Michelle Obama Meets the Pope, Travels to Ghana Today

UPDATE: The Obama's met with Pope Benedict XVI this afternoon. Photos below.

The First Family -- President Obama, First Lady Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia -- will have an audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican this afternoon and then fly to Accra, Ghana, in the evening.


Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough called the president's meeting with the pope "much more than your typical state visit," given "the influence of the Catholic Church globally, as well in the United States, and frankly, given the influence of the Catholic Church and church social teaching on the president himself."

McDonough added that Obama has looked "very much forward to this visit since a very good conversation he had with the Holy Father as president-elect."

(The Obamas, who were members of the United Church of Church in Chicago -- why they quit is another story, of course -- have not selected a new church home in Washington. They have, however, worshipped in the chapel at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.)

In Italy, Mrs. Obama's "official" duties Thursday centered on the spouse program set up in connection with the G8 summit of world leaders in L'Aquila. No speeches. No splash.

An earthquake devastated the region in April, and Mrs. Obama toured the damage with, among others, Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Mara Carfagna -- a former topless model and now a government minister, whom Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi appointed to handle G8 hostess chores because his wife is divorcing him.

(Mrs. Brown had hosted Mrs. Obama and her daughters last month at No. 10 Downing Street, the official residence for the prime minister's family in London. This is the second international trip for the Obama girls since the start of their summer vacation.)

After L'Aquila, the Obamas moved on to Rome, where the first lady and her daughters toured the ancient Pantheon for 30 minutes with aides and security agents in tow.

The First Family will land in Accra at 9:20 p.m. local time Friday. In contrast to more sedate receptions given the Obamas in Moscow and Italy, massive excitement is building throughout many nations in Africa over their visit to Ghana.

Obama is the third consecutive U.S. president to visit Ghana, but he is the first to have African roots. The Obamas visited Kenya, where the president's father was from, in 2006, and he was treated then as a head of state, even though he was a first-term senator from Illinois.

Because the First Family will land in Accra too late for an arrival ceremony, a splashy departure event is planned with thousands of people expected to attend.

Michelle Gavin, the White House senior director of African Affairs, noted there was a strong desire among the Ghanians "to have a large welcoming ceremony. It's important to them, an important gesture and typically involves people from different communities in Ghana . . . putting their best foot forward in terms of the cultural richness of an incredibly diverse country." But because of the late arrival, she said, "it's not really appropriate for everybody to be sort of dragged out to the airport in the middle of the night.

"So there will be a brief welcome, and we're very grateful for that, but it sort of made sense to shift that opportunity toward the departure."