Posted on 09/02/2005 3:13:17 AM PDT by an italian
ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict has had a meeting with Oriana Fallaci, the Italian author of best-selling books that criticise Islam, local media reported on Tuesday. Italian news agency Ansa quoted Vatican sources as saying the private meeting took place on Saturday at the Pope's summer residence in Castelgandolfo, near Rome.
The Vatican was not immediately available to comment, but one official, who declined to give his name, said such a meeting had been under discussion for a long time.
Fallaci lives in New York and has regularly provoked the wrath of Muslims with her outspoken criticism of Islam and Arab states following the September 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities.
An Italian judge in May ordered her to stand trial for defaming Islam in her 2004 book, "La Forza della Ragione" (The Force of Reason).
In the book, Fallaci wrote that terrorists had killed 6,000 people over the past 20 years in the name of the Koran and said the Islamic faith "sows hatred in the place of love and slavery in the place of freedom".
News of her meeting with the Pope is likely to anger some Muslims, but Italian politicians said Benedict had been right to accept Fallaci's request for a private audience.
"The Holy Father has acted as the Vicar of Christ and acted like Christ himself, who never refused to talk to anyone," said former Italian president Francesco Cossiga.
Fallaci, who is in her 70s and undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, publicly welcomed the election of Pope Benedict in April, praising his conservative Catholic credentials and his call for the defence of traditionalist teachings.
I have just read that, albeit grossly and inadequately, you preceded me in the defense of Western Culture. But, as soon as the cicadas yelled racist-racist, you retracted at the speed of light. You spoke of unfortunate blunder, involuntary mistake, you promptly presented your apologies to the son of Allah, then you swallowed the affront of their refusal and meekly accepted the hypocritical reprimands of your European colleagues plus the scolding by Blair. In short, you got scared. And this isn't right, Sir: no...I did praise you and I praise you for standing up to Ousama Bin Laden as no other European leader has done. But if you play the worn-out games of diplomacy and shrewdness, if you separate the Bin Ladens from the world they belong to, if you declare that our civilization is equal to the one which imposes the chador and the burkah, then you are no better than the Italian cicadas.
She truly is a remarkable individual.
She's brilliant, as usual. She opened my eyes after Spetember11. After the fall of the Towers I understood that we were (and we still are) at war. After her "the rage and the pride" i understood I have no reason to not fight because I'm part of that great world they want to destroy... And I love my Freedom and my Democracy. If I'm sure they will not win, it's for miss Fallaci.
(What a bad English! Sorry!)
;)
By the way, did you enjoy your visit to New York?
I loved it! Read my home page...
America is... such a lovely land! I adore it and problably one day I'll come there to spend my days. WHAT A COUNTRY!
Rage and Pride BUMP!
Your grip on our language is very good! You do better in our language, than I can right now in yours!
Thank you for the kind words.
:)
America really is a beautiful, majestic land, which is slighted too often by people who don't appreciate everything we've done to ensure tranquility, spread freedom, and defend the notion of universal human rights and values.
People living in nations where freedom has been denied to them for so long, and who have only recently experienced the fruits of liberty, e.g. Albania, Poland, the Baltic states, etc., appreciate the "hyper-power," as we were so derogatorily referred to by Mr. DeVillepin.
New York is a great place as well.
To the best of my recollection more members of the New York Army National Guard have sacrificed their lives in Iraq than any of the other 50 states.
When you visit the city again you should check out Brooklyn.
Kings County has some of the oldest, most beautiful Italian neighborhoods in the country.
Cobble Hill is one of the more opulent, scenic areas in my borough.
Lots of visitors also travel to Dyker Heights-where I live-during Christi mas, when they can see holiday light displays that put Tiffany's and Rockefeller Center to shame.
I'm glad that you enjoyed it, and I hope you can come back to visit sometime in the future.
:)
You can bet it. I'll come back.
:7)
Ma, i sudanese sono bravi! A me piacciono molto la Napoli, Salerno, Reggio Calabria, Capri, Sicilia, ecc...
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