You idiot!

[JimC]

Our PM sucks up to the Pope... this link

KEVIN Rudd wants Pope Benedict to think of Australia when he sips wine brought to him by the Prime Minister and spare a thought for would-be saint Mary MacKillop.

Speaking after his audience with the Pope, Mr Rudd said he told him Mary MacKillop held a profound place in the hearts of Catholic and non-Catholic Australians. "The Holy Father showed great interest and remembers well his visit to her tomb in Sydney last year," he said.

"Mother Mary MacKillop was a strong woman, a strong leader and a strong worker for the poor. She was also a pioneer in education."

Mary MacKillop, who founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in the late 1860s, was beatified by Pope John Paul II during a visit to Australia in January 1995, sparking hopes among Australian Catholics that she would one day be canonised. When Pope Benedict visited Sydney for World Youth Day in 2008, he also made a special visit to her tomb to pray for her.

The Prime Minister's meeting with the Pope comes just weeks before the 100th anniversary of Mary MacKillop's death on August 8.

Mr Rudd met the pontiff in the ornate and elegant library of the Palazzo Apostolico, the papal apartment building. The Pope was also presented with a leather-bound copy of the Australian Parliament's apology to Aboriginal people.

Flanked by the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, Tim Fischer, Mr Rudd said the wine, Bertolli Noble 1, "is very sweet … you should think of us when you are here in the Vatican on a warm summer's night.

"And this is our motion to our Parliament where I said sorry to the Aboriginal people."

The two men chatted animatedly, sitting at a wooden desk, and then spoke more quietly for a period.

Mr Rudd said he had fruitful discussions with the pontiff on several issues including the imperative for reform to stymie climate change, the global credit crisis and religious freedom.

Pope Benedict returned the favour, and gave Mr Rudd a signed copy of his most recent encyclical, which calls for greater understanding of the human cost of the global financial crisis. He also gave Mr Rudd a pen in the shape of an altar column in St Peter's Basilica.

Mr Rudd said he believed the encyclical was a "good document" and the pontiff's call for a greater balance between the needs of people and those of financial markets required serious consideration.

Vatican officials later took Mr Rudd on a private tour of the grotto of Pope John Paul before the Prime Minister travelled to L'Aquila for climate change talks.

[Clinton Huxley]

"He also gave Mr Rudd a pen in the shape of an altar column in St Peter's Basilica"

Classy - I had one in the shape of Blackpool Tower....

[The Dawktor]

He gave me a snow-globe! I feel somewhat cheated!

[Xamonas Chegwé]

He gave me a snow-balling! I feel somewhat cheated!

[charlou]

It is so not in an elected PM's job description to lobby religionists for religious gestures. You tool, Rudd!

[Animavore]

At least he's not as sucky as the Taoíseach.

[AshtonBlack]

At least he's not as sucky as the Taoíseach.

I do have a question. Is that pronounced "Tee-sock"? or something else?