Church's long tradition of social justice has had a "profound influence" on him. President Obama said the Catholic Church's long tradition of social justice has had a "profound influence" on him -- just days before he is to meet with Pope Benedict XVI on his first trip to Italy.

MOSCOW, July 7 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President Barack Obama met the head of the Russian Orthodox Church on Tuesday, the second day of his three-day visit to the Russian capital. "Dialogue between our countries' Christians is very important, as the two nations should be friends," Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia told Obama. "Both the American and Russian nations have the same Christian system of values. We are the most religious countries," he said. The Russian patriarch also wished Obama success in his post, saying that many people in Russia linked him with the development of Russian-U.S. relations....

President Obama's 45-minute sit-down with reporters from the Roman Catholic news media came just as the Fourth of July weekend was about to open, the only reason I can see that it hasn't gotten a lot more attention. I counted a half-dozen surprises from the interview, occasioned by the president's first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI this week. 1. Obama appeared to buck the White House line on abortion. As they've met with abortion-rights supporters and opponents in crafting a "common ground" plan on reproductive issues, Obama aides have been careful to say that the administration is not trying to...

Obama says he gets daily prayers on BlackBerry Tech-savvy Obama is the first president to use e-mail while in office Sun., July 5, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says he gets a prayer every morning on his BlackBerry. Obama told reporters from religious news organizations on Thursday that White House faith director Joshua DuBois sends him a morning devotional every day to his e-mail device. He says it's a "wonderful practice" that started during the campaign. Tech-savvy Obama is the first president to use e-mail while in office and is seldom seen without his BlackBerry. Only a handful of...

WASHINGTON, DC - President Barack Obama is still looking for a church home more than a year after resigning from the Chicago church led by his controversial former pastor Jeremiah Wright. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the first family has yet to join a church because Obama doesn't want his attendance to disrupt other people's worship. Gibbs says Obama enjoys services led by Camp David's chaplain on weekends the family spends at the presidential retreat, but they're not members there. In 2009, the Obamas have only attended Sunday church services twice in Washington. Two days before the inauguration,...

A report says the first family had settled on Evergreen Chapel at Camp David. A White House spokeswoman says that's not the case. "The president and first family continue to look for a church home," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. "They have enjoyed worshiping at Camp David and several other congregations over the months, and will choose a church at the time that is best for their family."

Tomorrow morning at 10:45 Eastern time, the president is hosting a round table at the White House for members of the Catholic press. The National Catholic Register’s publisher, Father Owen Kearns, will be among eight religion reporters and editors in attendance at that gathering. The purpose of the gathering, according to Chris Hensman, press secretary with the National Security Council, is a “preview of the president’s upcoming visit with Pope Benedict XVI.” The president is meeting with the Pope on July 10. Father Kearns just received the invitation to the meeting yesterday via e-mail. At this point, there isn’t a...

The conventional wisdom was that George W. Bush was the most faith-based president in recent history, by a long shot. Citing Jesus as his favorite philosopher and Billy Graham as a mentor, Bush won evangelical voters in numbers not previously seen. In office, he launched a controversial office of faith-based initiatives and consulted religious leaders in developing science policy. Bush routinely opened cabinet meetings with prayer and acknowledged conferring with "a higher father" before going to war in Iraq. How remarkable, then, that religion might be playing an even bigger role in Barack Obama's administration. While Bush invited megapastor Rick...

Is President Obama's new pastor a Southern Baptist? Apparently, it depends whom you ask. Time magazine posted a story June 29 stating Obama has "decided to make his primary place of worship" Evergreen Chapel, the nondenominational church at Camp David which is led by Navy Lieut. Carey Cash, a Southern Baptist chaplain. The White House, though, denied the Time report, releasing a statement saying "the President and First Family continue to look for a church home." "They have enjoyed worshipping at Camp David and several other congregations over the months, and will choose a church at the time that is...

For the past five months, White House aides and friends of the Obamas have been quietly visiting local churches and vetting the sermons of prospective first ministers in a search for a new - and uncontroversial - church home. Obama has even sampled a few himself, attending services at 19th Street Baptist on the weekend before his inauguration and celebrating Easter at St. John's Episcopal Church.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI will welcome U.S. President Barack Obama to the Vatican July 10 for an audience scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Obama will visit Italy July 8-10 to participate in the Group of Eight summit, a meeting of leaders of the world's wealthiest nations. The meeting will be held in L'Aquila, site of a devastating earthquake in April. After the G-8 summit, the president and his wife, Michelle, are scheduled to fly to Ghana, arriving late July 10. Although Pope Benedict usually meets heads of state and government in the morning, the Vatican agreed...

U.C.C. HOSTS SEXUAL CIRCUS IN MICHIGAN by Paul L. Williams, Ph.D. thelastcrusade.org Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 1 Cor. 6: 18 Ready for a Christian take of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show?” Then head off to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the United Church of Christ is sponsoring a “Growing Bold” gathering. The event, according to UCC officials, will be a “celebration” of the denomination’s “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender sisters and brothers” and a demand for “their full inclusion in church...

President Barack Obama says the biblical command to "love thy neighbor as thyself" is as pertinent now as ever. The president said Friday that an entire community suffers when some members cannot pay their mortgages or find jobs. He called on Americans to work together to build a better future for everyone, including immigrants.

June 14, 2009Obama's Other Controversial ChurchBy Andrew Walden "This is a guy (former Weatherman terror-bomber Bill Ayers) who lives in my neighborhood ... the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago - when I was 8 years old - somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense." -- Barack Obama on the Campaign trail, 2008 As President Obama prepared to commemorate D-Day, the Associated Press dug up old details and photos to write a warm fuzzy story about the WW2 service record of Obama's maternal grandfather...

...Had a reporter asked Obama: "So what were you doing during Bill Ayers' fugitive days?" An honest answer would be: "I was going to Sunday school at a church which had provided sanctuary to US military deserters." While John McCain was being tortured as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, First Unitarian Church of Honolulu -- at which the elementary-age Obama would later attend Sunday school after returning from Indonesia in 1970 or 71 -- was sheltering deserters and AWOLs recruited by ‘flirty fishing' coeds from a Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) group known as "The Resistance". The deserters'...

"This is a guy (former Weatherman terror-bomber Bill Ayers) who lives in my neighborhood ... the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago - when I was 8 years old - somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense." -- Barack Obama on the Campaign trail, 2008 As President Obama prepared to commemorate D-Day, the Associated Press dug up old details and photos to write a warm fuzzy story about the WW2 service record of Obama's maternal grandfather and grand uncle. One could conclude that the...

There's an important article in the Politico titled, "Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush." President Barack Obama, says the article, has mentioned Jesus Christ "in a number of high-profile public speeches," more so than did President George W. Bush, and in much less "innocuous contexts." Obama has done so in order to promote certain policies, especially his economic policies, and "to connect with a broader base of supporters." He does this via various "targeted messages." Most remarkable, the article considers whether Obama is using the bully pulpit to pursue "an even larger goal" of resurrecting the Christian left, of appealing...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: What do Obama and God have in common? Neither has a birth certificate. How do they differ? God does not think he's Obama. And there's another difference between God and Obama, and that is that liberals love Obama. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: We have some more differences for you here between President Obama and God. God asks for only 10% of your money. God gives you freedom to live your life as you choose. God's plan to save us is actually written down for people to read. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: We have some more differences for you here...

He’s done it while talking about abortion and the Middle East, even the economy. The references serve at once as an affirmation of his faith and a rebuke against a rumor that persists for some to this day. As president, Barack Obama has mentioned Jesus Christ in a number of high-profile public speeches — something his predecessor George W. Bush rarely did in such settings, even though Bush’s Christian faith was at the core of his political identity. In his speech Thursday in Cairo, Obama told the crowd that he is a Christian and mentioned the Islamic story of Isra,...

President Bush was known for his Christianity but it's President Obama mentioning the Savior of the Christian world in speeches. From the Politico He’s done it while talking about abortion and the Middle East, even the economy. The references serve at once as an affirmation of his faith and a rebuke against a rumor that persists for some to this day. As president, Barack Obama has mentioned Jesus Christ in a number of high-profile public speeches — something his predecessor George W. Bush rarely did in such settings, even though Bush’s Christian faith was at the core of his political...