A few days ago, I wrote about some of the guests who had been invited to the White House reception in honor of Pope Francis.

President Obama and Pope Francis may be sympatico on climate change, capitalism, and other far-left issues, but when it comes to the teachings of the Catholic Church, they don't agree on much.

The president will put this to the test, because he has invited a pro-abortion nun, a gay bishop, and a transgender female to the White House to meet the pontiff.

Pope Francis has shown himself to be tolerant, but isn't this a slap in the face to so publicly challenge Catholic doctrine?

That's exactly what the Vatican thinks.

Wall Street Journal:

On the eve of Pope Francis’s arrival in the U.S., the Vatican has taken offense at theObama administration’s decision to invite to the pope’s welcome ceremony transgender activists, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop and an activist nun who leads a group criticized by the Vatican for its silence on abortion and euthanasia.

According to a senior Vatican official, the Holy See worries that any photos of the pope with these guests at the White House welcoming ceremony next Wednesday could be interpreted as an endorsement of their activities.

The tension exemplifies concerns among conservative Catholics, including many bishops, that the White House will use the pope’s visit to play down its differences with church leaders on such contentious issues as same-sex marriage and the contraception mandate in the health care law.

The White House didn’t respond to requests for comment on the Vatican’s reaction to the ceremony’s guest list. White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday he was unaware of the names of individuals on the guest list, but cautioned against drawing any conclusions on specific guests “because there will be 15,000 other people there too.”

Is Obama ignorant of Catholic doctrine regarding same-sex marriage, transgenderism, and abortion?  Of course not.  This is the gigantic pettiness of the man, who seeks to embarrass his guest to make a domestic political point about “tolerance” and “diversity.”

The Catholic Church is not a democracy.  The pope can’t “change his mind” about gay marriage like most Democrats.  The Catholic Church will never alter its position on abortion, nor will it recognize a human being’s “right” to alter his sex whenever he feels like it.

It’s like inviting a neo-Nazi to meet Benjamin Netanyahu.  The inappropriateness of the gesture is astounding.  But all the Vatican can do is protest – unless they cancel Francis’s visit, which isn’t going to happen.