Posted August 7, 2006 in News
When elected, Pope Benedict was seen by many observers as more of a hard-nosed realist. Some have described him as tougher on terrorism and more wary of radical Islam than his predecessor, factors thought to make him more sympathetic to Israel.
Moreover, even inside the Vatican, there have been murmurings that Pope Benedict has not been totally in sync with holdover officials of the Vatican's Secretariat of State, particularly on issues involving Israel, terrorism and the Middle East. The thinking was that the pope's own foreign policy agenda would become clearer in September, when his appointees take over.
But the Lebanese crisis has deflated these theories. The pope's own statements have strongly supported those of outgoing secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and his deputy, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, Vatican foreign minister.
"There seems to be a surprising degree of unanimity and outspokenness, so far at least, on this issue," said one diplomat in Rome.
Source: Catholic News
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