Facts About American Presidents and Popes Quiz

Answer: Martin Van Buren and Millard Fillmore

Presidents Martin Van Buren and Millard Fillmore met Pope Pius IX separately in Rome in 1855. In 1857, President Franklin Pierce also met Pope Pius IX. At the time of the meetings, the three were former presidents. We must remember that the acting presidents did not travel abroad at this time.

Answer: Woodrow Wilson

The first visit of an American president in office to the Vatican took place on January 4, 1919. Woodrow Wilson went to Europe to attend the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) at the end of the First World War and took the opportunity to have an audience with Pope Benedict XV.

Answer: They suffered and survived murder attempts

President Reagan and the Pope shared the fact that they suffered and survived murder attempts. On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot in an assassination attempt. Days later, on May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and was in critical condition. Before their careers as religious figures or politicians, both were actors.

Answer: False

From 20 November to 9 December, 1943, the President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a tour and visited several Allied military installations in many countries, including Italy. On this occasion, the President visited the installations in Sicily occupied by the Allies, but did not visit the Pope because Rome was occupied by the Germans.

Answer: One

The first and only meeting of a Roman Catholic US president and a pope until the end of the 20th century took place on July 2nd, 1963. On that occasion, incumbent President John F. Kennedy and the Pope Paul VI met in Vatican City. This visit took place a few days after the beginning of the Pontificate of Paul VI.

Answer: New York

The first pope to visit the United States was Paul VI. He met the President Lyndon B. Johnson at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. On this occasion the pope was in the city as a guest of the United Nations. He was invited to address the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Answer: 1970s

In 1979, for the first time a pope visited the White House. President Jimmy Carter welcomed the Pope John Paul II at the White House in Washington. Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis also visited American presidents at their residence.

Answer: Five

The Pontificate of John Paul II lasted 27 years. During this time he met five American presidents: James Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, William J. Clinton and George W. Bush.

Answer: A bronze bust of himself

Considering it was Christmastime, the Pope gave the president a reproduction of a nativity scene and received from LBJ not gold, not myrrh, and not frankincense, but a bronze bust of the president. At this time Johnson had over 200 specially-made LBJ bronze-and-plaster busts on Air Force One to be given to the authorities he would visit.

Answer: True

Although popes and American presidents or their representatives have met or negotiated since American independence, diplomatic relations that were banned in 1867 were only restored in 1984. On March 7, 1984, the American Senate announced the name of the first ambassador American to the Holy See, and the Holy See named the first Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. On this occasion, Ronald Reagan was the American president and John Paul II was the Supreme Pontiff.