Pope Francis and President Obama

What President Obama expects to discuss with Pope Francis is laid out in this article published by the Washington Post. Pope Francis has quickly proven that he is an advocate not only for the Catholic Church but for the global community and is deeply concerned about the wars in the Middle East and global warning. However, while he is expected to discuss such topics with the president of the United States the extent to which his words will affect the president or any other political leaders pre-existing ideas I believe will be minimal. He is still a foreign religious leader, whose only hold upon such topics is in his position and not on any real knowledge or authority. Though I personally believe he has optimistic ideas of how to deal with these problems, I fear that despite the weight his words have garnered they will effect very little change within the leaders of the United States. President Obama's meeting with the Catholic leader is at base, a simple pleasantry.