Bill Clinton: “Thank you very much, Cardinal, Mr. Ambassador. After that political comment he made he has another good reason to go to…”

“Thank you very much, Cardinal, Mr. Ambassador. After that political comment he made he has another good reason to go to confession now. [Laughter] Cardinal Baum, Cardinal Szoka, to all of you here, and especially to the American seminarians who are here, let me say it is a profound honor for me and for Hillary and for our entire American party to be here in the Vatican today and for me to have had the meeting that I just had with His Holiness. We had a wonderful discussion about a large number of things. I'm always amazed to find him so vigorously involved in the affairs of the world. We talked about the difficulties in Bosnia, as you might imagine. We talked a lot about Poland and Eastern Europe. We talked at some length about Russia and our emerging relationships there. We talked for quite a long while about Asia, about the need to protect religious freedoms in Asian countries and to promote that. And I pledged to the Pope my best efforts to work with other nations, especially nations in Asia, in the cause of religious freedom. We talked about the challenges presented at the moment by the dispute we're having with North Korea. We talked at great length about the role of the Islamic states in the future of the world, not only in the Middle East but elsewhere. We talked a lot about the Middle East, and I thanked His Holiness for the recognition that the Holy See has given to Israel and the support to the peace process.…”