As anyone who has kept up with reports coming from Iraq knows, the Pope’s worries are well founded. Brave New Democratic Iraq, the Light Unto the Muslim Nations, doesn’t seem to have much of a place for Christians. Does Bush realize how hollow this makes his fledgling democracy (as if more confirmation were needed)? Does he care? Did he tell the Pope he would make sure that Christians in Iraq were protected?
“Bush, Pope discuss war in Iraq,” by Jennifer Loven for Associated Press (thanks to all who sent this in):
ROME – President Bush said Saturday that and he and Pope Benedict XVI discussed the pontiff’s deep worries that Christians in Iraq would not be embraced by the Muslim majority.
“We didn’t talk about just war,” Bush said in a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi during a swing through Europe.
“He was concerned that the society that was evolving would not tolerate the Christian religion. … He’s worrisome about the Christians inside Iraq being mistreated by the Muslim majority.”