Pope Benedict XVI Blog

How to Lobby the Pope

Pope Benedict XVI in Aparecida do Norte, some 180 km north of Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 2007.
Martin Bernetti/ AFP / Getty

TIME
Postcard from The Vatican
Friday, May. 18, 2007
By JEFF ISRAELY

Matt Keller spent a decade in Washington lobbying senators and congressmen on campaign finance reform and ethics legislation. But lobbying the Pope presented a unique challenge to the 42-year-old former senior staffer at Common Cause, who could once get John McCain or Warren Beatty on the phone. Keller has, since 2003, worked for the United Nations World Food Program in Rome, and his mission, ahead of the Pope's trip to Brazil, was simple: get Benedict XVI to mention the aid group's annual worldwide anti-hunger march, Walk the World, which coincided with the final day of the pontiff's trip. And Benedict could be assumed to be amenable: After all, he has repeatedly called for action against hunger, and even commended last year's Walk the World march during a weekly prayer in Rome. Still, a papal endorsement amid the raised visibility of the Brazil trip would be both a bigger boost and a bigger challenge, given the clamor of demands on the papal agenda while he's abroad.

Getting access to the Pope proved incomparably more difficult than lobbying Washington lawmakers. "Talking to someone like me is part of certain people's job description [on Capitol Hill]," says Keller. "At the Vatican, it all seems so shrouded in mystery." But as an advocate for the global poor, his objective is not crafting legislation, but "raising visibility." And on that front, Keller quips, "The Pope is a 2-for-1 deal. He's world famous, and can speak with moral authority."

Keller began in March by helping draft a letter addressed to the Pope from the U.N. agency, asking him to again announce his support for Walk the World. But he knew that in order to achieve his goal, he had to find someone who both shared his agenda and also had direct access to the pontiff.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 3:17 PM