Bush, Pope Look to Put Aside Differences

[Khephra]

VATICAN CITY -- When President Bush visits the Vatican on Friday the two sides will be anxious to put aside their differences over the war in Iraq and discuss how they can cooperate in rebuilding a sovereign country, officials preparing for the meeting said Tuesday.

It will be Bush's third meeting with Pope John Paul II, and his first since the United States launched a war against Iraq, of which John Paul was a staunch opponent.

"The president is always welcome, as on other occasions," papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told The Associated Press. "The agenda is open and Iraq is not the only issue they will discuss."

Several Vatican officials have recently issued sharp criticism of Bush administrations actions leading up to the war and the scandal of prisoner abuses by U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

more...............

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-vatican-bush,0,3823441.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

[rucky]

1. Why does this remind me of Godfather 3? n/t

[liveoaktx]

2. No separation of church and state here, is there?

Sheesh. Bush is not Catholic and even if he was, it is unseemly for a secular politician to be trying to court favor with a religious leader.

[sundancekid]

3. but one is still His Heelness while the other remains His Holiness!

BUT WAIT! don't we think b* is REALLY going over there to prop up Italy's Berlusconi who is in danger of losing his upcoming election for supporting b* in Iraq (much like Azinar in Spain)? Will have to check this one out further ...

[Bonhomme Richard]

4. What a bunch of Crap.........

There is nothing in that story that suggest the Pope backs shrub at all except the headline. Sure the pope will meet with bush and sure they will discuss the future of Iraq but that story made it sound like the pope and bush will get along marvelously.
Bullshit.
Ranting.

[Hegemony Cricket]

5. I read that as BUSHPOPE and got frightened for a second...

...

[TahitiNut]

6. Cain & Abel redux.

:eyes:

[htuttle]

7. "Sure, I know you're the Pope and I'm the Antichrist..."

"But can I have your support in the upcoming election anyway?"

:eyes:

[Just Me]

9. ",...after all, you confessed you are a dying man in a dying world." n/t

[Malva Zebrina]

8. there are somedays when headlines make me laugh

and this one makes me laugh. Jesus Christ--this evil man, George Bush, is meeting with the patriarch leader of the Catholic religion and lo and behold, it is the third time he has done so.

No one mentions that he refused to see the emissaries from the Vatican who wanted to see him before he attacked Iraq.


More and more, Bush becomes a laughable idiot. And look at this and compare to the Vatican's hand in hand with Hitler.

Obviously, someone told Bush that Kerry is a Catholic and is out of favor and so here is the idiot visiting the aged and infirm old Pope, and obviously he and the Pope have a realtionship that Kerry does NOT have. LOL


Laughable--honest--

[happynewyear]

10. what the pope might say to *

<< Navarro-Valls stressed that while the pope opposed the war in Iraq -- "as he opposes all wars" -- the Vatican intended to be "forward-looking" and supported efforts for restoring a sovereign government.

The administration has sent a series of officials to the Vatican on fence-mending visits, most recently Vice President Dick Cheney in January. :wtf: ????? >>

Seems * wasn't there three times and yes you are correct, he would not meet with the pope time X2 when the envoy delivered the message, YOU GO TO IRAQ, YOU GO WITHOUT GOD! X3 was in January and Cheney made the magical appearance! :grr:

I think the pope will tell * that he has sinned and that he will forgive him if he confesses I would think. What else does a pope normally do?

I also suspect the pope with push the peace message above bigtime once again!

Staying tuned here.

[Malva Zebrina]

11. Bush does not believe in confession

that is a strictly Catholic concept--ie priests can forgive sins

Bush believes that all you need to do is say you accept Jesus as your lord and you go straight to0 heaven after you die

It does not matter whatever else you do in your life--murder thousands of people

just say the words and you are guaranteed a heaven after you die.

See that is the problem with born agains

It leads to abject evil -- lol and in spite of the evil, you still get to go to heaven after you die

I think I would rather NOT go to heaven and have to see George Bush day after day. I would rather converse with Carl Sagan, who went to hell. LOL

[happynewyear]

15. well he is condemned to hell then

no way around it. Oh well * :thumbsdown: :evilgrin:

[Just Me]

16. Yup. That is the "fundie" path. A very sick, sick path.

A person who lives their whole life in the vision of Jesus will go to hell for perceiving him as a visionary of God, rather than the only way to heaven. BUT, a mass murderer, a lifetime exploiter of human beings,...they will go to heaven IF in their last breath they acknowledge Jesus, the human, as their only redeemer.

I don't know about Jesus,...but, I would be seriously pissed off at anyone who would exploit my "material being" to leverage power over others' spiritual being. I would view such vitriol as blasphemous to both God and my service in God towards humanity.

[RadiDem]

12. Will the Pope ask Shrub if he's the Anti-Christ ? :-)

"According to journalists close to the Vatican, the Pope and his closest advisers are also concerned that the ultimate acts of evil - the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon - were known in advance by senior Bush administration officials. By permitting the attacks to take their course, there is a perception within the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy that a coup d'etat was implemented, one that gave Bush and his leadership near-dictatorial powers to carry out their agenda."




http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen04222003.html

[Just Me]

17. Ewwww. Guess what!!! There are many, here, who view him as the,...

,...anti-christ. Imagine that.

I must be one of those people with whom everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings because I have heard it all (except any advocacy towards "torture").

I am always open to a conversation about religion and/or politics. Apparently, I inadvertently "open the door" *LOL* for folks to pour out their perspectives. I also keep my trap shut while they share,...and then, just ask questions because, I am a part of their struggle and choose not to be an opponent. I prefer to draw them closer to me by sharing existential questions we share rather than "compete" with their unconscious desire to control chaos.

Bah. I'm delving into,...stuff. Ignore,...jump to the next post.

[SOS]

13. Rovian to English translation:

"Bush nervous about losing Catholic votes to Kerry".

[Sideways]

14. John Paul should give him a wedgie and say "Eat Shit and Die"

In Latin of course. Hey Tahiti Nut do you still have my PM to you from last year when I predicted all of this shit that is now happening in Iraq?

[damnraddem]

18. So the Pope thinks Dubya is the Antichrist, big deal -- paper it over.

It's not like there were REAL differences.