urbi, orbi, w.

a latin declension

President Bush patronized John Paul II and everything he stood for today when he said that the Holy Father "didn't like war, and I fully understood that and I appreciated the conversations I had with the Holy Father on the subject."   That's it.  The Pope's  lifetime of writing and speaking in moral opposition to virtually everything Bush represented was trivialized, mischaracterized, and summarily dismissed in that one condescending phrase.   Not only does Bush refuse to follow John Paul II's moral teachings, but he denies their very existence.

The Pope agreed with George W. Bush on one subject:  abortion.   Everything else Bush  has fought for throughout his career  - the Iraq War and militarization in general, capitalism (and especially the weakening of workers' and consumers' rights),  and the death penalty - was eloquently and passionately resisted by the Pope.   "He didn't like war, and I fully understood that."   If some American Catholics let Bush co-opt the papal funeral and the man's legacy for his own ends, they're drinking kool-aid.

Here's a quick review of some of the Pope's quotes.  Feel free to contrast his statements on the death penalty with Bush mocking convicted prisoner Karla Faye Tucker while she was awaiting execution (remember the pursed lips and the "please don't kill me?")   You may want to recall Dick Cheney and Halliburton while considering the Pope's opposition to arms production, too:

"If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority must limit itself to such means."   

"The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of life in every situation ...I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary."

"May Christmas help to strengthen and renew, throughout the world, the consensus concerning the need for urgent and adequate measures to halt the production and sale of arms, to defend human life, to end the death penalty, to free children and adolescents from all forms of exploitation, to restrain the bloodied hand of those responsible for genocide and crimes of war, to give environmental issues, especially after the recent natural catastrophes, the indispensable attention which they deserve for the protection of creation and of human dignity!"

"Peace for the Palestinian people! Peace for all peoples of the region! No one can ignore how much the Palestinian people have had to suffer in recent decades. Your torment is before the eyes of the world, and it has gone on too long."

"And what are we to say of the threat of a war which could strike the people of Iraq, the land of the Prophets, a people already sorely tried by more than twelve years of embargo? War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations. As the Charter of the United Nations Organization and international law itself remind us, war cannot be decided upon, even when it is a matter of ensuring the common good, except as the very last option and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military operations."

"The danger of treating work as ''merchandise' -or as an impersonal 'work force'-remains as long as economics is understood in a materialistic way. It is this one-sided approach that concentrates on work as the prime thing, leaving the worker in a secondary place. This is a reversal of the order laid down in the book of Genesis. The worker is treated as a tool whereas the worker ought to be treated as the subject of work, as its maker and creator."

There's lots more.  Try Juan Cole if you want to read some additional quotes from the man who "didn't like war."  If you're the praying kind, you might want to pray that the Pope's passage is not further marred by any more disrespect to the living memory of his words. 

Comments

[Eric Martin]

Why did the Pope hate America?

[Gordon]

Mebbe cuz "Dubbi" is in charge. Why be different?

[The Heretik]

Really well done.