The prospects of a Benedict-Guiliani meeting during the Pope's visit to NYC

When Pope Benedict XVI travels to New York in April, he's expected to visit Ground Zero and Yankee Stadium -- places known for their connection to another famous Catholic, Rudy Giuliani.

The Vatican announced Monday that Benedict plans to travel to the United States for a five-day trip to Washington and New York. Given the Rudy-friendly itinerary, is there a chance the pontiff will grant an audience to Giuliani -- a lifelong Yankees fan known worldwide for his handling of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks?

Papal experts say that while Giuliani would likely be invited along on Benedict's visit to Ground Zero, they disagree over whether he would be granted a private audience. [-Newsday]

If Giuliani were to become the de facto Republican candidate by the time of the Pope's visit, the press (and perhaps even the opposition) will most probably try to read into the situation either way.

Personally, I highly doubt Pope Benedict would grant Guiliani an audience, nor do I think the Guiliani campaign would seek it. The press, of course, might try to twist this state of affairs so they could claim that Pope Benedict was somehow intentionally snubbing Giuliani by not meeting with him personally - and perhaps even some conservative Catholics would be happy to play along with that false assumption to undermine Guiliani.

But really, I think that I agree (for the first time in my life) with Thomas Reese, S.J., as he is quoted: The Pope will be dealing with current government leaders on this trip, not past leaders or (possible) future ones.