“When we preach, we say you’re supposed to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. We believe in what you call the via media, the middle way. We would always condemn unbridled cutthroat capitalism as well as socialism. So we think, as Aristotle said, in the middle you find virtue.

“So, with President Obama, I think Pope Benedict will say, ‘Thank you for trying to see that health care will be expanded. Thank you for the overtures you are making for peace and justice, particularly the bridges you are building with the Islamic world.’

“He would say, never forget the needs of the poor. But while you’re at it, let’s not forget the virtues of private capital.

“Economic freedom, the freedom that comes from a man or woman’s opportunity to make his or her own living, to take care of their families and others.

“It’s tough to achieve, the balance. It’s a tightrope. But you’ll always hear the Pope calling us back to the middle, to virtue.”

— New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, 

offering his idea of what the Pope might say to the President 

when they meet in July.