Posted on 04/06/2005 12:26:19 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
President Bush will view the body of Pope John II immediately upon his arrival Wednesday from Washington, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.
Bush and a U.S. delegation that includes two former presidents were flying to Rome late Wednesday to attend Friday's funeral, along with kings, presidents and government leaders from some 100 countries.
It was not immediately known if other heads of state would view the body, which has been lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica since Monday afternoon.
Dignitaries were being allowed to skip the massive line of pilgrims that snaked down a wide boulevard, through ancient alleyways and onto a bridge.
That is one of the strangest things I have ever seen: Bush, Clinton, pres. Bush, the first lady, Condi and the other U.S. dignitaries kneeling with folded hands, praying before the body of JPll. Utterly surreal.
Watching the replay, I was struck by how strange it must be to pay homage while having flashbulbs going off in your face every few seconds and knowing TV cameras are beaming this solemn, most personal moment live all around the world.
"Did you notice the space between #41 and Clinton and between Clinton and SoS Rice? Guess no one wanted to be close to Clinton."
LOL!
Again, CNN had reasonably fair coverage on this in the sense that while they again brought up the Pope's criticism of GW for going into Iraq, they also brought up the fact that the Pope criticized Clinton on abortion.
Thanks, Ivan.
And here I just a bit earlier said on the Jimmah (Bucky) thread that at least, in contrast to Bucky, Bulbous Bubba knows when to keep his lip-bitten yap shut.
CrASS.
I am sure glad I got home in time to see this. What an historical moment!
I am a Protestant, and I must admit there is something so holy about the Catholic faith, it is beautiful and attractive. It's praying to the Mother Mary and to saints that I don't understand.
The Senate delegation of 14 will be led by Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. The Senate delegation also includes Republicans Jim Bunning of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Mel Martinez of Florida, and Democrats Joe Biden of Delaware, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Richard Durbin of Illinois, John Kerry of Massachusetts, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Me too. I'm just a big blubbering baby sometimes. the older I get the easier it is to make me cry.
You raise an excellent point. It depends on what the definition of "met" is. LOL
Thanks -- those are the names I heard this morning and the person reporting said no hillary!
I should add that it is part of official protocol when meeting with the Pope that ladies wear head covering. Only Catholic Queens can wear a white mantilla/veil. With her usual disregard for protocol, when Hillary went with Bill, during his presidency, to the Vatican, not only did she not wear a veil, but she wore pants.
I heard about this too. Also, I remember hearing that Klintoon was 'picking-his-brain' for his Nixonian insights into Foreign Policy since Klintoon had very little experience at that point in his Presidency and was eager to learn.
I am about to faint on a lot of the coverage from CNN. I was curious if they would bring up anything about Clinton and sure enough they did.
They used to be here too. I remember when I was a kid you could always tell who the Catholic ladies were when they opened their pocketbooks. The first think you saw was their veil and rosary.
"Is Andy Card Catholic?"
Does a bear sh.................. oops, wrong guy... :)
I was nearby that weekend guarding small arms ammo. There was some kind of pro abort rally in CO Springs that weekend and many rumors of potential trouble. Turned out the biggest need was for water buffalo's.
It has been very moving. I walked over to the Newseum's wall of newspaper front pages yesterday. Papers all around the world still had the Pope's passing on their front pages. Some of the photos brought tears to my eyes.
I think the Bush's are letting Clinton muscle in on various 'do's because they honor the office...also they may feel sorry for him since he's had that surgery and aftermath. Clinton is a charming man. A charming sociopath.
Thanks for the info. I felt a Hillary joke coming on but I'm trying to behave.
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