Has the Vatican no sense of irony? In his Christmas message, Pope Benedict XVI called for the Child Jesus to "bestow upon political leaders the wisdom and courage to seek and find humane, just and lasting solutions" to world conflicts, including "the whole of the Middle East -- especially Iraq".
And yet he made this statement only a matter of days after the Vatican declared its "satisfaction" at the warm welcome given to Tony Blair, an architect of the conflict in Iraq, upon his conversion to Catholicism.
Aside from the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, the invasion of Iraq has had one other significant consequence: the decimation of Christianity within that country.
It is estimated that there are 600,000 Christians in Iraq today, less than 3pc of the population, compared to over one million during the reign of Saddam Hussein, with hundreds of thousands being forced to flee to escape the anarchy which has prevailed since his ousting.
Adding insult to injury, Mr Blair has since had the audacity to imply that his decision to send British troops to Iraq was influenced by God himself. One wonders whether these minor issues were put to Mr Blair before he was welcomed to the Catholic Church. I, along with many other members of the Catholic Church, have become increasingly concerned and disillusioned at the many bizarre statements which the Pontiff has made since his election in 2005.
If calling for resolution to the conflict in Iraq, while welcoming one of its unrepentant architects into the Church, is the kind of message which the Pope wants to spread, it seems there will be little change at the Vatican during 2008.
The Catholic Church to fight the Devil head on? Here we go again, priests in shining cassocks galloping up hill and down dale in pursuit of the elusive Satan.
Maybe they might have some luck if they put to the sword those who supplied the Devil to people, drug dealers, corrupt politicians, child molesters within and without the Church. I have heard some rubbish in my 68 years, but this takes the biscuit.
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