Raymond J. de Souza: The day George H.W. Bush came to meet the pope — and me

In the aftermath of 9/11 25 years ago, former president George H.W. Bush came to the Vatican to meet St. John Paul the Great and me. More the former than the latter, to be sure — given that he didn’t know me or even know that I was there. Therein lies a story.

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On the feast of St. Francis of Assisi in 2001 — Oct. 4 — I was ordained a deacon in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. All Catholic priests are ordained deacons first; I was ordained a priest in the summer of 2002. We were 40 classmates studying at the Pontifical North American College. President Bush Sr. had come to town.

(The college is the American Catholic seminary in Rome; it has nothing to do with Canada though some Canadians have studied there. It opened in 1859 as the Civil War approached so it was called in English the “North American” College. Its official Latin name is “United States College” but “united” was a disputed term at the time.)

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President George W. Bush was preparing for war against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The war would start on Oct. 7. The American diplomatic apparatus began to notify allies around the world of what was going to happen. Notifying John Paul could have been entrusted to the American embassy to the Holy See, or the American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, could have personally telephoned the Vatican.

But such was Bush Jr.’s esteem for John Paul that he asked Bush Sr. to travel to Rome to brief the Holy Father in person. Bush 43 wanted John Paul to hear such a sombre and historic message from his own father, Bush 41.

The meeting was set for Oct. 4. Years later, I would read in the younger Bush’s memoir, 41: A Portrait of My Father, that one of the elder Bush’s favourite quotations was “preach the Gospel always; if necessary, use words,” — a phrase attributed to the beloved saint of Assisi.

The bishop ordaining my class was Cardinal Pio Laghi, who had been the Holy See’s representative in Washington during the 1980s. He became friends with Bush 41 as the vice-presidential residence was across the street from the apostolic nunciature. They would play tennis together and visit frequently. Bush famously kept up his friendships, and so while he was in Rome, why not look in on his old friend?

He suggested that they meet after his briefing of John Paul. Laghi invited Bush to have lunch at his apartment, and Bush accepted. It meant, it must be confessed, that our ordination quickly became the second most important thing on Cardinal Laghi’s schedule that day. He told the president that he would be occupied with the ordination in the basilica until late morning. Bush said fine, he would meet him there and greet us at the same time.

After the ordination Mass in St. Peter’s, Bush 41 arrived and greeted us informally, congratulating us and expressing admiration for our decision to serve God in the ministry. Bush then asked if there were any Texans in our class. There was one. He then asked if there were any from Florida. There were two.

“You have a good Catholic governor down there!” Bush 41 said, referring to his son Jeb.

He could not tell us then why he had come to meet with John Paul, but he did tell us that he had been given an audience earlier that morning. Then his eyes began to fill with tears.

“The pope told me that he and the cardinals are praying for the president,” he said, pausing and choking up. “The pope is praying for my son … The pope is praying for my son …” he repeated softly. He was overwhelmed.

“Barbara and I are so proud of him,” he said, his voice trailing off in emotion. At that moment he was not a president nor an elder statesman, but a father, and a fellow Christian, and the idea that the pastor of the universal Church would be praying for his son made him weep in awe and gratitude.

At our ordination we highlighted the figure of St. Francis. I don’t recall any of us being aware that it was the 775th anniversary of his death. But it means this Sunday is the 800th anniversary, and there have been celebrations in Assisi and the world over all year long.

St. Francis, the poor man of Assisi, in his time encountered the great and powerful of the world, armed with nothing other than his witness to the Gospel and love for Jesus Christ. Eight centuries later, the powerful of the world have passed on, as they always do. The luminous presence of St. Francis remains.

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