Bush Praised Pope Despite War Criticism ["one of the greatest moral leaders of our time"]

Newsmax ^ | 6-8-2003 | Mike Reilly

[Notwithstanding]

NewsMax.com's religion editor Fr. Mike Reilly notes that relations between President Bush and Pope John Paul II remain warm despite their disagreement over the war in Iraq.

While Pope John Paul II joined the chorus of European critics urging President Bush not to make war on Iraq, Bush had nothing but praise for the Pope during his recent visit to Poland.

Zenit news reported that on the eve of Secretary of State Colin Powell's meeting with the Pope, President Bush told cheering crowds that, "At Wawel Cathedral in 1978, a Polish cardinal began his journey to a conclave in Rome, and entered history as Pope John Paul II -- one of the greatest moral leaders of our time."

"A young seminarian, Karol Wojtyla, saw the swastika flag flying over the ramparts of Wawel Castle," Bush said. "He shared the suffering of his people and was put into forced labor. From this priest's experience and faith came a vision: that every person must be treated with dignity, because every person is known and loved by God."

Meanwhile, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski took the opportunity to weigh in on the debate over the European Constitution.

While the Constitution acknowledges the contributions of the Greeks and the Romans, the framers ignore the influence of Christianity.

"I am an atheist and everybody knows it," he the London Telegraph this week. "But there are no excuses for making references to ancient Greece and Rome, and the Enlightenment, without making references to the Christian values which are so important to the development of Europe."

[Notwithstanding]

Yes, now that you mention it, this thread was about Bush praising the pope.

And right away - right away - someone posted snipes that the pope had little to do with the fall of communism - an attempt to hijack the thread to avoid discussing the FACT that Bush finds the pope to be someone the world should look to for moral leadership?

I think so.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

These:

"OTOH, Bush has too much class to say anything about the Pope's siding with Chirac and Schroder and Putin in the run-up to the war on Iraq."

and

"The Pope was wrong about Gulf War I, and about the war on Iraq. Period."

[Notwithstanding]

I have never posted something in an effort to have a thread pulled.

Never.

I have never seen threads pulled for repetition of posts.

Never.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

"the FACT that Bush finds the pope to be someone the world should look to for moral leadership"

Where do you get that from? The original article? I only see where the President patted the Popester on the back and said "nice job" for something years ago.

[Notwithstanding]

I see, you are schizophrenic.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Bush finds the pope to be someone the world should look to for moral leadership?

I think Bush is brilliant about 95% of the time - that statement, however, is in the 5% that I think shows the man's good intentions, graciousness and political tact, but one that I disagree with wholeheartedly.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Only when I don't agree with myself.

[Notwithstanding]

Precisely.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I have never posted something in an effort to have a thread pulled.

Then why did you do it, outside a glitch with the enter button? If you did it to make a point, it was nutty.

[Notwithstanding]

Three straightforward questions for you:

1. Do you disagree with Bush's very recent declaration that JPII is "one of the greatest moral leaders of our time"?

2. Do you think the KGB generals were lying about JPII being their #1 source of fear?

3. Do you think the leaders of the Polish resistance are wrong in their assessment that the wall would not have come down without the overt actions of JPII?

[conservababeJen]

Hi. Someone on here already spammed this thread in an attempt to (yet again) get it pulled, in posts 35 thru 55. They are at it again. They've done it before to get threads pulled. ,b>How about if we deal with the source, and not the symptom?

This occurrence seems epidemic. Coincidentally(?), great effort (successfully I might add) was made to have an evolution thread pulled. Ya think management has noticed who the common denominator is, CP?

Nitey

[Notwithstanding]

Because in my little world, when faced with repetitive posts of the same predicatble nonsense, repetitive replies seem the most apt response - at least at the time they do.

[Notwithstanding]

What are you talking about?

[Chancellor Palpatine]

1. Disagree.

2. Lying or incompetent, probably both.

3. They were wrong - it was coming down due to economics, demographic changes and mass communication advances.

[conservababeJen]

ask the chancellor

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Don't carry arguments to other threads.

[Notwithstanding]

Well, that is good to know.

I think Bush 41 and 43 would disagee with you on points 2 & 3 as well.

As would most people in the intel loop on both sides of the cold war.

As would the recorders of history. Which is what makes my heart feel all warm and fuzzy. I rarely agree with what modern recorders of what will become history determine (since they are largely the liberal mainstream press and academia). This is one thing where they are having trouble giving credit to the man they love to hate - the leader of the despised paternalistic homophobic chauvanistic Church.

[Notwithstanding]

Should have been:

This is one thing where they are having trouble AVOIDING giving credit...

[Notwithstanding]

More from the source mentioned in the NewsMax piece:

=========================

In time, this man's vision and this man's courage would bring fear to tyrants and freedom to his beloved country, and liberation to half a continent," the president added. "To this very hour, Pope John Paul II speaks for the dignity of every life and expresses the highest aspirations of the culture we share."

[1rudeboy]

But your must recognize that a good number of the citizens of the captive nations praticed religion in opposition to their respective atheist regimes. To suggest that countries such as Poland or Lithuania (the first to go) did not see overt expression of Catholicism as the means toward revolution is simply not true. These people sang religious hymns and brought down the beast.