[George W. Bush]

....Israeli pope stamps...procrastinating diplomats...and the president of France is coming to visit!

Tawdry.

I have to wonder if all this stalling by the Israelis isn't incompetence or laziness or being too busy. It might simply be a way to delay the Vatican on securing official recognition so they can actually have an official spokesman in Israel, an established presence.

IOW, maybe the Israelis don't really like freedom of religion and don't want any official Catholic presence. But they're being forced into it by treaties they've signed and the commitments they've made to American governments past and present.

I'm just not too sure the Israelis are really so busy or incompetent... If I'm right about this, then there will be some big anti-Vatican stink they'll cook up to continue their stall tactics.

[CWOJackson]

"If I'm right about this, then there will be some big anti-Vatican stink they'll cook up..."

No need to "cook" anything up when the Vatican is making such boneheaded statements.