[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 30 (Monday, July 30, 2001)]
[Pages 1087-1088]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With Pope John Paul II at Castle Gandolfo, Italy

July 23, 2001

    Pope John Paul II. Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure to 
welcome you on your first visit since you assumed the office of the 
President of the United States. I warmly greet the distinguished First 
Lady and the members of your entourage. I express heartfelt good wishes 
that your Presidency will strengthen your country in its commitment to 
the principles which inspired American democracy from the beginning and 
sustained the Nation and its remarkable growth. These principles remain 
as valid as ever as you face the challenges of the new country opening 
up before us.
    Your Nation's Founders, conscious of the immense natural and human 
resources with which your land has been blessed by the Creator, were 
guided by a profound sense of responsibility towards the common good to 
be pursued in respect for the God-given dignity and inalienable rights 
of all. America continues to measure herself by the nobility of her 
founding vision in building this society of liberty, equality, and 
justice under the law. In the century which has just ended, these same 
ideals inspired the American people to resist two totalitarian systems, 
based on an atheistic vision of man and society.
    At the beginning of this new century, which also marks the beginning 
of the third millennium of Christianity, the world continues to look to 
America with hope. And it does so with an acute awareness of the crisis 
of values being experienced in Western society, ever more insecure in 
the face of the ethical decisions, indispensable for humanity's future 
course.
    In recent days, the world's attention has been focused on the 
process of globalization which has so greatly accelerated in the past 
decade, and which you and other leaders of the industrialized nations 
have discussed in Genoa. While appreciating the opportunities for 
economic growth and material prosperity, which this process offers, the 
church cannot but express profound concern that our world continues to 
be divided no longer by the former political and military blocs but by a 
tragic faultline between those who can benefit from these opportunities 
and those who seem cut off from them.
    The revolution of freedom of which I spoke at the United Nations in 
1995 must now be completed by a revolution of opportunity, in which all 
the world's people actively contribute to the economic prosperity and 
share in its fruits. This requires leadership by those nations whose 
religious and cultural traditions should make them most attentive to the 
moral dimension of the issues involved.
    Respect for human dignity and belief in the equal dignity of all the 
members of the human family demand policies aimed at enabling all people 
to access to the means required to improve their lives, including the 
technological means and skills needed for development. Respect for 
nature by everyone, a policy of openness to immigrants, the cancellation 
or significant reduction of the debt of poorer nations, the promotion of 
peace through dialog and negotiation, the primacy of the rule of law--
these are the priorities which the leaders of the developed countries 
cannot disregard. A global world is essentially a world of solidarity. 
From this point of view, America, because of her many resources, 
cultural traditions and religious values, has a special responsibility.
    Respect for human dignity finds one of its highest expressions in 
religious freedom. This right is the first listed in your Nation's Bill 
of Rights, and it is significant that the

[[Page 1088]]

promotion of religious freedom continues to be an important goal of 
American policy in the international community. I want to express the 
appreciation of the whole Catholic Church for America's commitment in 
this regard.
    Another area in which political and moral choices have the gravest 
consequences for the future of civilization concerns the most 
fundamental of human rights, the right to life itself. Experience is 
already showing how a tragic coarsening of consciences accompanies the 
assault on innocent human life in the womb, leading to accommodation and 
acquiescence in the face of other related evils, such as euthanasia, 
infanticide, and most recently, proposals for the creation for research 
purposes of human embryos, destined to destruction in the process.
    A free and virtuous society, which America aspires to be, must 
reject practices that devalue and violate human life at any stage from 
conception until natural dead. In defending the right to life, in law 
and through a vibrant culture of life, America can show a world the path 
to a truly humane future in which man remains the master, not the 
product, of his technology.
    Mr. President, as you carry out the tasks of the high office which 
the American people have entrusted to you, I assure you of a remembrance 
in my prayers. I am confident that under your leadership, your Nation 
will continue to draw on its heritage and resources to help build a 
world in which each member of the human family can flourish and live in 
a manner worthy of his or her innate dignity. With these sentiments, I 
cordially invoke upon you and the beloved American people, God's 
blessings of wisdom, strength, and peace.
    Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Your Holiness, thank you very much. Mrs. Bush and I 
are honored to stand with you today. We're grateful for your welcome. 
You've been to America many times and have spoken to vast crowds. You 
have met with four American Presidents before me, including my father. 
In every visit and in every meeting, including our meeting today, you 
have reminded America that we have a special calling to promote justice 
and to defend the weak and suffering of the world. We remember your 
words, and we will always do our best to remember our calling.
    Since October of 1978 you have shown the world not only the splendor 
of truth but also the power of truth to overcome evil and to redirect 
the course of history. You have urged men and women of good will to take 
to their knees before God and to stand unafraid before tyrants. And this 
has added greatly to the momentum of freedom in our time.
    Where there's oppression, you speak of human rights. Where there's 
poverty, you speak of justice and hope. Where there's ancient hatred, 
you defend and display a tolerance that reaches beyond every boundary of 
race and nation and belief. Where there's great abundance, you remind us 
that wealth must be matched with compassion and moral purpose. And 
always, to all, you have carried the gospel of life, which welcomes the 
stranger and protects the weak and the innocent. Every nation, including 
my own, benefits from hearing and heeding this message of conscience.
    Above all, you have carried the message of the Gospel into 126 
nations and into the third millennium, always with courage and with 
confidence. You have brought the love of God into the lives of men, and 
that good news is needed in every nation and every age.
    Thank you again, your Holiness, for your kindness and the honor of 
this meeting.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 11:46 a.m. in the Papal 
Library at Castel Gandolfo, summer residence of the Pope. A tape was not 
available for verification of the content of these remarks.