There they go again

The pope and the Vatican can also do more. For the past two years, Benedict has been a no-show at interfaith gatherings in Assisi, begun 20 years ago by his predecessor, John Paul II. Last year, he issued an edict revoking the autonomy of Assisi’s Franciscan monks, a move that was seen as a reaction against the monks’ interfaith activism. On the occasion of this year’s gathering, he issued a statement about religion and peace that was read by an envoy, but his absence spoke louder than his words.

[I know the Times's idea of religious dialogue is a priest, a rabbi, an imam and a Buddhist monk singing "Kum-Ba-Yah" in four-part harmony, but grown-ups should ask themselves why Benedict chose to stay away from the event. Benedict was sick and tired of the local Franciscans letting it turn into a polytheistic carnival. When African voodoo priests sacrifice chickens to their pagan gods near the tomb of St. Clare, it was time to put a stop to this nonsense. Benedict is not against dialogue with other religions, but he demands that reasonable limits be set. If a Pope has to accept chicken-slaughter by voodoo priests at a Christian holy site to appease the gods of East 43rd Street, then to hell with the gods of East 43rd Street.]

The pope also recently reassigned the Vatican’s former head of interreligious dialogue, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, an expert on Arab affairs, to a diplomatic post in Egypt. According to a report in The Times by Ian Fisher, the move was interpreted by some church experts as reflecting Benedict’s skepticism of dialogue with Muslims. As his unfortunate comments show, the pope needs high-level experts on Islam to help guide him.

[Oh? John Paul's tireless reaching-out to the Islamic world did nothing, as far as I can tell, to make life easier for the persecuted Christian populations under Islamic rule. If the only thing Abp Fitzgerald was good for was appeasement under the pretense of dialogue, then why not take another approach -- a more realistic one this time?]

In offering his regrets, the pope said that in its totality, his speech was intended as “an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.” In living up to that, he and other top Vatican officials will have to accept that genuine communication cannot occur on their terms only.

[Now this really does beat all. In recent years, Muslims have been setting the terms of this so-called dialogue by threatening murder and causing mayhem when somebody from the West offends their delicate sensibilities. We in the West -- well, our media at least -- snivel and scrape and bow to the wildest fanaticism. And now the Times has the gall to blame Benedict for trying to impose his conditions for dialogue on the Islamic world?! Oh, vomit.]