00 31/05/2009 16:07



President Obama finally named an ambassador to the Vatican, whose Senate approval is a shoo-in, so the stage is set...


NO SURPRISE HERE:
Reports say Pope Benedict
will receive Obama in July




Rome, May 31 (dpa) - Pope Benedict XVI will receive US President Barack Obama in early July, around the time of the upcoming Group of Eight (G8) summit in Italy, diplomatic sources said.

Italian media reports cited both Vatican and US sources as confirming that preparations for the first-ever meeting between Benedict and Obama were underway.

The exact date is not yet certain, with Italian media saying a possible point for an audience would be July 10, after the three-day G8 summit set for July 8 to 10 in La Maddalena [a resort town in northern Sardinia] .

[The Pope will be leaving for his annual summer vacation on July 13, going back to Les Combes in Val D'Aosta, northwest Italy, where he spent his first two summer vacations as Pope.]




[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 31/05/2009 16:10]