Posted on 06/03/2004 11:25:25 AM PDT by Notwithstanding
President Bush will award Pope John Paul the Presidential Medal of Freedom Friday, the highest U.S. civilian award, a U.S. official said Thursday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pontiff was being honored for "years of fighting for freedom and for his important moral voice."
(Excerpt) Read more at wireservice.wired.com ...
Exactly...sucking up ain't gonna help.
OTOH, he shows that he is bigger than ever, even tho the Pope blasted him, he still reaches out.
In other times I would applaude this act. But this year? If the media gives it any play at all it will be to cynically spit on the gesture.
LOL!
How about St. John and St. Paul? And I mean biblical not beattles.
I wondered the same thing!
It was Archbishop Renato Raffaele Martino, the head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, speaking on behalf of the Vatican AND the Pope.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/867853/posts
And thanks for those pictures!
I bet the wires start to pick this up and the hourly newscasts start reporting this near the top of the hour.
Too bad this was bumped out of breaking news by the mods.
President gives the highest honor he can bestow upon his most vocal critic in the war's build up - during an election year when the Catholic vote is majorly in play - and this is not treated as breaking news.
Amazing.
The first of many Pope-bashing comments on this thread, I'm sure.
The amount of hatred spewed toward that good man on this board is sickening.
Papa rules!
In fact this is strange message!
Papa is against war, it is obviously that pope must be against war because he is pope! :)
Pope Paul VI abandoned the wearing of the papal crown thereby showing that he was not a valid pope. The decision of Pope John Paul I to abandon the Papal Coronation altogether is seen by some in a similar light. Pope John XXIII joined the Freemasons in 1935, an act that would have earned automatic excommunication and so made him ineligible for the papacy. Others have noted that Pope John Paul II declined to take the traditional papal oath and so was not a valid pope.
I am a practicing Catholic who validly receives Holy Communion, but I've considered all (and more) of the information that is freely available to all and admit that I am in doubt when confronted by what attempts to pass as doctrinal and/or instructional from Rome since Vatican II.
He didn't speak for the Pope nor the Vatican. He expressed his personal opinion.
The Pope began his adult life resisting the Nazi occupiers, and spent most of his life resisting the Communists. He fought the good fight. But now he's old and in poor health, and God willing his successor will have the vigor to take on Islam.
For W to present the Pope with the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- despite the asinine comments from the Vatican about the Iraq war -- is returning good for evil.
The Nobel committee didn't have the guts to give the Pope the peace prize for contributing to the fall of Communism; W is doing the right thing.
And a certified nut if you think that ridding the Papacy of the papal tiara invalidates the Papacy.
Peter was not "crowned" Pope, and would have been embarrassed that any of his successors wore a gold tube on his head, like a beauty queen.
Mrs. Bat - an extremely devout Catholic - says she'll leave the church if Il Papa rebukes Bush during his visit.
And a Medal of FReepdom goes to...Mrs. Bat!
Good point, We can hardly expect the Pope to be a war hawk.
You are so full of Barbra Streisand.
Pi$$ off the liberals
Just for argument's sake, I'll concede that ridiculous point, in which case I must have missed the Pope's the-Archbishop-doesn't-speak-for-me-on-Vatican-Radio speech. LOL!!!
"The Pope gets a Medal of Freedom for being one of the most vocal opponents of the Iraq war?"
Let's not forget how influential John Paul II was in the fight against communism. Plus this shows what type of a man President Bush is. You wouldn't see Clinton handing an award to anyone who was critical of his administration.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.