Pope Benedict to Skip Dinner Honoring Pope Benedict
The White House has scheduled a dinner next week in honor of Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the United States, but one guest will be conspicuously absent from the proceedings: the pope himself.
There are no competing events listed on the pope’s schedule, and the White House was unable to explain Benedict’s absence from the dinner.
From Friday’s press briefing, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel:
Q I’m sorry, the Pope doesn’t attend a dinner in his honor?
MR. STANZEL: No.
Q How does that work?
MR. STANZEL: He doesn’t come into the building.
Q But then it’s not a dinner for the Pope, is it?
MR. STANZEL: It’s in honor of his visit. There will be leaders from the Catholic community from all over the country who are in town for that visit.
Q Is there a reason the Pope doesn’t attend the dinner?
MR. STANZEL: I don’t know. I don’t have the full extent of his schedule.
Since the Pope wasn’t on a hunger strike last I checked, I’d love to know what the deal is here.
RSS Feed
Comments on this post closed 14 days after it was posted.