In preparation for the upcoming meeting between President Barack Obama and Pope Benedict XVI on July 10 at the Vatican, the USCCB media office has put together a nice summary of the 26 previous meetings between a pope and a sitting U.S. president.

What struck me most was the length of John Paul II’s pontificate, measured in presidential administrations. The first president he met was Jimmy Carter in 1979. The last was George W. Bush in 1991.