Replies

And to you and yours, dear lady!

I followed up on your article as we will be having a Coptic family (along with the priest and his family, Greeks, Lebanese, Russians and two Yankee Orthodox couples) here for a New Year’s Day party and I am sure it will be the topic of conversation.

What a tragedy for all Christians. May their memories be eternal! Let’s hope that the Pope’s meeting will be something other than a kumbaya session. My bet is that he will call a spade a spade and there is the remote possibility that if he does say something forceful and in public, the West might respond and remind the Saudis and the Paki leadership just how precarious their existence really is.

I was surprised that Benedict XVI would even refer to the Assisi event of 1986. At the time he refused to participate in it. My guess is that it will be very different from John Paul II's gathering.

My bet is that he will call a spade a spade and there is the remote possibility that if he does say something forceful and in public, the West might respond and remind the Saudis and the Paki leadership just how precarious their existence really is.

Hope springs eternal, but more likely the LSM will pull their usual stunt and take a small part of what he will say (as you know, he doesn't speak in sound bites) out of context and twist its meaning to stir the pot. It would be nice if they could refrain from doing that. I'm not going to hold my breath.