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I found this paragraph from a Google search.

Here's the link:

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=85353&d=15&m=7&y=2006

Here's the paragraph from the link:

The Vatican also issued an extremely critical statement deploring Israel’s attack on Lebanon. “The right of defense on the part of a state does not exempt it from respecting the norms of international law, especially when it concerns the protection of the civilian population,” Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano announced on Vatican Radio. “The Holy See deplores the attack on Lebanon — a free and sovereign nation,” the cardinal said, noting that he felt “close to the people who have already suffered in defending their independence.”

The arabnews link doesn't have the Vatican story, but here's the full item again:

HOLY SEE CONDEMNS VIOLENCE IN MIDDLE EAST

VATICAN CITY, JUL 14, 2006 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano today made the following declaration on Vatican Radio:

"The news we are receiving from the Middle East is certainly worrying. The Holy Father Benedict XVI and all his collaborators are following with great attention the latest dramatic episodes, which risk degenerating into a conflict with international repercussions.

"As in the past, the Holy See also condemns both the terrorist attacks on the one side and the military reprisals on the other. Indeed, a State's right to self-defense does not exempt it from respecting the norms of international law, especially as regards the protection of civilian populations. In particular, the Holy See deplores the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation, and gives assurances of its closeness to those people who have suffered so much in the defense of their own independence.

"Once again, it appears obvious that the only path worthy of our civilization is that of sincere dialogue between the contending parties."

Anyone care to bet that the emphasized sentences made it into the arabnews report?

And -- given that the Vatican is one of the historical cradles of diplospeak -- does anyone else here think the line "those people who have suffered so much in the defense of their own independence" might just be a reference to the people who declared that independence on May 14, 1948??