Posted on 12/29/2004 4:37:34 AM PST by white trash redneck
The Vatican newspaper has denounced what it called a decision by the IDF to deny emergency help to disaster victims in Sri Lanka.
Calling for "a radical and dramatic change of perspective" among people "too often preoccupied with making war," L'Osservatore Romano singled out Israeli military leaders for declining a request for emergency medical help.
Contrary to the Vatican report, an Israeli plane carrying 80 tons of food and medical supplies worth $100,000 was set to depart for Sri Lanka Wednesday morning. At the request of the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry, a team of some 150 Israeli medical and security personnel aborted their planned trip to the island nation Tuesday night.
The Vatican paper observed that in what "should be a time for unconditional solidarity," some world leaders seem incapable of escaping a "small-minded approach that restricts their horizons."
The fact that the devastation swept across different societies, cultures, and nations should help to reinforce the universal perspective, the paper suggested. (Jerusalem Post staff and agencies)
$6 million, as far as I know.
Catholic Relief Services is already there.
A newspaper with some loose tie to the Vatican issues an admidetly goofy article, and you use it to make yourself feel better about leaving the Church?
You must have had some pretty shallow roots then
By the way, the US Federal government has many goofballs in it as well. Perhaps you should abandon your American citizenship.
Actually, the next question is, Who/What is "Israel"?
Israel is Jacob, son of Isaac, and his descendents in the Law. It is not a political entity that arrogates to itself the name that belongs to a people. Just because you name something "Israel" doesn't make it so.
Hurl. Let's see what this guy would do with mortars lobbed at his head every day. Time to come down from your ivory tower, L'Osservatore Romano, and don't let your robe trip you on the way down.
The Catholic Church feeds and clothes people people all over the world 360 days of the year...
Yeah, some are using this article to vent their already-present animosity against the Church, but their conduct isn't helping either.
There is some of that, to be sure, but, as usual, this thread is just another example of Catholic-bashing, based on biased, incomplete information.
The real story from CWN:
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=34295
Actually the government of Sri Lanka had declined an Israeli offer of help, because the relief team would have been a military unit. Sri Lanka had asked Israel for medical help only, without accompanying military personnel. Israel refused to send only the medical teams.
I agree.
The Vatican's pettiness toward Israel is revealed in this story. There's simply no masking that.
"The Israelis offer aid to Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankans refuse it, and now the Vatican castigates the Israelis for refusing to send aid!"
I heard Colmes on the radio last night saying maybe we should have some "cultural sensitivity" about sending aid. In other words, we should be understanding that Muslims hate the Jews.
That's true, in so far as it goes ... but you're leaving out the other five days of the year (six on leap years) that it also feeds and clothes people all over the world. :-)
Sri Lanka only has 7% Muslims. Try again.
Is it just possible that Israel may occasionally be open to some criticism? Perhaps they are blameless in this particular situation, but I'm just tired of the instant assumption around here that Israel=>right;Vatican=>wrong.
There was no such thing as "the Vatican" at that time or for most of the 1,000 years that followed.
I guess you could say they have made progress.
The Catholic Church's understanding and appreciation of her Jewish antecedents is grounded in Mary, the Mother of God, and in the Messiah's descent from the royal line of David. Unfortunately one place progress is not being made is in Israel's war on indigenous Christians in Palestine, and its systematic and sustained interference with the rights of Christian bodies to function freely in the holy land.
What's not revealed is Israel's pettiness toward the Vatican.
The Vatican is made up of lots of people, most of them Europeans.
I find it unremarkable that a number of those Euros would harbor hostility toward Israel, and even Jews themselves. Some of them see America as the great materialistic Satan.
It's fashionable now to despise America and her Middle Eastern handmaiden, the state of Israel. The Vatican is not immune to that wave of derision.
What a silly remark! Israel never utters a peep about the Vatican, and it could, given the bending-over-backwards that the Vatican exhibits toward the Palestinians.
And does a disservice to the Catholic foot-soldiers of the world who are busy helping mankind.
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