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President Biden paid tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as a “renowned theologian” following his death at the age of 95 on Saturday. 

Biden said in a statement that he spent time with Benedict in Vatican City in 2011 and will always remember his generosity and their “meaningful” conversation. 

“He will be remembered as a renowned theologian, with a lifetime of devotion to the Church, guided by his principles and faith,” Biden said. “As he remarked during his 2008 visit to the White House, ‘the need for global solidarity is as urgent as ever, if all people are to live in a way worthy of their dignity.’” 

He said Benedict’s focus on charity should continue to be an inspiration to everyone. 

Biden joined numerous world leaders, including Irish President Michael Higgins and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in mourning Benedict’s death and praising his service to the Catholic Church. 

Benedict, who was born Joseph Ratzinger, became pope in 2005 following the death of former Pope John Paul II. 

Benedict made history when he became the first pope in nearly 600 years to step down from his role in 2013, citing a lack of the strength needed to adequately serve due to his advanced age. 

Biden is the second Catholic U.S. president, following former President John F. Kennedy.

The State Department said in a statement that the U.S. mourns death of Benedict, who was “a holy man, witness to faith, and once Shepherd of the Catholic faithful.”

The department said Benedict was an advocate for vulnerable people, including refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants, and supported international legal measures to defend them. It also said he was committed to interfaith dialogue.

“We offer our deepest condolences to the Catholic faithful around the world, the Holy See, and all those whose lives were enriched by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s spiritual guidance,” the department said.

I recently got off the truly stunning Sky Princess cruise ship, which carried about 2,600 passengers and a crew of 1,400. 

Prior to one of the performances by the singers and dancers in the main theater, the cruise director mentioned that the crew came from 60 different nations and all get along wonderfully while working in close contact, seven days a week, during six-month contracts. It’s truly a tapestry of interwoven humanity — people of all races, colors, faiths and sexual preferences doing all they can to provide for their families back home in their various countries.

From that bit of information, I wondered: Why can’t the world be more like a cruise ship, when it comes to peaceful and necessary human interactions?

Does that sound like too simple a question? In some ways, perhaps it is unrealistic, but in a number of other quite substantial ways, it’s not at all.

Usually, it is not the hard-working citizens of nations the world over who are declaring hate and war on people of another nation; instead it’s their typically wealthy, entitled and sometimes feckless “leaders.”

The hard-working folks are simply too busy trying to feed their children, keep a roof over their heads, and find moments of happiness. They’re not really interested in hating or attacking people from other countries, who most likely are struggling similarly.

But their “leaders” (and sometimes their families) who live in bubbles of privilege and rarely suffer the consequences of the negative actions they foist upon others are the ones responsible for many of the ills plaguing humanity. For example, it will almost never be the children of these “leaders” who are forced into combat when they wage war on another country — it’s the sons and daughters of those hard-working, often poor citizens.  

As someone who grew up in poverty and was often homeless as a child, I have been fortunate to have taken many cruises over the years. Each time, I sit back in awe while observing the dedicated staff and supervisors — who sometimes come from poor or disenfranchised backgrounds, too — as they interact graciously with one another, despite any differences they may have.  

One reason why that is so is that the supervisors once were newly hired staff, perhaps seeking to escape tough circumstances back home and trying to provide for their loved ones. It may have taken them years to secure their promotions. They know the struggles, worries and fears their staff may feel. How many of the world’s political “leaders” can make the same claim with regard to the millions of people they govern? 

So, why can’t the world be more like a cruise ship? Well, most world “leaders” likely never have experienced such a microcosm of humanity working and living as one to provide — and receive — happiness. But that “microcosm” is real. I’ve seen that it exists harmoniously, 24/7/365, within the fleets of cruise lines.   

Knowing that, maybe the cruise lines should offer to host world leaders for onboard symposiums, in which they are invited down to the crew decks to watch the representatives of 60 nations in action. While there, the world leaders could learn a valuable lesson in empathy by bussing tables, doing laundry, cleaning cabins, and then unwinding in the crew lounge with those who have worked that hard for years. 

Sure, it’s hard to imagine President Biden bussing tables alongside, say, French President Emmanuel Macron or German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Some world leaders likely wouldn’t attend, such as China’s Xi Jinping and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. And some probably wouldn’t be invited — surely not Russia’s Vladimir Putin or Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. But the broader point stands: These leaders and others could benefit from getting their hands dirty and truly serving others while working with the crew of a cruise ship.

Such an experience just might remind our world leaders that, ultimately, we are all the same.  We’re all on the “Good Ship Earth,” sailing the solar system, trying to survive in peace.

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.

Lawmakers are praising journalist Barbara Walters and remembering her as a “trailblazer” and “glass ceiling shatterer” following her death on Friday. 

Walters repeatedly broke barriers throughout her career that spanned more than half a century, becoming the first woman to co-host a news program when she started as an anchor for the “Today” show and the first woman to co-host a network evening news program when she joined ABC’s evening news program. 

She interviewed every sitting president from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, world leaders such as former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and celebrities such as Michael Jackson. 

ABC News confirmed Walters’s death on Friday at the age of 93. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said it was her “privilege” to sit down with Walters on multiple occasions and see her “masterful” work firsthand. 

“Barbara Walters was a trailblazer and an icon: transforming television journalism with her intellect and integrity, courage and poise,” she said. 

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) tweeted that many of Walters’s interviews were “unforgettable” and that she broke a glass ceiling for many women and girls. He said Walters always wanted to get the truth. 

Former President Trump also praised Walters, saying in a Truth Social post that she was the “greatest of them all, by far.” Walters interviewed Trump on multiple occasions, including in 2015 while he was running for president. 

“I knew her well, was interviewed by her many times, and there was nobody like the legendary Barbara Walters – And never will be!” he said. 

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) tweeted that Walters always drew the audience into her interviews and was “quintessential” in her job. 

“Many younger women came of age watching Barbara Walters torpedo her way into the hearts and minds of Americans as a pioneering woman in the man’s world of journalism,” she said. 

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said that Walters will be remembered as a “fearless trailblazer who shattered the glass ceiling & paved the way for women in journalism.”

Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday thanked members of Congress and other court personnel for helping to ensure judges’ safety, amid heightened threats against Supreme Court justices and other officials.

“The law requires every judge to swear an oath to perform his or her work without fear or favor, but we must support judges by ensuring their safety,” Roberts said in the opening of an annual report on the federal judiciary. “A judicial system cannot and should not live in fear.”

Roberts thanked members of Congress for “attending to judicial security needs” and expressed gratitude for the variety of court officers who “are on duty as we ring in the year, working to ensure that judges can sit in courtrooms to serve the public throughout the coming year and beyond.”

Supreme Court justices’ security became an area of particular concern earlier this year, following the high court’s controversial decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The decision, as well as an earlier version of the opinion that was leaked in May, triggered protests outside of several justices’ homes.

Concerns about the justices’ security were heightened in early June when a man with a gun and a knife was arrested outside of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home and charged with attempted murder.

Congress extended security protections to the family members of Supreme Court justices and “any officer” of the bench, if the court marshal deemed it necessary, in the wake of the incident.

However, lawmakers have also faced increased numbers of threats, with Capitol Police recording more than 9,000 threats in the last year. 

Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was violently assaulted in the couple’s San Francisco home in late October, suffering a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands. The 42-year-old man accused of attacking Pelosi was reportedly looking for the Speaker, who was in Washington, D.C., at the time.