Posted on 11/11/2004 7:16:53 AM PST by SJackson
The Vatican has praised Yasser Arafat as a charismatic leader who struggled to win independence for his people, and repeated its support of a sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Pope John Paul, who last met Arafat in 2001, retreated into private prayer when he was told of the death of the Palestinian leader earlier on Thursday in Paris, a Vatican source said.
The Pope, who made a historic trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2000, sent a message saying he was particularly close to the Palestinian people "in this hour of sadness".
The 84-year-old Pope's message said he prayed that the "star of harmony" would soon bring peace to the Holy Land and that both Israelis and Palestinians could live "reconciled among themselves as two independent and sovereign states".
Earlier, a statement by the Vatican's chief spokesman called Mr Arafat the "illustrious deceased" and asked God to grant eternal rest to his soul.
"The Holy See joins the pain of the Palestinian people for the passing of President Yasser Arafat. He was a leader of great charisma who loved his people and tried to guide them towards national independence," said the statement by chief spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
The official statement was bound to displease Israel because it made no mention of militant attacks, which the Jewish state blamed on Mr Arafat and insists must stop before the stalled peace process can get back on track.
In recent years the Vatican continued to recognise Mr Arafat as the legitimate leader of the Palestinians after Washington and Israel had written him off.
But Vatican officials privately criticised him for what one called "jumping off the peace train".
"There is no doubt that he was a towering figure for his people but his great mistake was not to sign on at Camp David," a senior Vatican prelate told Reuters.
"That was a great failure and a lot of problems stemmed from that," he said. "He missed his date with history."
At a US-brokered a peace summit in 2000 both sides came close to a final accord that would have established an independent Palestinian state, but the talks broke down over the status of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
Washington and Israel blamed Mr Arafat for the failure.
Over the past four years, the Vatican's improvement in relations with the Palestinian Authority coincided with a deterioration of relations with Israel.
The Pope repeatedly criticised Israeli incursions into Palestinian territories and last November, the Vatican was shocked when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came to Rome for several days but did not ask to see the Pope.
Remember the fate of Palestinian Christians, especially Palestinian Roman Catholics and Palestinian Eastern Catholics. While such statements may make us want to vomit, there are other concerns at work as well.
Perhaps so, but it is a reaction to the "under-generous" interpretation given by so many others.
However, even if I am inclined to give the ailing Pontiff the benefit of the doubt, the comments by his surrogates are unacceptable.
I can probably agree with that. Especially if "illustrious" was meant to be a compliment.
SD
What I believe is not really important. But I do not think Arafat was sincere. That does not mean that some, like a Pope, might continue to try to keep the lines of communication open. I can agree with Bush as an American in insisting on Arafat being replaced as a "partner" to any talks. But I can also as a Catholic see why the Pope would continue to work with what is there.
SD
I hope that's a sincere compliment. I was not educated by Franciscans, however.
SD
A serious question. Can somebody please name Arafat's three greatest accomplishments?
How about this: We pray to our Heavenly Father that He may forgive this man his crimes, a man who defied the Risen God, who murdered 100,000 Catholic Christians, 50,000 Israeli Jews, untold Palistinian Orthodox Christians and robbed his people of billions in aid.
We further pray for the Guidence of the Heavenly Father to take the hatred out of the hearts of the Palistinians that they may now sit down in good faith and forge a lasting peace with the Israelies, something that this man Arafat blocked for 20 years.
That would be a good start.
"You, like so many of the rabid anti-Catholic bigots on the forum."
I prefer to think of myself as pro-Christian. Look this is an age old disagreement. It's the same reason you label the founders of Israel, and Israel itself, as terrorist. It has nothing to do with fact, and everything to do with religion. I back Israel because I believe the Jews are God's chosen people. You oppose Israel because you believe that the Jews are God's forsaken people. And then there are those in the middle such as former Congressman Robert Dornan. He is a devout Catholic, and yet he is a strong supporter of Israel, not based on theological arguments, but because he knows Israel is the only pro-American democracy in the Middle East. I agree with Dornan's position as well.
Michael Savage is absolutely correct when he refers to Arafat as "Hitler in a headscarf". There is only one way to deal with these kinds of people. And it's not "keeping the lines of communication open".
No chill and no, he does not.
No chill and no, he does not.
ok, take it as prayers said for that. Happy?
He's also all but wiped out the Christian population in the PLO lands and in southern Syria.
Here's a pop quiz:
It will be easier to fight the Islamic terrorists if:
a) we stress that "Christendom" is not at war with Islam, just with some radical outgrowths of Islam.
b) we have the symbolic leader of Christendom (the Pope, that is) declare that Islam is the enemy and that "there is only one kind of way to deal with these kinds of people."
SD
More then you will ever know. :0)
The Pope is not the symbolic leader of Christiandom and even most Islamics know there are plenty of different branches that oppose him. They all know also that the Greek Church and Latin Church are different.
"Man, I feel like having a few members of Hamas over for supper tonight."
I would too, except I am not a cannibal.
Perhaps my dog would like a few, or, better yet, perhaps my neighbor's 4-H pigs would like some.
No more so then the Orthodox Church, yet TappedThatSource(Allah) hates whole portions of the Orthodox Church.
While he was busy being entertained by bare-breasted polynesian lasses, embracing voodoo, islam, buddhism, and scantily-clad dancers in the Vatican, the Roman Church was abandoning it's position of moral leadership in the Christian world.
"Who is going to say that he died of aids.
I'd start by asking the French to issue the death certificate."
It will probably say "brain aneurism" or some such thing.
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