[sinkspur]

Did the Pope heap tremendous and sweeping praise upon Bush with regards to Iraq? Seems like Bush is blessing those who persecute him. A true Christian, is George Bush. And I am quite proud of him.

Bush is rightly praising the Pope for being a moral leader. The Pope is a courageous moral leader, and unhesitatingly speaks in the face of a great deal of opposition.

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.

Had this coalition prevailed, Hussein would still be stuffing his countrymen into shredders and hanging them on meat hooks, and putting children into prison because their parents opposed him.

The Pope was wrong about Gulf War I, and about the war on Iraq. Period. His reasons for opposing the war were likely bound up in the desire to prevent a wider war between Christians and Muslims, and to protect the Chaldean Christians in Iraq.

Those are good reasons, but they are the same reasons Pius XII used to stifle his own criticism of the Nazis.

I'd feel a lot better about the Pope's opposition if I had once read a single criticism from him about Hussein's human rights abuses.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

I'd agree with a good deal of your comments, sinkspur.

A note: I am starting to think that someone on here is not being honest, and actually is anti-catholic, disguising themself as a devout RC. They have done more harm than good to the name of Catholics by their posts here.

[auggy]

"I'd feel a lot better about the Pope's opposition if I had once read a single criticism from him about Hussein's human rights abuses."

I find that somewhat strange that he didn't. Makes one wonder.