Ed Morrissey at Hot Air asks a really good question: "When the Saudis visited the White House this month, did Obama invite women's-rights activists to dinner with them? Did Obama invite Ayaan Hirsi Ali to discuss the need for reform in Islam?" The answer: Of course not. Because Obama wouldn't try to score cheap political points at the expense of his Islamic friends. Bring in the most high-profile Christian leader in the entire world, however, the Obama White House is going to go into overdrive on the grandstanding front.
Needless to say, the Vatican is extremely unhappy about this, and it remains to be seen if the White House will have to backtrack and change the invite list before the event comes off - if, that is, it's going to come off at all: