Pope Benedict sent a telegram to President Barack Obama today.

On the occasion of your inauguration as the Forty-fourth
president of the United States of America I offer cordial good wishes,
together with the assurance of my prayers that the Almighty God will
grant you unfailing wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high
responsibilities.

Under your leadership may the American people continue to find in
their impressive religious and political heritage the spiritual values
and ethical principles needed to cooperate in the building of a truly
just and free society, marked by respect for the dignity, equality and
rights of each of its members, especially the poor, the outcast and
those who have no voice.

At a time when so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the
world yearn for liberation from the scourge of poverty, hunger and
violence, I pray that you will be confirmed in your resolve to promote
understanding, cooperation and peace among the nations, so that all may
share in the banquet of life which God wills to set for the whole human
family (cf. Isaiah 25:6-7). Upon you and your family, and upon all the
American people, I willingly invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and
peace.

Benedictus PP. XVI