This goes beyond the slippery slope - it's just plain wrong:

On his recent trip to Rome, President Bush asked a top Vatican official to push American bishops to speak out more about political issues including same-sex marriage, according to a report in the National Catholic Reporter, an independent newspaper.

In an online column posted Friday night, John Allen Jr., the newspaper's correspondent in Rome and the dean of Vatican journalists, wrote that Bush had made the request in a June 4 meeting with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state. Allen, citing an unnamed Vatican official, wrote: "Bush said, 'Not all the American bishops are with me' on the cultural issues. The implication was that he hoped the Vatican would nudge them toward more explicit activism."

Allen wrote that others in the meeting confirmed that Bush had pledged aggressive efforts "on the cultural front, especially the battle against gay marriage, and asked for the Vatican's help in encouraging the U.S. bishops to be more outspoken." Sodano did not respond, Allen reported, citing the same unnamed sources. (from the New York Times via the Seattle Times)