From remarks made on the White House lawn
"The Church, for her part, wishes to contribute to building a world ever more worthy of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27). She is convinced that faith sheds new light on all things, and that the Gospel reveals the noble vocation and sublime destiny of every man and woman (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10). Faith also gives us the strength to respond to our high calling, and the hope that inspires us to work for an ever more just and fraternal society. Democracy can only flourish, as your founding fathers realized, when political leaders and those whom they represent are guided by truth and bring the wisdom born of firm moral principle to decisions affecting the life and future of the nation."
Oftentimes, our politicians talk about the American way of life, or American values or ideals. Pope Benedict suggests that America should build a society mirrored on the kingdom of Heaven revealed in the Gospels by Jesus Christ, a society that seeks not just to preserve a minimum of rights (note that our country in allowing abortion does not even guarantee this minimum of a right to life for all) but a society that inspires each man and woman to pursue a 'noble vocation' and his or her 'high destiny' as a child created in the image and likeness of God. Our leaders sometimes settle for far less, talking much about preserving the 'American way of life' but spending less time than our Holy Father contemplating how to make this American way an inspiration to all the world.
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