Michael Novak puts Cardinal Martino's comments in perspective, saying the bishop "has not ceased being an embarrassment to his superiors."
The article is worth reading, as is just about everything Novak writes, but here's the most intriguing passage:
The big Vatican news of the past month has been the major change in the way Islamic terrorism has been directly confronted, with gloves-off honesty in the Jesuit periodical Civilta Cattolica, whose pages are always cleared by the secretariat of state. Over a third of the Christians of the Middle East have been driven out during the past decade, the journal reports, and it lists many abuses by extremists, against the background of much greater tolerance in the past. It also analyzes carefully just how the extremists function in practice.
But how can the Pope be exonerated of responsibility in this matter? Martino was promoted to Cardinal in the interim between last spring's remarks and this month's.
Is this Church being governed? Has it been governed for the last 20 years?
Yes, and yes.
Regarding Novak's comments: Nice gratuitous assertions about Martino's allegedly anti-American record - with no supporting examples cited.
What is gratuitously asserted may be gratuitously denied.
Google awaits, Kevin. See them for yourself. While "anti-American" is a matter of opinion, the idea that he mouths Euro-elite opinion and occasionally dresses it up in Christian clothing is there for the whole world to see.
Now now now. Let us not jump to conclusions. We know how the press likes to make the Catholic Church look bad, too bad so many bishops are trying to out do them. It may be his comments were misrepresented. It is very hard to talk with a foot in your mouth and still be understood. Or maybe he is having an allergic reaction to the incense. None of this would be a problem if he was required to speak Latin. It would be too much work for the press to bother translating.
Eric, I read CNS and Zenit daily, and read frequent reports of comments by Martino, and I simply don't recall seeing any - let alone many - that would accurately be described in the terms you used. If you want to cite an example, go for it. I repeat: what is gratuitously asserted may be gratuitously denied; it's the critics' job, not the defenders', to make the case against him. (That Martino's comments on Saddam have been cited by Novak et al. as the latest example of "anti-Americanism" doesn't give me reason for optimism about your case, since the critics' interpretation of Martino's latest is tendentious and unfair.)
The general remarks about the cardinal demean the writer , The writer seems a typical puffed up yank, who hasn't learnt that God has no favourites but loves all His creation beyond human understanding and patiently waits for that creation to learn how to love. The Vatican knows going to war puts off the day of reconcilliation and tries to bring humanity to its senses.It endeavours to do it gently, andhopes another few thousand years may not be needed to attain some success .
E-mail written to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace:
Subject: UNHOLY ALLIANCE - CARDINAL RENATO MARTINO AND SADDAM HUSSEIN.
Contents:
International News - December 16, 2003
Cardinal Backs Trial for Saddam Hussein
December 16, 2003 02:51 PM EST
VATICAN CITY - A top Vatican cardinal said Tuesday Saddam Hussein should face trial for his crimes, but stressed the Vatican's opposition to the death penalty and criticized the U.S. military for portraying him "like a cow" having his teeth checked.
Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said he felt compassion for Saddam and that the world should have been spared the images of his medical examination after his capture.
"I feel pity at seeing this destroyed man, treated like a cow having his teeth checked," Martino said. "I have seen this man in his tragedy ... and I had a sense of compassion."
My comments were as follows:
H. Em. Card. Renato Raffaele Martino's compassion for a murderer, Saddam Hussein, is rather a strange way for a Cardinal to act. He does not express compassion for all those Saddam has killed, but for the man responsible for their deaths. The Cardinal should adjust his priorities - start reforming the priesthood, and start correcting lukewarm Cardinals, Bishops, and priests, and then he will see true "justice" and "peace" come to this world. But first of all, he should start looking at his own soul, which is not pleasing to God. His arrogant, self-righteous attitude is causing great harm to true "justice and peace." Even the Catholic Christians in Iraq do not agree with him, for his "opinions" are not based on the Sacred Scriptures.
The balance of the portions of the news article I quoted from is as follows:
U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Jim Nicholson, said in a statement that Saddam "will now be prosecuted with dignity and justice - two basic human rights he never afforded to anyone else."
He also cited praise from Iraqi Chaldean Catholics for Saddam's arrest. "A dictator, who has killed or ordered to be killed millions of people, now is no longer free to do so. As the Chaldean Catholic bishops of Iraq have said, 'Fear has ended.'"
The balance of my comments were as follows:
I write this letter with the Blessing of Pope John Paul II on my Mission, which is to awaken lukewarm Cardinals, Bishops, and priests from their "sleep," so that they may return to fulfilling the vows they made to the Lord. If you disagree with what I have written, take this letter to His Holiness for his response. And be careful about defending Cardinal Martino, and avoid broad statements which do not directly address the things written in this letter, for your response will be kept on file.
Vincent Bemowski
http://www.CatholicMessagesUSA.CatholicWeb.com/
Additional comments on the above letter:
To date, I have not received a response from Cardinal Martino, or the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Concerning the "death penalty," are not hundreds of American soldiers, and soldiers and workers from other nations, through ambushes and suicide bombers, receiving a "death penalty" (without any trial) for attempting to help bring freedom to the people of Iraq? And are not they helping to restore peace and order in Iraq, and helping to rebuild that nation? Why then the "silence" concerning the unjust "death sentence" they are receiving?
DISTORTION OF HISTORY
With pride in America, and our Armed Forces, I salute the vast majority of men & women who serve our country with honor in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world. May God bless them and their families. To allow the few who dishonor our country to become a reflection of our entire nation is to distort history. And to place the blame for their actions on their Commander n’ Chief, is an unfair assessment of the leadership qualities of our President. Were there not far greater scandals in previous administrations, and in the Catholic Church for its cover-up of priest’s sexual abuse crimes that continue to this day?
And if George W. Bush is also to be blamed for the intelligence breakdown that contributed to our nation going to war in Iraq, then Roosevelt should be condemned for Pearl Harbor, Truman for the use of atomic bombs against Japan, Johnson for the Tonkin Gulf lie that brought us into the Vietnam War, Kennedy for the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba, and especially Clinton for the moral decay that has infested our country regarding his adultery, approval of homosexuality, and his encouragement of the right to kill through deliberate abortion.
Our soldiers in Iraq are peacekeepers that have become victims of revenge and hatred by an unseen enemy who will even kill their own countrymen should it suit their mentally twisted goal of persuasion through terrorism. Therefore the silence by much of the world community (including the Vatican) concerning the acts of terrorism that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent American soldiers makes no sense. Unlike those who lack discernment, our brave soldiers know that without our strong military presence, mobs would rule a country that has lost its desire for peace, and the entire Middle East would be affected.