Whom to Believe?

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This morning, Pope Benedict XVI met with Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.  All of the major news outlets have picked up on it, and so have the minor ones.  The report from MSNBC can be found here; Fox News's counterpart here.  Reports can also be found on Catholic websites and blogs, like this one.

In addition to the third-party reports, a person who has interest in this particular situation can access the statements released by each of the participating parties, the Pontiff and the Speaker.  The statement released by the Vatican's press office is available here.  Speaker Pelosi's statement about the meeting is available on her House of Representatives website: http://speaker.house.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=1015.

After having accessed all of the reports and official statements, there are a few inconsistencies in information.  At best, one or both offices suffers from short-term memory loss; at worst, one side is passing off fiction as fact.  Since reporters and photographers were not permitted in the room, we can only make assumptions about the validity of either statement.

Pope Benedict is an orthodox Catholic and a shepherd of souls who carefully guards Church teaching.  He cares deeply about the sanctification of all humanity, including pre-born babies.  Representative Pelosi is a liberal politician who is most interested in enacting into law her agenda items, getting re-elected (in her ultra-liberal district) and maintaining her party's power on Capitol Hill.  Her first order of business seems to be power and influence, not the stewardship of God's creation and Revelation.

It is very likely that Mrs. Pelosi chatted with Pope Benedict about "fighting poverty, hunger, and global warming" (all of which happen to be talking points of the political left in our country).  It is also very likely that she omitted the rebuke she received from the pontiff out of convenience.  After all, a public rebuke by such a popular figure doesn't come in handy for winning "the Catholic vote" in 2010.

It is feasible to believe that both parties' statements were accurate.  It is necessary to acknowledge that the spiritual authority figure only mentions the gravest issues that he deals with on a daily basis.  It is also likely that the politician put a positive spin on a negative encounter for publicity purposes.  I believe that Vatican's account is the one on which people should focus in the wake of such a meeting.

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