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.

[DB]

That pretty well sums it up.

[Protagoras]

Ya know, Bush doesn't presume to lecture the Pope in matters of religion why should he listen to what the child-rapist enabler/protector has to say about world affairs?

Despicable.

[fedupwithlibs]

I want the annihilation to be so complete that their mythology will tell them of the day of judgment when the stern gods from across the sea .. the powerful 'Mericans .. destroyed their forefathers' wickedness.

There was a time when I would say that this is extreme but times have changed and we need to destroy the enemy at all costs.

[Redbob]

"Laghi ...called for "all light to be shed on this affair,..."

How about the unbearably bright light of a tactical nuke?

[skeeter]

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

...and if he doesn't, well, there's the headline anyway.

[Maigrey]

(/shaking my head in amazement)

My only comment: good grief!

[whd23]

Despicable.

You're absolutely correct. Shielding child-rapists from the law and shuffling them from parish to parish without warning the laity is dispicable.

Just calling it as I see it.

[sinkspur]

Laghi didn't say one word about the beheading of an American.

[Snuffington]

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

It's part of the post Vatican II understanding of "ecumenism." It's sort of an "attract more flies with honey than with vinegar" approach. Some of us are more skeptical than others about its effectiveness.

[Natural Law]

So let's get this straight. Are we supposed to accept the Pope's criticism of the Bush foreign policy as legitimate but denounce any criticism of abortion supporting Catholic politicians as unwarranted meddling?

[DB]

So what's the excuse for all the other Popes in history that did seriously bad things?

To put a man on a pedistal where he can do "no wrong" in the field of religion is contrary to anything I know of in the Bible. Man is born in sin. Having other men choose a man for Pope doesn't wash that away.

This is one of the root issues as to why I'm not Catholic.

[BlueLancer]

"It's sort of an "attract more flies with honey than with vinegar" approach..."

That's fine for your average flies, but, when these are bubonic plague-carrying flies, malarial mosquitoes, and killer bees, you don't WANT to attract them ... you want to eradicate them as quickly as possible.

[sheik yerbouty]

No doubt the Swiss Guards are packing their gear as we speak..

[Protagoras]

Just calling it as I see it.

And you are calling the Pope a "child rapist shielder" which is a lie, and is despicable, no matter how you see it.

I'm not even a Roman Catholic and I'm disgusted by that nonsense.

[bmwcyle]

Bush to tell Pope he is a Protestant.

[biblewonk]

"And for your penance, you must sit in the back of Air Force One and no whoopie with the wife for 1 week"

Pope, what a non-biblical concept.

[MineralMan]

"So let's get this straight. Are we supposed to accept the Pope's criticism of the Bush foreign policy as legitimate but denounce any criticism of abortion supporting Catholic politicians as unwarranted meddling?"

And there you have the problem. Catholic politicians who are pro-choice can't take communion, or so many are advocating, because the Pope said so. Now, will people say that Catholic politicians who support the Iraq war as it is currently being pursued should also not receive communion?

The USA does not answer to the Pope, and never should.

[thoughtomator]

I'm not Catholic, though close relations are, and I can explain this to you. Fear. Pure, stark naked fear. And not fear of God, either. Fear of terror bombings in the Vatican.

They still don't understand that terror is coming for them no matter what they do.

[Shermy]

Diverse views in the Vatican:

Islam Plus Democracy: The Lewis Doctrine Makes Inroads at the Vatican

[ambrose]

I hope that Bush tells the Pope that he is wrong for allowing pedophile priests and bishops to run wild in his Church.

This pope has no moral standing to condemn anyone until he cleans up his own house.