02/22/10

Pope Cancels White House Visit

Representatives of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, have disclosed that he will not visit the White House when he tours the U.S. next May. On prior trips to this country, it had always been a point of protocol for the Pope, as spiritual leader of millions of Roman Catholics as well as head-of-state of Vatican City to meet with the U.S. president. Inside sources at the Vatican report that the visit may have been cancelled to avoid any "gravely insulting" treatment of the Pope, such as the recent exit of the Dalai Lama, head of the Buddhist Faith, and his entourage through the back door of the White House past the garbage.
 

The Dalai Lama was given a pair of White House cuff links and a souvenir Obama Inauguration T-Shirt as gifts.