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thank you for the ping to Father benjamin's part of the story... I've been intrigued by the guy too. Brings back memories from another post...

- "VATICAN ENVOY IN IRAQ DENOUNCES EMBARGO AGAIN," - CWNews.com
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The Vatican's envoy in Baghdad has once again lashed out against the international embargo on Iraq. In a video message, played at the screening of a new documentary on the effects of that embargo, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto called upon Christian to show their solidarity with the people of Iraq.
(* My note : Where have we heard of this sort of documentary before? Scott Ritter?)
The documentary film, "Iraq Solidarity Action," was produced by Father Jean-Marie Benjamin, a French-born priest serving the diocese of Rome. It was screened today in the presence of the Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See, Wissam Chawket al-Zahawie.
(* My note: Did this French-born priest get a $400,000 stipend from a friendly Iraqi too?)

This would certainly explain some of the weirdly ambivalent statements on Iraq that came out of the Vatican. For one thing, there are a bunch of these leftover liberation theology types floating around there (many of whom are of French origin or training), so there's probably a lot of misinformation provided to the Pope and others in the first place. And a bit of bribery is surely enough to help this along.