Denis McDonough, a national security aide to Obama, said that "it may just be that there's issues that they can't come to agreement on."
But Obama believes "that you can disagree without being disagreeable," McDonough added.
Advertisement
Obama, Pope Benedict agree to disagree on abortion, stem-cell research
In a reportedly cordial closed-door meeting at the Vatican, the pope discusses his opposition to abortion and stem-cell research, views that Obama, unlike his predecessor, does not share.
Advertisement
The White House in the last few weeks has invited abortion opponents to Washington to talk about finding common ground on issues such as family planning, sex education and adoption, in hopes of coming up with a series of recommendations by the end of the summer that both sides of the abortion issue can support. Obama won a majority of Catholic votes in the election and clearly wants to maintain that support.
After the talks Friday, First Lady Michelle Obama and the Obamas' two young daughters were ushered in for an audience with the pope.
In their meeting, the president also passed along to the pontiff a letter from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a member of America's most prominent Catholic family. Obama asked Benedict to pray for Kennedy, who is suffering from a brain tumor.
--
henry.chu@latimes.com
Tribune staff writer Christi Parsons contributed to this report from L'Aquila.
