THE VATICAN - Pope Benedict added 5 new saints to the Catholic Saints roster on Sunday then before he rested he added one more name to the list - that of US President Barack Obama.
The Pope said he got the idea to include Obama's name after canonizing the Belgian priest Father Damien who worked and died among lepers in the Hawaiian colony of Molokai in 1889.
The Pope is said to have told confidantes that he was very happy that Obama had hailed his canonization of Father Damien. Since Mr. Obama was also (said to have been) born in Hawaii it was only natural that he too be included in the list of saints during his lifetime because i) the Catholic Church is running out of saint contenders and ii) the canonization process could "take centuries" and Benedict wasn't sure he would live as "long as Methuselah".
The Pope also said that after having met Mr. Obama in Rome earlier this year they are BFF and he is taking a cue from the US President by penning his own memoirs titled "The Audacity of Pope".
