Bush Dedicates Papal Museum in Washington, Meets With Cardinals.

Continuing an aggressive outreach to the Roman Catholic hierarchy, President George W. Bush joined seven cardinals at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the new Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. March 22.

During his visit to the $65-million Center, Bush praised John Paul for his anti-abortion views and exalted what he called the "culture of life." Remarked Bush, "We must defend in love the innocent child waiting to be born."

The evening before the dedication, Bush hosted a delegation of cardinals, bishops and church lay leaders at the White House. According to the National Catholic Register, Bush, a United Methodist, told the gathering, "The best way to honor Pope John Paul II, truly one of the great men, is to take his teaching seriously; is to listen to his words and put his words and teachings into action here in America. This is a challenge we must accept."

Deal Hudson, a Bush advisor who edits the right-wing Catholic magazine Crisis, said the president's strategy is part of a deliberate attempt to woo Catholics and acknowledged the political intent. "The strategy is to reach out to Catholics whose faith makes a difference to them in the way they vote. The president and his advisors understand the difference," he said.

Bush narrowly lost the overall Catholic vote to Democrat A1 Gore last November, but among Catholics who attend mass regularly he took 57 percent of the vote. Many influential bishops and other members of the Catholic hierarchy issued strong statements before the election that were tantamount to endorsements of Bush. (See "The Bishops' Biased Blessing," December 2000 Church & State.)

The bishops' political work has been richly repaid. Since moving into the White House, Bush has issued an executive order limiting funding of overseas groups that perform abortions, moved to cut back birth control coverage for government employees, worked to increase funding of "faith-based" social services, discussed school voucher strategy with church leaders and named former Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

Church leaders raised the $65 million to build the new papal center from private sources. They hope to raise its estimated $8 million annual operating budget from admissions fees and the Center's two gift shops.

The Rev. G. Michael Bugarin, the Center's director, acknowledged that some Catholics complained that $65 million could have been better spent helping the poor. But he told The Washington Post, "You can give me $65 million to spend on the poor, and I will not make a major dent in the world. "Over time.... I'm confident that we will make a dent in the world by increasing the faith life of the people who come here."