The Religious Policeman

As the Arab News gleefully reports



Pope Tells Bush: World Troubled by the Deplorable Events in Iraq

Pope John Paul II reminded US President George W. Bush yesterday of the Vatican’s opposition to the war in Iraq and said the world has been troubled by recent “deplorable events,” an apparent reference to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US troops.

Sitting alongside the president in the Vatican, the elderly pope, struggling to utter each word, called for a speedy return of the country’s sovereignty and said the recent appointment of an interim Iraqi government was an “encouraging step.”

The Arab News continues

Prince Abdullah has been so troubled by recent events in Saudi Arabia, and was so impressed by President Bush's careful attention to the Pope's advice, that he is to travel to Rome himself next month for his own Papal Audience. His Holiness is reported to be looking forward to the visit, and will have much advice to offer. After all, he spent much of his life living in a country where power was concentrated in the hands of an out-of-touch gerontocracy, where human rights existed in name only, and where all religions except that of the ruling elite were suppressed. Indeed, many historians credit the Pope with the downfall of that decaying and discredited regime....

BBBBrrrrrrrrr........Damned alarm clock. 6 o'clock. Saturday. The start of another working week.


But I can dream...