How Does a Pope Greet a President?

How Does a Pope Greet a President? May 25, 2017

from Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/113018453@N05/14037472464

Here’s the Pope, smiling.  Just an image from somewhere, like many others.

And here’s the image that everyone’s been talking about, after President Trump’s visit:

The reaction on Twitter, and sites such as Slate or even Deutsche Welle?  Trump is such a Bad Man that he justly deserved the grumpy expression from the Pope.

Sorry, that’s not how Pope-ing works.

Yes, we all know that the Pope doesn’t like Trump.  He objects to Trump’s policies, just as he’d likely object to the policies of any Republican president that supports immigration enforcement, opposes a generous social welfare state, seeks to balance environmental regulations in light of their economic cost, and so on, and has a personal dislike for the man himself.

And we don’t know what was discussed during the private audience.

But if this grumpy expression, that the left is so gleeful over, is any indication, the Pope, at best, mumbled through some stiff formalities for a half hour, or, worse, lectured Trump on the need to adopt socialism and open borders.  This is not the expression of a man who cares about finding common ground, or reaching out on a personal level, or, shall we say, building bridges.

Now maybe it doesn’t matter.  “Trump came as a tourist, and wanted to meet the Pope just because he’s a famous person.” “Trump doesn’t deserve to be rewarded.”  “It’s not like the Pope invited him, anyway.”

Or maybe, as others have claimed, there was no difference in the reception of Trump and Obama, and in both cases the Pope got tired of holding the smile for the cameras, but the liberal media chose to publicize those images of a grumpy Pope now, and the smiling Pope before.  In which case, it reflects poorly on the media.

This is not the 1800s, when custom dictated serious expressions on photographs.  (Because of bad teeth? Because the exposure needed so much time that an attempt to hold a smile would ruin the picture?  I’ve read multiple explanations.)

This is 2017.  And the audience is an American one, and the Pope knows that.  And a part of our contemporary American culture is that one smiles for photographs, or, more generally speaking, upon meeting someone.  Heck, it’s so ingrained that occasionally mug shots float around of hapless people smiling for the camera because that’s what you do.  To not smile, is rude.  To be chipper that someone else didn’t smile, it to take pride in rudeness.

Or it’s all a lack of cultural competency, and an unwillingness to acquire it.  We all know that Americans are mocked for their lack of cultural competency in boorishly greeting everyone in a foreign environment, but it goes both ways.  And, again, even if the Pope was indeed hospitable and smiling and the media disseminated misleading images, they’ve doing a disservice in making him look culturally incompetent.

 

Images:   Pope Francis from from Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/113018453@N05/14037472464.  Pope + Trump, Getty Images Embed.


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