Pope expected to tell Bush he is wrong on Iraq: Vatican

AFP ^ | May 13, 2004

[Shermy]

ROME (AFP) - Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II is expected to warn President George W. Bush when the two men meet on June 4 that his policy in Iraq is wrong and the actions of US troops are damaging efforts to bring religions closer together, a senior Vatican official revealed.

Cardinal Pio Laghi said the US-led occupation force in Iraq should be replaced by "a multinational presence which is not dominated by those who wanted and fought the war."

It was not enough for a military force in Iraq not to be under US command, "it must not even give the impression that it is," he said Thursday.

Laghi was the pope's envoy to Washington last year in a fruitless attempt to persuade Bush not to invade Iraq against the wishes of the majority of the United Nations and its 15-member Security Council.

Referring to revelations this month of torture and humiliating mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers, the cardinal asked "how is it possible to remain in Iraq if these abuses continue?"

Laghi said he liked the United States and "could not have imagined that this madness was possible". He said he was "astonished" at the behaviour of US troops and called for "all light to be shed on this affair, justice to be done and guarantees given so it does not happen again."

Bush is due to meet the pope on June 4 before travelling to France for ceremonies commemorating the 60th anniversary of the allied landings on the Atlantic coast on June 6, 1944, which began the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation.

Laghi said Bush had been very anxious to see the pope and had changed his schedule to make the meeting possible, but said he did not think the president wanted to make political capital out of it before the election due to take place in November.

"If ever there were a difficult time to ask for an audience with the pope it is now," he said.

The cardinal said he also expected the pope to tell Bush that his policies in the Middle East in general were not helping the cause of peace.

"We must above all build cultural understanding between peoples and I do not believe that our American friends are doing that," he said.

"Bombing mosques, going into holy places, putting women soldiers in contact with naked men shows a lack of understanding of the Muslim world which I can only call surprising," he said.

"We must build bridges with Islam, not dig trenches between us," he went on. "And we must give top priority to the Israeli-Palestinian question, which is the root cause of terrorism."

The pope would tell Bush that "the fight against terrorism must not be purely repressive and punitive but must also proceed from the elimination of its causes, which are rooted in injustice."

Bush and the pope have met twice before, but the June 4 audience will be their first since the start of the war in Iraq.

[kevao]

If the Pope is as bad as everybody on this thread says he is, how come Bush wants to visit with him and get his support?

If Ted Kennedy is as bad as everybody on FreeRepublic says he is, how come Bush let him draft the Education Bill?

[Starboard]

"If ever there were a difficult time to ask for an audience with the pope it is now," he said.

So its "difficult" to find time for the pope to meet with the leader of the country that removed one of the world's most brutal and oppressive tyrants. Saddam would be terrorizing the people of Iraq and occupying Kuwait right now if not for us, but I suppose that's all been forgotten by the sanctimonious and pompously pious prelate in the Vatican.

Skip the papal visit.

[Cap'n Crunch]

"Tell it to the altar boys"?? That's a nasty little comment eh? And you've got your bible out too?

I don't recall saying you were anti catholic. I said I can't understand why some people who don't listen to what the pope says need to make nasty comments.

I think the Vatican is trying to tell us to try to build bridges before we annihilate one another.

[RepublicanHostageinCalif]

I'm calling for the resignation of the Pope... after all he is the top of the Vatican chain of command-

[Cap'n Crunch]

How long do you think it will be before President Bush is out of office? How long before another democrat is in office? Do you think our Dear President (and I mean that sincerely) is going to wipe out all terrorists in one or two terms?

Lets get real.

[kevao]

I didn't claim you called me anti-catholic. I was just being up front about not being anti-catholic because it seems that no sooner does one say anything the least bit negative about the Pope, and you're blasted for being anti-catholic. Sorry if you misunderstood.

Regarding the "altar boys", frankly I've heard a lot more from the Vatican about U.S. "atrocities" at the Abu-whatever prison than I ever heard about the priest sex scandals. So some Baathist murderers and Fedayeen assassins were forced to wear women's underwear on their heads. (Do you remember, these were the thugs who threw people into Saddam's wood-chippers and used children as human shields?) Is that really in any way a more horrible crime than sodomizing a pre-teen altar boy? Let's get real.

Yes, I understand that the Vatican is trying to "build bridges" before we annihilate one another. Problem is, you can't do that with these Islamofascists, anymore than Neville Chamberlain could appease Hitler by ceding the Sudetanland.

The Koran mandates that these Muslim ghouls convert, or murder, the infidels. Is the Pope willing to forsake Jesus Christ for an Islamic Allah that demands blood sacrifice?

Maybe I don't get it because I'm not Catholic. But you guys can count me out of your headlong plunge into suicide.

[kevao]

How long do you think it will be before President Bush is out of office? How long before another democrat is in office?

No sooner than January 2005, and no later than January 2009.

Do you think our Dear President (and I mean that sincerely) is going to wipe out all terrorists in one or two terms?

No.

What do these questions have to do with anything I said in my post?

[Sabertooth]

The cardinal said he also expected the pope to tell Bush that his policies in the Middle East in general were not helping the cause of peace.

"We must above all build cultural understanding between peoples and I do not believe that our American friends are doing that," he said.

"Bombing mosques, going into holy places, putting women soldiers in contact with naked men shows a lack of understanding of the Muslim world which I can only call surprising," he said.

President Bush misunderstands that Islam is not a peaceful religion, but his misunderstanding pales comapred to this:

Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II is expected to warn President George W. Bush when the two men meet on June 4 that his policy in Iraq is wrong and the actions of US troops are damaging efforts to bring religions closer together, a senior Vatican official revealed.

The Pope is a good man, a great man, but he is woefully wrong about Islam.

The only good purpose in bringing the Mohammedan death cult of Islam closer is to more precisely confront it and destroy it.

The most lasting of peaces follows the most utter of our enemies' defeats.

In the service of peace, Islam must end.

"We must build bridges with Islam, not dig trenches between us," he went on. "And we must give top priority to the Israeli-Palestinian question, which is the root cause of terrorism."

This Cardinal is a blazing ninny. The "palestinians" and Arafat the Egyptian are genocidal, anti-Semitic savages.

It's not a coincidence that Islam perpetrates most of the terrorism around the world because Mohammed was a terrorist and Mohammed is the root of Islam.

Islam is the root cause of terrorism,

[DestroytheDemocrats]

"We must build bridges with Islam, not dig trenches between us,

Well that settles it. We will just go and find Mr. Islam, make nice with him. Seriously. What does this mean? What? Are we supposed to have little seminars and ecumenical meetings with AlQueda? This is just stupid pap. Stupid European pap. This pope would have been against the American Revolution. He's European and he does not understand America ...or Texas either.

[DestroytheDemocrats]

"The President is looking for a way to salvage the Iraq adventure, and he suspects the Pope's the man to help him."

We are staying the course. Iraq WILL BE FREE. Even if this goes on for 10 the next 10 years Iraq is still better off than it was for the last 10 years. There is less death, less suffering, less starvation, more medical help, better education, and more freedom of speech.

"Bush's personally coming to terms with the truth that this war was an unnecessary fraud. "

If you have an opinion just say it. Pretending to read Bush's mind is so stupid.

[DestroytheDemocrats]

"the Vatican, as a whole, is very pro-UN"

Right. Why? Because they are Europeans. I on the other hand am an American Texan and I hate the UN. The UN can go screw itself. And this Cardinal can stick it in his ear. I am a Catholic too.

[Cap'n Crunch]

Your right, you don't get it.

In the least.

[Little Ray]

Even stopped clocks are right twice per day.
The Vatican is still here becaue it is irrelevant so no one needs to destroy it. The USSR is gone because it was relevant and a threat. The Pope, if we can believe the article, is making an absurd statement and should be spanked for it.

[Commie Basher]

Catholics out there. Why is the pope trying to get closer to the Muslims instead of converting them?

For the same reason he's tried to get closer to Jews instead of converting them?

IOW, the days of Inquisition and Crusading are over. Is that not a good thing?

[FreedomSurge]

IOW, the days of Inquisition and Crusading are over. Is that not a good thing?

Are Inquisition and Crusading the only ways of converting people? I think you know they are not.

If he does not believe in converting people to the faith he can not be a Christian believer. Do you think Europe and western culture can be preserved over the next few hundred years without actual Christians standing up to Islam?

[Cap'n Crunch]

Irrelevant to you perhaps.

And the absurd thing is, the Pope has made NO STATEMENT in this article. As I have come to understand it, the particular Cardinal who gave this interview, is retired.

Stopped clocks are correct twice a day, too bad your not a clock, you haven't been right yet.

[Commie Basher]

If he does not believe in converting people to the faith he can not be a Christian believer. Do you think Europe and western culture can be preserved over the next few hundred years without actual Christians standing up to Islam?

Perhaps the Pope believes in a soft sell. That the way to convert Muslims, Jews, Budhists, etc. is to reach out to them, respect their faiths, gain their trust, and then inform them about Christ by word and deed. That non-Catholics, upon seeing the Pope's positive example, will then voluntarily ask to learn more.