The American Spectator editor Paul Kengor appeared on EWTN News Nightly for a special Presidents’ Day segment on the relationship between popes and presidents.
Kengor, who authored A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century, spoke to host Tracy Sabol about the longstanding history between the Vatican and the U.S. president, which can be traced back to the 1930s with Pope Paul VI, who first visited the United States during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson.
“The first [pope] to visit the White House was actually John Paul II, who met Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan,” Kengor told Sabol.
Kengor offers new trivia about some of the pope’s visits. John Paul VI, for instance, formed a close relationship with President Richard Nixon. “Those two were actually very sympatico with foreign policy — even the Cold War — it was an interesting relationship,” Kengor said.
Sabol asked Kengor to elaborate on the relationship between President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II. Kengor recalled how both Reagan and John Paul II had experienced assassination attempts within six weeks of each other, which had established a bond between the two leaders.
Reagan and John Paul II met at the Vatican in June 1982 where Kengor shared that “they believed that God had spared their lives for the special, specific providential purpose of coming together to take on peaceably defeat Soviet communism and eventually the Cold War.”
Sabol and Kengor moved on to discuss President Trump’s assassination attempt that took place in Butler, Penn., and his relationship with the current pope. “I would expect Pope Francis and Donald Trump to meet again … and I’d expect them to get along again,” Kengor added.
The Vatican was officially recognized by President Ronald Reagan, and the Holy City has since maintained a steady relationship with the United States for over forty years.
Watch the full interview here:
