EWTN's Raymond Arroyo interviewed President George W. Bush ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's arrival.
Arroyo begins by noting that this will be the first time that President Bush has gone to meet a foreign leader at the airport. The president explains why (in this transcript from Zenit):
THE PRESIDENT: Because he is a really important figure in a lot of ways. One, he speaks for millions. Two, he doesn't come as a politician; he comes as a man of faith. And, three, that I so subscribe to his notion that there are -- there's right and wrong in life, that moral relativism has a danger of undermining the capacity to have more hopeful and free societies, that I want to honor his convictions, as well.
The brief Andrews Air Force Base meeting, without speeches, takes place Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. EDT (an OSV reporter will be there to cover it for you). The following day beginning at 10:30 a.m., Pope Benedict will spend an hour and a half with President Bush at the White House. I'll be there, and will be reporting on it both on this blog and on osv.com/papalvisit.
