Pope 'refused meeting with Rice'

BBC News ^ | September 19, 2007

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

First, it was Ms Rice who just before the outbreak of the Iraq war in March 2003 made it clear to a special papal envoy sent from Rome, Cardinal Pio Laghi, that the Bush administration was not interested in the views of the late Pope on the immorality of launching its planned military offensive.

And this should REMAIN our position today. Frankly, who cares what the pope thinks about Iraq, anyhow? He can follow his foreign policy, and we'll follow ours.

[Piquaboy]

If the BBC did the story I am sure it is true. Not!

[thefactor]

i wonder what the people who support both the pope and bush will say baout this article. probably that it’s bogus. convenient.

[wideawake]

BBC spin.

[1rudeboy]

Not sure about that, but I’m curious to see which “leading Italian newspaper” is involved. The Italian press doesn’t disguise its political preference the same way as ours.

[curiosity]

But one leading Italian newspaper said it was an evident snub by the Vatican towards the Bush administration.

I can never understand why people ever take such pure speculation seriously.

[CWW]

Hey - give the guy a break. The Pope deserves the time off. Everyone knows that Italy shuts down for August. The Pope goes on a much needed retreat. For Pete’s sake, he’s over 75 years old. He’ll see Condi after August.

[ga medic]

Corriere Della Sera.

[wideawake]

i wonder what the people who support both the pope and bush will say baout this article. probably that it’s bogus. convenient.

And people who oppose both the Pope and the President will claim that the BBC is a reliable source of political analysis.

Obviously those who distrust the BBC have far better grounds for their position than morons who accept the BBC's Islamophilic lies as Gospel.

[Jaded]

Interesting since Benedict and Bush met in June.

[DManA]

“How many divisions does the pope have?” Joseph Stalin

[CT-Freeper]

i wonder what the people who support both the pope and bush will say baout this article. probably that it’s bogus. convenient

I support both the Church and my country. I think the headline is probably a little misleading. I doubt that His Holiness "refused" a meeting with Sec. Rice. Rather, he more than likely politely declined her request to meet with him. And I can't blame him...he was on vacation!

[presidio9]

I suppose it would be out of the question to take the Vatican at its word: That the Pope does not "normally receive politicians on his annual holiday at the Castelgandolfo residence near Rome," correct?

BBC is supposed to be a big-boy of journalism, right? If what the Vatican said was a lie, how hard would it be for them to put together a list of exceptions? Instead, they accuse the Vatican of lying, and then offer speculation as proof. That's pretty lame in my book.

Meanwhile, Dr. Rice is in Gaza today, praising the Palestinians, and promising them the the US "will not abandon them" to the Jewish aggressors.

Did you know that she is pro-abortion?

[Larry Lucido]

The Pope probably wanted potatoes for once, and said “No rice for me! I don’t want to even see any rice this month!”

[Cicero]

Senior Vatican sources told the BBC the Pope does not normally receive politicians on his annual holiday at the Castelgandolfo residence near Rome.

There is no indication that this requested meeting was an emergency that could not be postponed. I think I'll take the Vatican's word over the BBC's, especially since Pope John Paul II also used to take vacations like this. Even world leaders need a little time off to ready themselves for the next round of grinding responsibilities.

[presidio9]

I think it’s pretty obvious that the Pope refused to see Dr. Rice because she is black. Did you know that he was in the Hitler Youth?

[ex-snook]

Rice should have met with the Iraq on their vacation.

[shadeaud]

Odd that the Pope would meet with clinton (if I’m not mistaken it was during the monica fiasco) and clinton ignored any advice from the Pope. I doubt if he would refuse to meet with Sec.of State Rice for political reasons. Unless of course Ms.Rice couldn’t get janet reno’s latest hits c.d.

[evets]

Castleganolfo