Pope Benedict XVI

[Rasputin]

بازگشایی دفتر تعامل با اسلام در واتیکان


اقدام پاپ به اهمیت داشتن روابط بهتر با جهان اسلام تعبیر شده است
پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم، رهبر کاتولیک های جهان با تجدید نظر در تصمیم سال گذشته خود، رای به بازگشایی دفتر تعامل با جهان اسلام داده است.
رهبر کاتولیک های جهان سال گذشته رای به حذف این دفتر از ساختار اداری واتیکان داده بود. شورای گفتگوی درون مذهبی سال پیش با دستور بندیکت شانزدهم با دفتر مسایل فرهنگی ادغام شد.

هنوز مشخص نیست که آیا اسقف مایکل فیتزجرالد، رییس بریتانیایی پیشین این دفتر دوباره مسئولیت این بخش را عهده دار می شود یا خیر. مایکل فیتزجرالد، از کارشناسان سرشناس واتیکان در امور اسلامی به شمار می رود و در جهان اسلام، مورد احترام است.

خبرنگار بی بی سی در واتیکان می گوید که انتصاب اسقف فیتزجرالد به عنوان نماینده واتیکان در اتحادیه عرب از سوی جهان اسلام اینگونه تعبیر شد که پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم بیشتر به بهبود روابط با سایر شاخه های مسیحیت تمایل دارد.

خبرنگار بی بی سی می گوید که اقدام رهبر کاتولیک های جهان برای بازگشایی این دفتر، اهمیت فراوانی دارد و به معنای آن است که پاپ برای روابط بهتر با جهان اسلام، اهمیت قائل است.

تحلیلگران بر این باورند که بازگشایی مجدد این دفتر از سوی پاپ به طور ضمنی به معنای پذیرفتن اشتباه در تعطیل کردن آن است.

روابط واتیکان و جهان اسلام از زمان روی کار آمدن پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم دچار تنش هایی شده است. اظهارات وی در آلمان پاپ در مورد تفاوت فلسفی و تاريخی بين اسلام و مسيحيت و رابطه ايمان و خشونت باعث خشم مسلمانان شد و اعتراض های فراوانی را بر انگیخت اگرچه ابراز تاسف وی از آزرده کردن مسلمانان و عبادتش در مسجدی در ترکیه توانست بخشی از آسیب های وارده را ترمیم کند.

[Rasputin]

"Deranged" German man tries to jump on Pope's jeep

A 27-year-old German man described by the Vatican as "clearly deranged" leaped over a barricade on Wednesday and tried to jump on to Pope Benedict's open-topped jeep.

The man took the German Pope's bodyguards by surprise in St Peter's Square, coming within a meter of the pontiff in an episode that brought back memories of the assassination attempt against his predecessor Pope John Paul in 1981.

Television pictures showed the man, wearing a baseball cap, jump out of the crowd and over a wooden barricade as the Pope passed by to start his weekly audience for some 40,000 people.

Hurtling from the Pope's right, he tried to jump on the back of the moving "popemobile" but managed only to touch it before being wrestled to the ground by Vatican security guards.

"He was clearly deranged but did not want to kill or harm the Pope, he only wanted to draw attention to himself," the spokesman said.

After questioning by a Vatican judge the man, who was unarmed, was taken to a psychiatric institution in Italy for testing. His identity was not disclosed.

The man did not appear to be holding anything in his hands nor carrying any bag. Tourists and pilgrims entering St Peter's Square go through airport-style metal detectors and have their bags checked by Italian police.

The Pope, who was elected in 2005, was standing on the open jeep facing forward and looking at the crowd to his left and did not see the man trying to get on the vehicle.

[Rasputin]

Pope unhurt after man lunges at popemobile

Security officers wrestled a man to the ground Wednesday after he tried to jump into Pope Benedict's popemobile during his general audience in St. Peter's Square.

The 80-year-old Pope was not hurt and, appearing not to notice the flurry of activity behind him, continued to wave to the crowd of about 35,000.

The man managed to get within one metre of the Pope, who seemed not to notice the commotion behind him.
(CBC) The man, clad in shorts and a pink T-shirt, jumped over the protective barricades lining the route, hurling himself toward the open-topped popemobile.

He managed to hang on to the back of the Jeep for several seconds before members of the Pope's security team wrestled him to the ground.

A Vatican spokesman identified the man as a 27-year-old German who showed signs of "mental imbalance."

"His aim was not an attempt on the Pope's life but to attract attention to himself," said Rev. Federico Lombardi.

He was questioned by Vatican police and taken to a psychiatric hospital, said Lombardi.

Security tightened after 9/11
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, the Vatican has tightened security in St. Peter's Square when the Pope is present. All visitors must pass by police to get into the square, with some walking through metal detectors or being searched with metal-detecting wands.

When the Pope uses the popemobile in St. Peter's, it is usually uncovered; when he travels overseas or outside the Vatican, he usually uses one outfitted with bulletproof glass. He is protected by a combination of Swiss Guards, Vatican police and Italian police.

The late pope John Paul II was the first pontiff to use one of the vehicles that came to be known as the popemobile, after two attempts on his life.

In 1981 he was shot by a Turkish gunman in St. Peter's Square, while a year later a priest carrying a bayonet lunged at John Paul during a visit to a church in Portugal.

In 2002, John Paul appealed to the media to stop referring to the custom-made vehicle as the popemobile, because he believed the title was undignified.

[Rasputin]

دیدار بوش با پاپ


جورج بوش در اولین مرحله از سفر به ایتالیا با پاپ دیدار کرد
جورج بوش، رییس جمهوری آمريکا وارد واتیکان شده و برای اولین بار با پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم دیدار کرده است.
قرار است آقای بوش پس از دیدار با پاپ، با رومانو پرودی، نخست وزیر ایتالیا گفتگو کند.

جورج بوش امروز در ایتالیا احتمالا در مورد جنگ عراق و گزارش های مربوط به سیاست کشورش در مورد دستگیری مظنونین تروریسم و انتقال آنها به کشورهای ثالث برای بازجویی، تحت فشار قرار خواهد داشت.

هم پاپ و هم جورج بوش در مسائلی چون مخالفت با سقط جنین، ازدواج همجنسگرایان و کمک به بیماران بدحال برای پایان دادن به زندگی آنها، با هم اتفاق نظر دارند اما پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم نیز مانند پاپ قبلی، ژان پل دوم، مخالف جنگ عراق است و احتمال دارد موضوع وضعیت وخیم زندگی صدها هزار مسیحی عراقی را که به دلیل حملات فرقه ای از کشورشان گریخته اند، با آقای بوش در میان بگذارد.

پاپ در سخنرانی عید پاک گفته بود: "از عراق هیچ چیز مثبتی بیرون نمی آید، کشوری که در اثر ادامه کشتارها و فرار جمعیت غیرنظامی پاره پاره شده است."

آقای بوش همچنین گفته امیدوار است بتواند در مورد تغییرات در چین و آینده کوبا پس از کاسترو با پاپ گفتگو کند اما تاکید کرده قصد دارد عمدتا به سخنان پاپ گوش فرادهد.

گفتگوهای امروز رییس جمهور آمريکا با رومانو پرودی، نخست وزیر ایتالیا یک روز پس از آن صورت خواهد گرفت که دادگاهی در شهر میلان، محاکمه غیابی 25 مامور سازمان اطلاعات مرکزی آمریکا، سیا، و یک افسر ارتش این کشور را آغاز کرد. اتهام این افراد، ربودن یک روحانی مصری از ایتالیا در سال 2003 و تحویل مخفیانه وی به مصر است. گفته می شود این فرد در مصر شکنجه شده است.

انتظار می رود هزاران نفر در جریان سفر یک روزه آقای بوش به رم علیه جنگ عراق تظاهرات کنند.

پلیس نگران است تظاهرات به خشونت کشیده شود و سفارت آمریکا به شهروندان آمریکایی هشدار داده است از تظاهرکنندگان فاصله بگیرند.

[Rasputin]

Blair's Catholic conversion "no surprise"

THE North-East priest who baptised Tony Blair's children says the outgoing prime minister's likely conversion to Catholicism comes as no surprise to him.

Father John Caden, a close family friend of the Blairs, said a decade in Downing Street had made it difficult for the prime minister to be open about his spiritual faith.

Asked if he expected a conversion once Mr Blair steps down in four days' time, Father Caden replied: "It would not surprise me at all - it takes that problem away."

advertisementThe priest, who said mass for the Blair family at his tiny St John Fisher Church, in Sedgefield, until the mid-1990s, spoke ahead of the prime minister's expected visit to the Vatican today. (Sat).

Downing Street announced last month that Mr Blair would make a final visit to Benedict XVI before leaving office, because he was keen to "discuss interfaith issues".

However, it is increasingly believed he has taken the decision to seek admission to the Catholic church, with an announcement possible next week.

Father Michael Seed, who has said mass for the Blairs in Downing Street, has said the prime minister is ready to declare his switch from Anglicanism.

Cherie Blair and the couple's four children are Roman Catholic. Furthermore.

Mr Blair was once criticised by the Archbishop of Westminster for taking communion at his wife's church in North London.

However, Britain has never had a Catholic prime minister, a situation which, it is suggested, would create problems over the appointment of Church of England bishops.

Father Caden, speaking to the Northern Echo, suggested a conversion would also have made it more difficult for Mr Blair to achieve a peace settlement in Northern Ireland.

And he added: "The prime minister is an Anglo-Catholic, who has brought his children up in the Catholic faith better than any Catholic father could have.

"But ten years in office hasn't helped, because we are talking about him making a personal, private decision about his spiritual life.

"He has taken enough brickbats without talking about his spiritual life to the world. It would not surprise me at all if he converted, because that won't be a problem now."

Father Caden, who also used to play tennis regularly with Mr Blair in the 1980s and 90s, added that the future prime minister never spoke to him about conversion during those years.

Ahead of today's Vatican visit, Mr Blair was plunged into a a fresh 'freebie' row when it emerged he will stay at Chequers, the country retreat of prime ministers, after quitting Downing Street.

Builders are still refurbishing the Blairs' £3.6m Georgian townhouse in North London and he is thought to have ruled out Myrobella, his Sedgefield home, as too distant from London.

Downing Street said there was "a tradition" that outgoing prime ministers were given two or three days to collect their belongings and say goodbye to the staff at Chequers.

But Grant Shapps, vice-chairman of the Conservative party, said: "Tony Blair will effectively be living in a huge country estate at the taxpayers' expense."

Meanwhile, a United Nations spokeswoman has confirmed that a proposal for Mr Blair to become a Middle East peace envoy after leaving office was "under discussion".

[Rasputin]

Blair's Catholic conversion "coming soon"

TONY Blair is expected to tell the Pope he wants to become a Catholic at a meeting in Rome today.

Friends have predicted Blair will convert "sooner rather than later" after leaving No10.

The Prime Minister, who stands down on Wednesday, is due to meet Pope Benedict XVI along with wife Cherie and daughter Kathryn.

All of the Blair children have been brought up in Cherie's Catholic faith and the PM has often celebrated Mass with his family.

RAF chaplain Father John Walsh has regularly held the service for them at Chequers for the past four years.

The priest is also thought to have been preparing Blair for his conversion.


Britain has never had a Catholic PM and Blair is thought to have delayed the move to avoid a host of problems, including the possibility of disrupting the Northern Ireland peace process.


It could also have compromised his role in the appointment of Church of England bishops.


Blair is understood to also want to discuss the Middle East with the Pope. He is expected to be confirmed as an international peace envoy to the region over the weekend.


On the prospects of Blair meeting the Pope, his official spokesman said: "It's entirely appropriate that the Prime Minister meets the Pope from time to time."


US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has proposed him as representative of the "Quartet" - America, the United Nations, the EU and Russia.


The group was formed to press for a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict but the position of envoy has been vacant since April last year.


The UN have confirmed Blair's appointment is "under discussion". His audience with Benedict XVI will be his second since the German succeeded John Paul II in April 2005.


In the past, the PM has insisted he has no plans to convert. But Catholic priest Timothy Russ, whose parish includes Chequers, once embarrassed Blair by revealing the PM had asked for advice on moving between churches.


Reports also claim Blair will have lunch at the Venerable English College in Rome with the Archbishop of Westminster.


He would be the first PM to visit the college, which was founded to train priests, and some observers say it is a signal the Catholic Church is prepared to take him into their fold.

[Rasputin]

Pope says China "suffocates" faith, urges dialogue

Pope Benedict on Saturday decried Chinese state restrictions on religious freedom that "suffocate" the Church and sow division amongst that country's Catholics, in his most significant address on China to date.

But the Pontiff also extended an olive branch to Beijing, saying he hoped to strike an agreement with officially atheist China, where millions of Catholics worship under a state-controlled church that does not recognize his authority.

Others worship in "underground" churches loyal to the Holy See.

"It is true that in recent years the Church has enjoyed greater religious freedom than in the past," the Pope said.

"Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that grave limitations remain that touch the heart of the faith and that, to a certain degree, suffocate pastoral activity."

China has had no diplomatic ties with the Vatican since 1951, two years after the Communist takeover, something the Pope said he wanted to change.

"The Holy See remains open to negotiations, so necessary if the difficulties of the present time are to be overcome," the Pope wrote.

Although the Vatican estimated there are only between 8 million and 12 million Catholics in China, the Pope expressed hope that it would prove fertile ground for evangelization in the future.

"During the first Christian millennium the Cross was planted in Europe and during the second in the American continent and in Africa," the German-born Pope wrote, in a letter addressed to China's bishops, priests and faithful.

"During the third millennium a great harvest of faith will be reaped in the vast and vibrant Asian continent."

REACHES OUT TO BISHOPS

Tensions have repeatedly flared over the appointment of bishops. China refuses to allow the Vatican to appoint them, saying this would be interference in its internal affairs.

But the Pope said the ability to appoint bishops is a fundamental part of the ability to fully "exercise ... the right of religious freedom".

He also said bishops appointed without Church approval were "illegitimate".

Despite China's actions, the Pope said that all but "a very small number" of the bishops in China had sought the Pope's blessing. Many, he said, had secretly received a "clandestine consecration."

Significantly, the Pope reached out to those bishops who were not yet in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

He said that as long as they were ordained by other bishops who had Vatican approval, they could exercise their ministry validly, even if they were "illegitimate". He expressed hope they would come into full communion with the Church.

As for the faithful, he urged them to seek out clergy who were in communion with the Pope. But, if that were not viable, the Pope said they should attend Church regardless.

The Pontiff steered clear of one long-time sticking point in relations -- the Holy See's recognition of Beijing's diplomatic rival Taiwan.

Beijing has insisted that diplomatic ties cannot be resumed unless Rome first severs links with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

[Rasputin]

The reaction to Pope Benedict XVI's characterization of Protestants as not really belonging to the "true Church" set off a wave of global upheaval.

Evangelicals burned the pope in effigy in the United States. Catholic cathedrals were burned down in Europe. Catholic missionaries were attacked in Asia. Catholic Bibles were thrown on a bonfire in Africa. Protestants kidnapped priests and nuns in Latin America and held them for ransom. Threats on the life of the pope poured in from around the world

You saw all this on the news, right?

Oh, you didn't?

You mean non-Catholic Christians did not rise up in anger and violence when insulted by the pope? Why is that?

After all, look at what happened in the Islamic world when Pope Benedict ever so gently chided its history.

Last fall, Pope Benedict gave a speech at Regensburg, Germany, in which he quoted a 14th century text that denounced as "evil and inhumane" Muhammad's decree that Islam could be spread by the sword.

Within hours of the address, priests in Islamic countries were murdered and churches were burned. Muslims "protesting" the speech -- because it insulted their "peaceful" religion -- shot an African nun in the back. Threats were made against the life of the pope. When the pope traveled to Turkey two months later, he was met by tens of thousands of angry demonstrators.

With that recent experience in mind with what we're told is "the religion of peace" should we not have expected the non-Catholic Christian world to ignite like a powder keg when insulted by Pope Benedict?

Yet, it did not happen. Why?

It's quite simple.

Christians, generally speaking, though constantly criticized by non-believers as intolerant, are actually the most tolerant, peaceable people in the world. They believe in debate. They believe in dialogue. They believe in lively and free expression. They believe in permitting others to speak their minds -- even when they profoundly disagree with what is said.

As an evangelical Christian, I was disappointed the pope would approve a document that characterized my faith as "defective" because I did not submit to his authority and the authority of priests but instead live only by the authority of God and His Word.

I disagree with the pope that the church Christ established on this Earth had anything to do with an institution run by men. The church Christ started was not a building. It was not a corporation. It was not a set of rules. It was and is a relationship between Creator and His creation.

Nevertheless, no matter how profoundly I disagree with the pope on this issue, I am not even slightly tempted to burn down Catholic churches or take nuns and priests hostage. I don't think many other non-Catholic Christians are either -- as evidenced by the quietude we have experienced in the world since the pope's action.

There's a lesson here.

Some non-believers like to portray Christian fundamentalists and Islamic fundamentalists as cut from the same cloth. I think the reaction to these two separate pronouncements from the Vatican illustrates just how profoundly ignorant, unenlightened and bigoted such conclusions are.

No heads were chopped off in the creation of this column.

No children were recruited into the suicide bomber profession as a creation of this column.

No women were stoned to death in the creation of this column.

And none of those things will happen as a result of the pope's difference of opinion with the non-Catholic Christian world.

No, I don't want to kill the pope because of his wrongful conclusions about me and my faith.

[Rasputin]

Pope's secretary warns of Islamization of Europe

Pope Benedict XVI's private secretary warned of the Islamization of Europe and stressed the need for the continent's Christian roots not to be ignored, in comments released Thursday.

"Attempts to Islamize the west cannot be denied," Monsignor Georg Gaenswein was quoted as saying in an advance copy of the weekly Sueddeutsche Magazin to be published Friday.

"The danger for the identity of Europe that is connected with it should not be ignored out of a wrongly understood respectfulness," the magazine quoted him as saying.

Gaenswein also defended a speech Benedict gave last year linking Islam and violence, saying it was an attempt by the pontiff to "act against a certain naivety."

[Rasputin]

Why the Pope Offends Muslims, Jews and Protestants

In spite of the Vatican’s own history, the pope is doing a lot of criticizing and condemning.

In September 2006, the pope offended Muslims by quoting a Byzantine emperor from the 14th century. Here is what the emperor said: “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached” (emphasis mine throughout).

The pope apologized for offending Muslims, but didn’t retract what he said. And it was a shocking statement.

But here is something far more shocking. I didn’t notice anyone reminding the pope of his own church’s history! He discussed Mohammed’s “command to spread by the sword the faith he preached,” but the truth of history is that no church has spread its faith by the sword more than the Catholics!

The Vatican and Germany primarily comprise the so-called Holy Roman Empire. Six resurrections of that empire have come and gone. I defy anybody to show me a religious empire that has shed more blood in man’s entire history!

In spite of this bloody history, the pope is doing most of the criticizing and condemning.

The seventh head of the Holy Roman Empire is now on the scene in Europe. And the stronger it gets, the more aggressive the Vatican becomes. That empire has had a history of converting people to Catholicism with the sword for about 1,500 years. Bloodshed has repeatedly followed its strong criticisms.

The greatest hero of the Holy Roman Empire is Charlemagne. He waded through a sea of blood to win converts to Catholicism. Still, the last two popes have continually instructed Roman Catholics to remember and resurrect that “glorious” past! That is the opposite of repenting for past sins! Some European Union leaders even discuss how they are waiting for a new Charlemagne to get the Holy Roman Empire moving again. And nobody seems to be alarmed.

Have people forgotten the history of the Holy Roman Empire?

How about the Catholic crusades?

Most religious (and even secular) people are reluctant to criticize the Vatican. But the pope is hurling some scathing criticisms at others—especially other religions.

Since the Vatican is so critical, surely it can stand a little criticism too.

Why do you find so few Protestants in Spain today? Most of them were killed in the violent Catholic inquisition!

Many books have been written on that subject, but the Vatican seems to be able to gloss over it. The Catholics have tried to cover their bloody history, and they have succeeded quite well.

If we fail to learn from history, the bloodshed is going to get a lot worse. This world desperately needs to know where the Vatican’s aggression is leading. All religions have their faults. However, the Vatican acts like it is innocent.

Protestants Not Even a “Church”

London’s Telegraph newspaper reported, “Christian denominations outside Roman Catholicism are either defective or are not full churches of Jesus Christ, the Vatican has reaffirmed. A 16-page document released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict xvi once headed, described Orthodox churches as true churches, but said they are suffering from a ‘wound’ since they do not recognize the primacy [state of being first!] of the pope.

“The document, approved by Pope Benedict, went on to say the ‘wound is still more profound’ in Protestant denominations. ‘Despite the fact that this teaching has created no little distress … it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of “church” could possibly be attributed to them,’ it said. …

“While there was nothing doctrinally new in the document, it nevertheless prompted swift criticism from Protestants, Lutherans and other Christian denominations” (July 11). But the criticism was anemic compared to the pope’s scathing condemnation of their religion. The reason Protestants revolted in the first place was the corruption inside the Roman Catholic Church.

The pope can’t see how the Protestants could even have the title of “church” attributed to them! Quite an outrage coming from a church with such a bloody history.

This document criticized Orthodox churches almost as severely.

Other religions have a history of being afraid to criticize a powerful Catholic Church. And that situation is only going to get worse, as the Catholic Church rapidly grows in power and influence.

Jews Are “Blind”

Here is an excerpt from the Observer newspaper, July 8: “Jewish leaders and community groups criticized Pope Benedict xvi strongly yesterday after the head of the Roman Catholic Church formally removed restrictions on celebrating an old form of the Latin mass which includes prayers calling for the Jews to ‘be delivered from their darkness’ and converted to Catholicism. …

“However, the older rite’s prayers calling on God to ‘lift the veil from the eyes’ of the Jews and to end ‘the blindness of that people so that they may acknowledge the light of your truth, which is Christ’—used just once a year during the Good Friday service—have sparked outrage.

“Yesterday the Anti-Defamation League, the American-based Jewish advocacy group, called the papal decision a ‘body blow to Catholic-Jewish relations.’” Still, the Vatican continues to allow use of the ceremony, and Jewish criticism is becoming muted. The Vatican is certain it sees Jewish blindness, but what about its own blindness?

We all remember that the Nazis killed 6 million Jews in World War ii. There is an abundance of proof that the Vatican helped more Nazis escape at the end of the war than any other institution by far!

How could that happen if the Vatican hadn’t been allied with Adolf Hitler? Is that history a prophetic insight, showing that history is about to repeat itself? Is this the kind of “light” the Vatican wants to give the Jews? Does the Vatican think it was following Christ in those evil deeds?

“The pope also sparked bewilderment when he made no mention of anti-Semitism, or the fact that the Nazis killed millions of people because they were Jewish, in a speech last year at Auschwitz. He also failed to acknowledge that there might be some degree of collective responsibility of the German people” (ibid.).

Is this the voice of a church that has repented of its sins? These are mind-numbing facts that we can’t ignore! And yet the Vatican goes around castigating all other religions and acting like it is the repository of all righteousness. It is a deadly sign of where the European Union is headed!

The Catholic Church has over a billion members and wields frightening power within the European Union and in this world. (For a thorough understanding, request our free booklet Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.)

Where are these events leading? If people knew, and just understood their history books, they would be deeply disturbed.

[Rasputin]

Pope 'refused audience for Rice'

Pope Benedict XVI refused a recent request by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the Middle East and Iraq, Vatican sources say.

The Pope refused a request for an audience during the August holidays.

Senior Vatican sources told the BBC the Pope does not normally receive politicians on his annual holiday at the Castelgandolfo residence near Rome.

But one leading Italian newspaper said it was an evident snub by the Vatican towards the Bush administration.

Christian rights

There are at least two reasons why Pope Benedict may have decided peremptorily against a private meeting with Ms Rice.

First, it was Ms Rice who just before the outbreak of the Iraq war in March 2003 made it clear to a special papal envoy sent from Rome, Cardinal Pio Laghi, that the Bush administration was not interested in the views of the late Pope on the immorality of launching its planned military offensive.

Secondly, the US has responded in a manner considered unacceptable at the Vatican to the protection of the rights of Iraqi Christians under the new Iraqi constitution.

The Bush administration has told the Vatican that as coalition forces have not succeeded in securing the whole territory of Iraq, they are unable to protect non-Muslims.

Instead of meeting the Pope, Ms Rice had to make do with a telephone conversation with the Vatican's number two, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was visiting the US during August on other business.

[Rasputin]

Pope attacks Iran at World Jewish Congress

The Pope hit out at Iran as he pledged to help world Jewish leaders in their fight against anti-Semitism.

Pope Benedict XVI told leaders of the World Jewish Congress that Iran was “an issue of big concern” to him.

At a meeting at the Vatican, the Pope spoke of his concern about rising anti-Semitism and described how he wanted to use educational tools to counter the hatred of the Iranian leadership towards the Jewish people and Israel.

Maram Stern, secretary general of the World Jewish Congress, said after the audience: “We thanked the Holy Father for everything he did for the Jewish people, and more importantly what he will do.”

Speaking to journalists in Rome, he said the Pope had “recognised the question of Iran as an issue of big concern for him.”

Members of the congress discussed the critical problem of “resurgent anti-Semitism” in Europe. Britain itself has seen a marked rise in anti-Semitism, linked to increasing anti-Zionism and to events in the Middle East.

In a statement after the audience, the congress said members of the delegation “called on the Pontiff to take action against those in the Church who wanted to do damage to the close and positive relationship between Christians and Jews”.

Ronald Lauder, new president of the congress, who headed the delegation, said that the Pope had agreed to host a joint event with his organisation when Benedict XVI visits New York next year.

Mr Lauder, who is the son of cosmetics queen Estee Lauder and a former US ambassador to Austria, raised the question of the Polish priest, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, who heads a Catholic media empire including Radio Maryja and television Trwam. Jewish groups have repeatedly accused the priest of using his media outlets to peddle a creed of anti-Semitism.

Only a few days ago Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, secretary to the late Pope John Paul II, accused Father Rydzyk of trying to split the Church and smear the legacy of the late Pope, who radically improved relations with the Jewish community during his pontificate and was the first Pope to visit a Synagogue.

The delegation also discussed with the Pope the importance of dialogue with moderate Muslims.

The congress’s visit to Rome was an important step in re-establishing it as a player in the ongoing fight against anti-Semitism on the world stage after it was itself riven by controversy over funds and other matters over recent months.

Iran’s government, which has the largest Jewish community living in the Middle East outside Israel, numbering 20,000, repeatedly denies that it is anti-Semitic.

Nevertheless, shortly after his election in 2005, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be “wiped from the map” and described the Holocaust as a “myth”.

Only last week he questioned again the scale of the mass slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust. He also suggested once more that Israel could be moved to arctic North America.

[Rasputin]

Vatican: Iraqi Chaldean patriarch to made cardinal

Rome, 22 Nov. (AKI) - The head of the Chaldean Christian church in Iraq and worldwide, Emmanuel Deli III, will on Saturday become the first Iraqi cardinal. He is among 23 senior churchmen who will be made cardinals on that date

Iraq's vice-president Adil Abd-al-Mahdi will be attending the ceremony, Iraqi TV station Al-Iraqiyah reported on Thursday.

The rank of cardinal is the second most senior in the Catholic hierachy after that of pontiff.

Around 70 percent of Iraqi Christians belong to the Chaldean community. An Eastern-rite autonomous church, it has its own liturgy and leadership but recognises the authority of the pope.

There are an estimated 600-800,000 Christians in Iraq - around 3 percent of the population. Many Chaldeans and members of other religious minorities in Iraq have fled the country since the 2003, fearing sectarian violence directed at them by the Muslim majority.

According to Iraq’s last census in 1987 there were 1.4 million Christians in Iraq at that time. But the Ministry of Migration and Displacement has said that nearly half of that population has fled Iraq since 2003.

In 2000 the Vatican set up a Rome-based body representing the Chaldean Church, headed by Mons. Phillipe Najim.

[Rasputin]

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Monday ruled out a trip by Pope Benedict XVI to Israel in the immediate future, saying the two sides must settle long-standing differences over property, tax exemptions and visas.

Israel recently renewed a standing invitation to the pope, who has said he would like to visit.

"The pope has a great desire to go to Israel, but along with general conditions of peace there should be positive signs on relations with the Holy See," the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, told a media briefing on the situation of Christians in the Holy Land.

The Vatican and Israel established diplomatic ties in the early 1990s, but they still must resolve the status of expropriated church property, tax exemptions for the church and permits for Arab Christian clergy traveling to and around the West Bank.

[Rasputin]

Muslim delegation expected at Vatican this week for talks

A delegation of Muslim officials is expected at the Vatican this week for talks aimed at arranging a summit between the Pope and Muslim leaders, both sides said Monday.

The preparatory talks -- on Tuesday and Wednesday -- come as the result of a Muslim call for dialogue in the wake of a controversial speech by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 seemingly linking Islam with violence.

One member of the Muslim delegation, Sergio Yahya Pallavicini, said the encounter was aimed at "firming up the likelihood of a meeting with the pope," whilst the Vatican called the talks "purely of a technical nature."

The talks are the result of an initiative by the Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Muhammed bin Talal, who brought together 138 Muslim leaders from various sects from 43 countries in an open letter last year urging peace.

That move in October 2007 came one year after the pope gave a speech at Regensberg University in Germany which angered some Muslim leaders for using a quote which seemed to equate Islam with violence.

The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, underlined the pope's "complete willingness" to meet with Muslim leaders "to see what unites us, without minimising or ignoring our differences."