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Bush visits Pope:

• Full text: Address of Pope John Paul II to the Honorable George w. Bush, President of the United States of America (Vatican)
• Bush, Pope to meet today at the Vatican | Their meeting will highlight one of the most significant stories of the 2004 presidential campaign: the battle between Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry for the Catholic vote in America (The Washington Post)
• Pope critical of war during Bush's Vatican visit | President to Meet With Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi During Rome Visit (The Washington Post)
• Pope appeals for return of Iraq's sovereignty (Reuters)
• Corridors of power | Considering that the pope and Bush hold divergent views on virtually every issue except abortion and gay marriage the question is, why did the White House consider the papal audience worth the schedule change? (Roland Flamini, UPI)
• Earlier: Bush expected to get icy greeting in Rome | Bush is expected to get a frosty reception in Rome from anti-war demonstrators and from Pope John Paul II, who has long opposed the invasion of Iraq (Morning Edition, NPR)

Religion & politics:

• Bush's Catholic courtship strategy | "If we lose any of the Catholic vote we'll lose the election," says a Bush campaign adviser (Deborah Caldwell, Beliefnet)
• Bush, Kerry, and a battle for Catholics | As Bush meets with pope, the once-Democratic bloc is fluid, despite Kerry's Catholicism (The Christian Science Monitor)
• Kerry's Catholicism: Checked at the door | John Kerry has made his choice on these matters. He is not one of us. I wish he would stop pretending that he is. (James P. Gannon, USA Today)
• Bishops to talk politics | Communion issue will be discussed in Denver (The Denver Post)
• Sheridan clarifies remarks | The Colorado Springs bishop who set off a national debate with a pastoral letter that mixed religion and politics says he was misinterpreted (The Colorado Springs Gazette)
• Belief and the ballot box | Religion affects politics in subtler ways than you may think (The Economist)
• Christians urged not to vote BNP | Christians should not vote for the British National Party in the upcoming European and local elections, the Bishop of Manchester has said (BBC)
• Also: Don't vote for racists | The Bishop of Manchester today urged people not to vote for "racist and fascist" parties like the BNP (Manchester Online, England)

GOP wants churchgoers:

• Politics at Pa. churches now routine | The Bush campaign's e-mails seeking volunteers from state congregations drew criticism, but such efforts are not new (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Bush targets churches, faithful | Bush campaign asks religious supporters nationwide to build grassroots support, prompting protests (Newsday)
• Bush backers create storm in church plea | In Pennsylvania and across the country, the Bush campaign is trying to recruit volunteers motivated by religious issues to organize their congregations for the president's re-election (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Church & state:

• Church and state | Poll: Most Americans think church should steer clear of politics (ABCNews.com)
• Historical society to buy cross site in face of ACLU suit threat | Rancho Simi Parks directors have agreed to sell a portion of Mount McCoy containing a historic Latin cross -- dodging potential legal action over a religious icon on public land (Los Angeles Daily News)
• Tennessee tag launches legal, financial woes | Some charitable organizations in Tennessee are urging state lawmakers change the way they approve specialty license plates. The charities are worried they will collectively lose millions of dollars if the American Civil Liberties Union wins its federal lawsuit against one of the tags (Fox News)

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May (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48