Next, look at the other pictures below. They are photos of the same but altered background in front of which President Barack Obama delivered an address on Tuesday April 14th , in Gaston Hall at Georgetown, a Jesuit university.
There is a black shroud completely covering up the triangular pediment depicting the name, Jesus -- that's what the letters 'IHS' represent in Greek. It's an ancient symbol, predating the founding of the Catholic Order of Jesuits.
Quoting from an article by Mark Silva of the Chicago Tribune: "According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: 'St. Ignatius of Loyola adopted the monogram in his seal as general of the Society of Jesus (1541) and thus it became the emblem of his institute.'"
I don't particularly care what President Barack Obama's religious persuasion is. What I do care about is how he chooses to honor or to disrespect his hosts when he visits a Catholic institution that represents a 2000 year-old tradition, one which will be around long after his Washington tenure is over.
The insistence by President Obama and his staff to conceal a religious symbol while on the grounds of a private Catholic institution shows formal disrespect and a lack of situational statesmanship. Georgetown officials should never have acquiesced to this demand.
The President could learn from a former First Lady, Mrs. Laura Bush who, in a White House photo, was also pictured appearing in Gaston Hall addressing a Georgetown audience on December 4, 2006. She stood before a lectern and delivered her speech in the same spot in which Obama stood. The pediment bearing the Christogram was directly behind her, unaltered, in full view of the audience.
That's the kind of respect and stately demeanor that should have been exhibited by President Barack Obama at Georgetown on April 14th.
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