White House: Relations with Holy See 'Very Important’

A spokesman for President Barack Obama affirmed today that the president attaches a high priority to the relationship between the Vatican and the United States.

In an e-mail comment to the Register, Denis McDonough, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications said: “The Holy See is very important to our foreign policy priorities.”

McDonough’s comment was made in the context of replying to concerns expressed by some analysts that Obama might not regard the relationship with the Vatican as an important policy priority.