Vatican officials object to Iranian president's remarks on Israel

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican has criticized Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks about Israel at a U.N. conference on racism as "extremist and unacceptable" and said the comments promote an atmosphere of conflict.

At the same time, Vatican officials, including Pope Benedict XVI, emphasized the importance of participation in the conference, which was being boycotted by the United States and several other Western countries.

Ahmadinejad told conference participants in Geneva April 20 that Israel had "resorted to military aggression to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering" and had established a "totally racist government in the occupied Palestine." His comments prompted a temporary walkout by dozens of diplomats in attendance.

The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, told Vatican Radio April 20 that "statements like those of the Iranian president do not go in the right direction, because even if he did not deny the Holocaust or the right of Israel to exist, he expressed extremist and unacceptable positions."

Source:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0901787.htm

---

COMMENT

Muslims or Iran or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have never insulted Christianity, while Jews do it every time they breathe. Remember the recent episode with that Israeli Jew smearing Christ and his mother? By all streaches of immagination, the Catholic church should have issued a condemnation not against the one who insulted its idols, but also against the state (Israel) who not only allowed, but promoted the "show" on television. But what happened instead? The church barely said anything: no outcries, nothing, just a bare "regret" from the traitorous pope.

Now when Mahmoud points out the way Israel has "resorted to military aggression to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering" would make a solid case for "racism", the Church reacts with full gear against such "extremist and unacceptable" views. This gives a perfect measure over how useless and benign Christianity has become these days...