I have studied and written about Vatican geopolitics for about three years for such publications as the Jerusalem Post and Front Page Magazine (Robert has seen and linked to some of my pieces; many thanks, Robert!). Please keep in mind the following:

1. Sodano, the anti-Israeli secretary of state, will be out of office on Sept. 15. He is being replaced by somebody much more loyal to Benedict.

2. Benedict's statement from Vatican Radio really is nothing new, in substance. In tone, however, it marks a distinctive shift from the Middle East policies of his predecesor -- as do some of his appointments not only to the Curia but also to episcopal posts in Israel and the West Bank.

3. Never, ever, forget that statements from Vatican functionaries (even high ones such as Sodano) might not necessarily reflect the pope's thinking. They do, however, reflect those functionaries' agendas. Those functionaries use such statements either to enhance themselves at the expense of others in the Vatican's internal power struggle, or to try to get the pope's support for their respective agendas by performing a kind of public fait acompli.

Posted by: Joseph D'Hippolito at July 20, 2006 6:13 PM

This is significant.

The Catholic Church recognises the evil arrogance of Islam.

The enemy is acknowledged.

The anti is upped.

Posted by: Turbinehead at July 20, 2006 7:22 PM

B16's statement to the G8 conference is a true breath of fresh air. As I have said, this pope is a realist when it comes to Islam.

Posted by: bigcatgirl13106 at July 20, 2006 7:36 PM

B16's statement to the G8 conference is a true breath of fresh air. As I have said, this pope is a realist when it comes to Islam.

Posted by: bigcatgirl13106 at July 20, 2006 7:37 PM

#1. "Sodano, the anti-Israeli secretary of state..."

#2. "Never, ever, forget that statements from Vatican functionaries (even high ones such as Sodano) might not necessarily reflect the pope's thinking. They do, however, reflect those functionaries' agendas. Those functionaries use such statements either to enhance themselves at the expense of others in the Vatican's internal power struggle, or to try to get the pope's support for their respective agendas by performing a kind of public fait acompli."
-- from a posting by Joseph D'Hippolito above

Sodano deserves this summary execution, and the second statement sums up the workings of the Vatican as being far from straightforward or transparent. You don't have to be in the Eastern Empire to be Byzantine; Rome will do quite well, thank you.

Posted by: Hugh at July 20, 2006 8:29 PM

The West has moderate pragmatists and fanatical idealists, but our current Western, non-Islamic world, is the Golden Age. We do not reside in some lost past, but in the present, and in the future our children may create, if we hand them the tools. Our wisdom represents a change in the human relationship. We value freedom, color blindness & diversity, individual rights, active criticism & experimentation, truth, knowledge, ethics, morality, free markets & competition, accountability, science, democracy, secular courts, policies, theories, ideas, and opinions. We focus on logical elements & underlying assumptions about human nature, society, & our near and long-term goals, and we feed these messages to the economically poor and powerless. We must allow for good ideas to win, and fallacious ones to lose.

We must contend with Islamic forces inimical to our goals. We do not want a draconian Islamic system, with top-down hierarchies and fanatics. We must face Islam. We must consolidate, rearm, prepare, and understand the complexity of Islam. We must prepare the argument and comparison, for ourselves and for our society. We know Islam is already competing against nature and itself, but we are in competition with information. We have civil rights groups protecting Islam, and they have polarizing tendencies, intended to tear civil society apart. Islam sits inside the Western host countries and spreads its progeny far and wide, with abundant chances to proliferate. Islam has totalitarian ideas, and is evolving & adapting their purposes along the way.

Our greatest accomplishment will be to smash Islamic hierarchies that are used to oppress us. Islamic countries point to us as an outside threat, and make conformity a virtue. They crush every other worldview, and work to obstruct the West. We must eliminate Islamic regimes and their militant jihad, and replace them, with regimes that have the basic desire to make the process of the West, work for all of their citizens. We also live in a world with very powerful weapons. We must exhaust all possible channels to lock down ammunition flows to the Islamic world, and see to the destruction of existing Islamic ammunition depots.

Posted by: SFOD at July 20, 2006 9:17 PM

With all respect to Mr. D'Hippolito, it seems quite odd to suppose that the assuming edicts of a rogue underling bear the authority of the POPE without appropriate and complete reprisal, for sake of saving face. Fait accompli?

The new statements are weak. The Lebanese do not, in fact, have any moral right "to see the integrity and sovereignty, blah, blah". They have allowed this to go on for decades. Their inaction has become implied approval, and therefore culpability. All this moral equivolence and everybody-gets-to-be-happy rhetoric does nothing but attempt to maintain the validity of the status quo for the sake of political correctness, which causes lots of innocent people to be surprised by being killed.

Remember when the Pontiff used to call for crusades?

Posted by: Concerned Citizen at July 20, 2006 11:07 PM

Israel does show restraint.....as they reload.

Posted by: DCWatson at July 21, 2006 8:08 AM

DC:

May we both live to see the day when the world concedes, however grudgingly, that for Israel to clean Hezbollah's clock for once and for all (oh, please!) was an act for the greater good of humankind, just as they ultimately did about Israel depriving Saddam of a nuclear bomb.

Posted by: waterdragon52 at July 21, 2006 8:20 AM

Everything that comes out of the Vatican these days has a shelf life of about 12 hours before the next 180 degree statement gets released. I get dizzy just trying to follow the press releases from the Holy See.

I'd like to hear Benedict XVI stand up and support the Christians who once comprised 90% of Lebanon's population, but now a mere 50% at best, and request the rest of the world support the erradication of this terrorist network. It shouldn't be forgotten that Hizballah has two missions in Lebanon, the "cleansing" of Lebanon of infidels being the most successful to date.

Posted by: No1 Infidel at July 21, 2006 8:27 AM

The Vatican: One step forward, two steps back.

Moral guidance on how to deal with Islam will not come from the Catholic Church.

Posted by: US_infidel at July 21, 2006 10:38 AM

Thanks go to Benedict for some long overdue Papal relevancy.

Posted by: Know Your Enemy at July 21, 2006 4:01 PM