Vatican Secretary of State speaks frankly on Israel, Palestine, and Islam

National Catholic Reporter ^ | 6/6/2003 | John L. Allen

[sinkspur]

A top Vatican official has said that Palestinians expelled from their property in what is today Israel following conflicts in 1948 and 1967 have the right to return, or at least to be compensated for their loss.

"If you expel me from my home, then in justice you need to let me come back, or at least give me something," said Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's Secretary of State.

Sodano suggested that Europeans have a special sensitivity to the question, since at various points of the 20th century Poles, Germans, French and Italians have been driven from areas traditionally considered theirs.

Sodano also suggested that in order to bring peace to the Middle East, Israel will have to sacrifice at least some of its settlements in the occupied territories. He said that a "Gruyere state" for the Palestinians is unacceptable, referring to a kind of cheese full of holes - a metaphor for the settlements.

Both comments reflect standing Vatican positions, but were delivered in unusually frank terms.

Sodano's comments came aboard a catamaran carrying Pope John Paul II and his entourage from the airport in Krk to the island of Rijeka. He took questions on international affairs for the better part of a half-hour.

Asked by NCR if U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had pressed the Vatican for a concrete commitment on Jerusalem in his meetings last Monday at the Vatican, Sodano responded, "We're the ones who should be asking for a commitment from him."

Sodano reiterated the Vatican's long-standing position in favor of international jurisdiction for the holy sites in Jerusalem.

NCR also asked Sodano if he believes the U.S. commitment to the so-called "road map" for peace in the Middle East is genuine.

"In international diplomacy, you have to take people at their word," Sodano said. "They tell us they are committed, so we accept that they are committed. I believe there is hope."

In a freewheeling reflection on Christianity and Islam, Sodano acknowledged that the Arab world is a "little unknown to us," but said there are encouraging examples of a "tolerant, dialogue-ready Islam" in various places around the globe.

He cited the example of Senegal, where he said that on the occasion of John Paul's February 1992 trip, the president, a Muslim, praised the pope "in extravagant terms that heads of state in the West would not be able to use."

Sodano also pointed to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, where at one stage four ministers of the federal government, including the defense minister, were Christians. He acknowledged, however, that Christian/Muslim relations have deteriorated in recent months.

"This tolerant, dialogue-ready Islam still has to arrive in the Arab world," Sodano said.

[Michael2001]

Why is the Catholic Church constantly pandering to Muslims?

[sinkspur]

JP II's silence about Muslim atrocities mirrors Pius XII's in the face of Nazism. Pius XII understandably learned from the example of the Dutch bishops, who openly criticized Hitler, and the incarceration in camps of Dutch Jews and Catholics increased.

One just wishes that JP II could work behind the scenes as Pius XII did and not have been in such opposition to the liberation of 24 million Iraqis by seeking to "buy time" for Saddam Hussein.

[sinkspur]

Why is the Catholic Church constantly pandering to Muslims?

Lots of Catholics in those Muslim nations. And, as the Archbishop admitted above, "the Arab world is a 'little unknown to us.'"

[Lijahsbubbe]

I wonder if the Pope is even running the show these days.(not that I'm excusing anything) Seem like I hear statements made that are supposed to be from the Pope, but it looks as if he's not really all there any more.

[sinkspur]

I thought they might be shaping the opinions of churchmembers.

American Catholics mirror the majorities of the American population on most moral issues, and are politically are a bit to the left of the rest of the population, although not as left as the American bishops or the Vatican.

[Michael2001]

Muslim group threatens to kill the Pope:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/924798/posts?page=1

[Courier]

"Sodano suggested that Europeans have a special sensitivity to the question, since at various points of the 20th century Poles, Germans, French and Italians have been driven from areas traditionally considered theirs."

How about Jews? Jews were moved. Although they weren't just moved they were vaporized so they don't count.

"Israel will have to sacrifice"

I never ever hear what the Arabs have to sacrifice. Excepting of course sacrificing Jews and Christians to their bloodthirsty God.

"They tell us they are committed"

If the insane Administration pushing this Road Map is not committed, it should be.

[Torie]

Here is my little fantasy if I were Pius XII. I would have decamped from Rome for somewhere out of Hitler's reach, and denounced him, and made an ex cathedra declaration, or whatever it is, that any Catholic that cooperates with Hitler is estranged from the Church, and will be going to hell. There is great beauty and majesty in taking risks when circumstances and doing what is right demands it. The man would have been a hero for all peoples of principle for the ages, until the sun ceased to exude warmth.

[sinkspur]

I disagree. There likely would have been lots more Catholic martyrs in WWII, and Pius XII, safely out of the reach of Hitler, would have looked like a coward.

I'm afraid Pius XII did all he could do from where he was and, by not running, likely gave courage to millions of Catholics.

And many prominent Jews, after the war, said as much.

[Torie]

OK, good point, and I was thinking the same thing myself. Just do it from Rome, and when he is put under House arrest and silenced (in which event he abdicates), or poisoned, then select someone else whose seat will be temporarily elsewhere. Hitler was not about to go around gassing millions of Catholics. Caution in the face of massive evil is not the way to go, Sink. But then you already know that.

[Torie]

By the way, Hitler in the one honest election in which he was a candidate did not run very well with Catholics in Germany. This is not meant to be a Catholic bashing exercise.

[sinkspur]

Hitler was not about to go around gassing millions of Catholics.

I'm not sure of that. He got away with gassing Jews, and he wouldn't have had to gas many Catholics for the rest of them to get some idea of what was going on.

Caution in the face of massive evil is not the way to go, Sink.

If it is not perceived by the rest of your countrymen as massive evil, there's not really much you can do. The German-on-the street knew about the boxcars and the camps, and the vanishing Jewish population.

And they were very cautious.

Like the Iraqis under Saddam Hussein, their only hope was for some salvation from outside.

[Torie]

OK, but my point is that the Pope is not the man on the street. He has a higher calling, and must demand on those on the street to seek the better angels of their nature, or face God's wrath when the circumstances are in extremis. Anyway, that is the view of this near Atheist agnostic secular humanist WASP Neocon. :) Cheers.

[Straight Vermonter]

There have never been any Arabs expelled from Israel. The Arabs who fled were instructed to leave by their fellow Arabs despite Jewish exhortations for them to stay.

[Torie]

Some Arabs were in fact bounced out by force of arms. It was a war. Shit happens, particularly if the penalty for losing is death for you, your family, your society, and your culture. Parsing this from an historical perspective is really a dead end. I think it is close to irrelevant, and I suspect the interlocutors know that as well. It is just a talking point.

[Straight Vermonter]

I think it is an important distinction. Property abandoned is clearly different than property stolen.

[Torie]

The last thing we need now in the region is a real estate lawyer. :)

[Torie]

By the way, if you leave your home for a safer place, does that means you cede ownership to it? As I say, you are going down the wrong road here.

[ApesForEvolution]

An in depth analyzation of both religions, Islam and Catholicism, reveal striking similarities. Bogus, man made religion has saved no one and never will.

[Torie]

Bogus, man made religion has saved no one and never will.

You seem to assume that religion is not a reflection of experience. What is the true path praytell?