George Bush is certainly not the first American president to try and take advantage of a timely papal meeting to advance himself and his agenda.
Pope Benedict XVI, who arrives today for a high-profile visit to the United States, took his name from Pope Benedict XV, who consulted with Woodrow Wilson when the 28th president was touring Europe with the purpose of promoting a League of Nations.
Bush has no such grand design.
The current president is merely hoping that - by greeting the current Pope Benedict at Andrews Air Force Base, inviting 12,000 people to an outdoor reception with the pontiff and then hosting a Bavarian dinner for the visitor from the Vatican - his own dismal approval ratings might be improved by association with a reasonably popular religious leader.
The initiative has been somewhat complicated by the fact that Pope Benedict will not attend the dinner.
But that won’t stop Bush by attempting to bask in the papal glow.
Perhaps the president should try a different approach.
Instead of posing with the pontiff he might want to listen to what this particular pope has to say about global warming, fighting poverty and, above all, promoting peace.
No one is going to confuse Pope Benedict with the caricature of a liberal.
But the pontiff has made the Vatican a leader is seeking to address climate change. Under this pope’s leadership, the Vatican announced that it would become the world’s first carbon-neutral state.
He has said that the leaders of the world must do much more to feed the poor, fight disease and support the interests of workers rather than the bottom lines of corporations.
And he has bluntly said that Bush’s preemptive attack on Iraq and the subsequent occupation of that country does not follow the Catholic doctrine of a “just war.”
Before the invasion, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was asked whether the attack might be considered morally justified under the just-war standard. “Certainly not,” he replied, explaining that “the damage would be greater than the values one hopes to save.”
After the war began, Cardinal Ratzinger said of the global protest movement to prevent the attack: “it was right to resist the war and its threats of destruction.”
Rejecting arguments made by the president and many of his supporters that the United States needed to take the lead, this pope argued, “It should never be the responsibility of just one nation to make decisions for the world.”
It is not secret that George Bush has trouble taking the counsel of those who do not tell him what he wants to hear.
But if this president wants to associate himself with the pope, he should begin by listening to the man who has said, “There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a ‘just war.’”
Of course, no rational observer is going to think that George Bush will be led by Pope Benedict XVI to pacifism. But Bush cannot claim to be taking this papal visit seriously if he will not even entertain a discussion of just and unjust wars.
John Nichols’ new book is The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders’ Cure for Royalism. Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson hails it as a “nervy, acerbic, passionately argued history-cum-polemic [that] combines a rich examination of the parliamentary roots and past use of the ‘heroic medicine’ that is impeachment with a call for Democratic leaders to ‘reclaim and reuse the most vital tool handed to us by the founders for the defense of our most basic liberties.’”
Copyright © 2008 The Nation
The scion of a Nazi supporting capitalist thug making nicey-nicey with a former and unrepentant Nazi and member of the Hitler Youth.
Old home week.
I wonder if Cardinal Joeseph Raztinger will give Prescott Bush’s grandson some tips on how to build concentration camps…
The Vatican City is the capital of our empire, so George must pay homage to the real leader of the war on terror.
Hoa binh
Not being a supporter of any religion (or their leaders), I have to admit that even the Pope’s position on this disgraceful war is better than Bush.
But so would Attila the Hun’s positon be better, or at least the same, as the Bush position.
We’ll see if the Pope has the moral conviction to publicly state that Bush is wrong on the war to American public media.
Can we stop the war before it is too late? It is already too late for many.
Let us pray for them both.
Galen’s comment above cannot be reconciled with the fact that last year Benedict beatified Franz Jaegerstatter for refusing to serve in the German army in 1943 on religious and moral grounds. It is the clearest statement yet from any Christian leader that the faithful are obligated to resist unjust wars. The Pope may well be a doctrinal conservative, but it is hype to condemn him for what he was forced to do as a 14 year old in Nazi Germany.
You gotta know that the Pope is delighted that President Bush put the fourth and fifth Catholic out of a total of nine on the United States Supreme Court. Yes, Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, Roberts and Alito are all there as a fixed majority for the duration of their lives. For that, the Pope ought to be meeting Bush at the airport. (As for the rest of us, well, not so much.)
Actually, the conversation the Pope needs to have with Bush is whether there is even such a thing as a “just illegal invasion” and a “just illegal occupation.”
Because the United States of America has never declared “war” on Iraq, and is not now officially engaged in a declared “war” with any nation on Earth.
I believe the first words out of GWB’s mouth when he meets the pope will be, “Are you the new Santa Claus?”
And where in the bible did Jesus say, “Go forth and wear funny tall hats”?
Obviously I’m not a fan.
http://www.matthewfox.org/sys-tmpl/htmlpage16/
The Antichrist and his sidekick, you decide which one is which.
OK - I’m no fan of BXVI, whom I have long referred to as “The Rat”. However, he has repeatedly made statements that are directly critical of the War in Iraq…they just don’t show up in the corporate media, just like John Paul II’s and the US National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ statements in the lead-up to the war and ever since have been roundly ignored by our “liberal” media. Was anyone aware that five “Catholic” Republican operatives have scheduled the National “Catholic” (quotes mine own)Prayer Breakfast for the exact same time that The Rat will be in New York addressing the U.N. - wow, the Pope speaks and the GOP gathers with Shrub to eat scrambled eggs and pat themselves on the back for their ” Catholicity?” Hmmmmmm, what’s wrong with this picture?
Maybe they’re going to compare notes on which is worse, water-boarding grown Muslims or molesting Catholic kids.
hmmm.the anti-catholic bigotry on this board is unfortunately….not all that suprising.
Let’s see….someone commenting that B16 was in the hitler youth as a child (conscripted…ie. forced but let’s not let facts get in the way) BUT at least he has always opposed the NAZI ideologies like abortion, euthanasia, unethical human experimentation etc.
The “just war” doctrine does not apply to Iraq. It is an armed robbery (for oil, of course, through long-term one-sided production sharing agreements), not a war. But the robbery has not gone well, and the US decided to take the Iraqi people hostage until its demands are met. Many of the hostages have died, but the US remains resolute with its demands.
What the hell is a “just war?”
Why have all the Catholics not quit the Church because their leaders were child molesters? The pope move Cardinal Law from Boston to one of the finest apartments in Rome and head of one of the churches. He’s the one who covered up many criminal priests for years. The pope’s spokesman on TV today said the pope might address the problem but will not apologize.
Many seem to think Obama should quit his church because of words spoken by Rev. Wright. I guess that words are more important than actions.
Also Rev. Wright spoke the truth something the MSM idiots and our Torture President can’t stand. I just can’t stop being BITTER.
The child molesters in the Catholic Church were not following the teachings of Jesus Christ. They followed their own immoral ways.
To say that Catholics should leave their faith because of those men who broke the law, is wrong. Catholics stay because of the sacraments the church bestows on the faithful which give grace.
Those who criticize Catholics sound like Sunnis or Shites. I see no difference.
Pope Benedict might just do some good in trying to get Bush to see that though he calls himself a Christian, he is a hypocrite of the first order.
The wrong done by the priests was horrible, but not nearly as horrendous as what has been done to Iraq. As far as I know, no one died in the church scandal, unlike the millions of Iraqis killed and American lives lost to Bush’s war.
What can anyone expect from the emperor of the European racist religious regime. The history of the Roman Catholic Church manifests that ONLY A “WHITE” EUROPEAN IS ELIGIBLE TO BE A POPE. So it perpetuates racial discrimination in the garb of Christian religion.
-On 11th July 2007 this Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.
The pope represents a sharp rejection of global democratic trends, a new alliance between the Vatican and the White House, and a critical challenge for those attempting to counter the power of the religious right.
He played a decisive role in the 2004 election of George Bush over John Kerry, by announcing through American pastors that Catholic voters were “guilty of formal cooperation in evil” if they supported any candidate with “permissive” views on abortion or euthanasia. He simultaneously gave Catholic voters a pass on the Iraq War, which the church had originally opposed, asserting that there was a legitimate diversity of Catholic opinion about the war (and the death penalty) but not about abortion or assisted death.
As for the “liberty” promoted by the pope, it is hard to reconcile it with Pope’s pattern of silencing liberation theologians. He censored numerous liberation theologians. He worries that democracy “is exceedingly vulnerable to the tyranny of the majority”, to “a soft despotism”, and to “doing whatever you please.” If democracy is worrisome for the pope, what remains is systems of private control, and empire. Ratzinger was a papal advisor during the reformist moment of Vatican II, when a vision of participatory democracy swept the world. When the reforms challenged the centralized Vatican model, however, Ratzinger became “deeply troubled”, especially at the idea of a “church from below”, and the idea “of an ecclesial sovereignty of the people.” (nyt, april 24,2005).
The pope has aligned himself with conservative catholic groups, among them Opus Dei, that represent what might be called a special preference for the rich. A Peruvian Opus Dei priest recently declared: “We do not believe in class struggle. Only a leading class that has a social vision can lead countries like this out of poverty.” (nyt, may 8, 2005). Ratzinger has opposed liberation theology for its “errors” of taking sides in the conflict between the rich and poor, its emphasis on oppression as a sin, and its incorporation of Marxist economic analysis. In 1984, he ordered the silencing of Brazil’s most important liberation theologist, Leonardo Boff, and Peru’s Gustavo Guttierez, widely considered the founder of Latin America’s liberation theology. He has criticized the World Council of Churches for funding “subversive movements” in Latin America. (nyt, april 20, 2005). Since his elevation as pope, Brazilian bishops have been criticizing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for his anti-Vatican positions on abortion, gay rights, and contraception.
In an effort to modernize, the Vatican renamed its notorious Holy Office of the Inquisition, as the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, with Ratzinger serving as its director from 1979 under the leadership of Pope John Paul II.
As head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office for twenty-five years,Ratzinger protected the Vatican’s authority against social movements inside and outside the Church. In the process, he allied closely with the Reagan Administration’s Catholic conservatives and neo-conservatives in their first term in power. He promoted militant right-wing movements in the church including Legionnaires for Christ, an integral part of the military dictatorships in Chile and Argentina in the seventies, and the secretive and ascetic Opus Dei (made infamous in The Da Vinci Codes) which was closely associated with the Franco dictatorship in Spain. Ratzinger ensured the fast-tracking of Opus Dei’s founder, Es criva de Balaguer to sainthood in 2002.
Therefore, how can we expect Bush to listen anything new from this religious dictator.
Depa:
I will comment only on part of your second sentence. “Only a white European is eligible to be Pope” Being White or European as a pre-condition may be just a matter of time. However, shouldn’t your quote read “Only a white MALE European be eligible to be Pope?
What justification can any church show for the automatic exclusion of more than half the population from any position of real authority? Is this not Gender discrimination?
deepa…must you cut and paste the same old tired rheteric? Why must you always analyze the Pope or Catholicism in general with a political left/right analysis.
Let’s face facts…there’s nothing Catholic about Kerry and formal cooporation with the same evils as the NAZI’s (i.e. abortion, euthanasia..etc) from someone claming to be catholic means their basically a…fraud. Call a spade a spade and a fraud a fraud.
Thanks for the article. Before his election to the Papacy this German churchman was a belligerent know-it-all, the Max Schmeling of theologians. Wikipedia offers a helpful article on “opponent” and fellow theologian Hans Kung.
This Pope’s strong antiwar sentiments are a well-kept secret, and it’s not just the secular media withholding them. These quotes haven’t seen the light of day in our own diocesan newspapers. They are news to me.
Among other things Papal trips to First World nations are big fundraisers.
Maybe Pope Benedict XVI knew some of Bush’s relatives during Hitlers rise to power, since we helped with his military buildup.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar
Some believe the Roman Catholic Chuch has not had a real pope since 1958, when the Cardinals were said to have been blackmailed to chose a crypto-Mason as Pope. At that time any Catholic who was a Mason could be excommunicated, and these rules were then repealed. He also withheld the 3rd secret of the Lady of Fatima, which was supposed to be released in 1960, but delayed to 2000. What was released seems to have predicted the end of the Church and a 9/11 event in a big city.
Pope John Paul I was said to have been assassinated in 1978, 33 days after being elected, since he was planning radical changes that would allow Catholics to use contraceptives. Our preferred method for population control was sterilization in 3rd world countries where many of the Catholics live.
Under Saint Malachy’s prophecy, only 112 remaining popes would be left. The last pope will be 112. Ratzinger is number 111, and there is some debate as to which of the popes, 111 or 112 would recognize the anti-Christ. This is a rumour spread in England by Protestants. Protestants and Catholics historically got along as well as Shias and Sunnis get along today. Tony Blair was recently converted to Catholic, which was approved by the Pope, despite his involvement with the Iraq war. Some have accused the Vatican of holding massive wealth that was looted from Jeruselam by the Romans and supposedly the Rothschilds administer the Vaticans wealth. Israel might like to get that wealth as a birthday President from Bush, who has been sued for the role his grandaddy played in WW II (as indicated in the above link), and the Pope also has connections to the Nazis. Israels birth day is next month, it’s 60′th.
OBL’s threat against the Pope, brought to your from OBL Productions Inc, makes you wonder whats going on.
Again
Again we witness two figure heads with a lot to answer for. The behind the scene boys create the chaos and these two simply grin and bear it.
What a tragedy! If these two have a thought between them it would be lonely. Imagine what these two leaders could do with the planet if they had anything resembling honour, statesmanship and love for your fellow man.
WASHINGTON, (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI was expected Wednesday to raise sensitive issues such as the Iraq war
I hope Wrath Slinger likes Gitmo…or…we all know what happens to disagreeable heads of state.
I know many Roman catholics whose sincerity and conviction towards their faith I respect. The Panzer Pope is not one of them. He is the chief executive of a heirarchy that is riddled with corruption and condescending exploitation of those whose trust they abuse by such exploitation. It kind of reminds me of Bushco and the US citizenry and in that sense the two of them deserve each other’s company.
Scotso sez:
“If these two have a thought between them it would be lonely…”
***************
That’s funny–thanks for sharing it.
Power_Slave I haven’t seen one single anti-Catholic post on this thread, but I did see many posts against child molestation committed by catholic priests, the bloody history of the Inquisition, the Catholic Church’s history of supporting war, genocide and greed. So now speaking against these crimes against humanity is being anti-Catholic? Get a f*cking clue.
The Catholic Church tried to stop Rock & Roll.
In the early 18th century the Devil’s Interval (three whole steps) was “disallowed” in music by the Catholic Church…write it, play it? Be tortured to death.
Well that note is intrinsic to The Blues, the mother and father of Rock & Roll.
Leave my suspended fourths alone CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Christopher Hitchens must be pleased with himself. Apparently he has many posters who are too willing to repeat his anti-Catholic drivel.
They just had the Pope at the Whitehouse with a ceremony that would not have been out of place at the old Nazi rallies at Nuremburg.
What an ignorant remark the above is. You are out of place. Find a rock and crawl under it.
Laura and Dubya meet and greet The Pope, while the Republicans of Texas round up kids in Eldorado, Texas and take them away from their parents, all supposedly to protect them from pedophiles! Nobody charged with a crime though. Ain’t life a trip?
BTW, when are all you grand Civil Libertarians of liberalism going to speak out against this mess down Texas way? What you waiting for?
Normally, when one person supposedly commits a crime, the government should not take away hundreds of kids from their families. Hard concept to grasp? What would the Nazi Pope say? What would all the priests say? What, they are silent, too? The family sure comes first!
Even though I am a priest, I am no fan of this Pope. As a dye-in-the-wool Liberal, I am sure he is no fan of mine either. That being said, it always troubles me to see other liberals behaving like so many innately intolerant conservatives when it comes to the Catholic Church. To keep lumping ALL Catholic priests as child molesters when in reality, the number of priests who molest children are miniscule compared to the larger population is like saying that we should stigmatize ALL doctors because some of them are incompetent. That is not reasonable. That is just an excuse for prejudice. The church, like all humanly run organizations has its share of crooks and kooks but it also has some really genuinely good people. There are many priests who hold positions similar to many of you. Look at Fr. Andrew Greeley (a frequent contributor to this site). There are many of us priests who share his views. So don’t paint all of us with the same brush just because you dislike our religion.
Enslavement and deception.
Man’s emancipation depends on his own realization of the truth, and not on the benevolent grace of a god or any external power as a reward for his good conduct. I think that ignorance enslaves us in an illusory material world and that liberation comes only through greater understanding.
The world as it stands still asserts the superiority of the human capacity for imagination and realization over the current limited intelligence of restrictive social constructs.
A prescriptive moral error ensuring that differences are inadequacies assessed by those who assume the role of incontestable righteous indignation. To act patronizingly and paternalistically where a few people decide which truths others can handle, and those they can not.
Zealous devotion to honor, loyalty, reverence, and fidelity the highest virtues of humanity are commodities to be bought and sold. Who are the agents of slavery and deception of almost all humanity? We are, by complicity.
Ever wonder about how an all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful God could have allowed radical deceptions about each other, the planet we share, and other truths that turn out to be radically different from how things seem to be.
Within constraints and deceptive appearances, pain and toil, all for some wonderful, miraculous purpose or the result of the impersonal laws of nature.
By concluding a benevolent rather than a malevolent cause for reality, we can see how much of what is called moral background influences how we think of it.
It is here we can see the very development of philosophy, art, religion, science, and technology as all stemming from a drive to “free humanity” from such enslavement and deception.