[R-P] Los católicos iraquíes estaban mejor bajo Saddam

[Nestor Gorojovsky]

[Del servicio de noticias de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de 
los EEUU, Catholic News Service:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0704487.htm

No tengo tiempo para traducir. Pero sintetizo: según Jean-Louis 
Tauran, futuro líder máximo del Concejo Pontifical para el Diálogo 
Interreligioso, la condición de los católicos en Iraq era 
"paradójicamente" mejor bajo Saddam que ahora.

De "paradoja", nada. El de Saddam era un gobierno LAICO, que por lo 
tanto llegaba a tener un católico como ministro de RREE. He ahí un 
ejemplo de cómo se organiza, seriamente, un frente nacional.]

Iraqi Christians were safer under Saddam, says Vatican official

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Although Iraq has a democratic government, 
Iraqi Christians were safer and had more protection under former 
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, said the future head of the Vatican's 
interreligious dialogue council.

During the buildup to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, French Cardinal 
Jean-Louis Tauran, who will become head of the Pontifical Council for 
Interreligious Dialogue Sept. 1, had criticized the U.S. government's 
plan of preventative war and said a unilateral war against Iraq would 
be a "crime against peace."

In a recent interview with the Italian magazine 30 Giorni, the 
cardinal said his early criticisms had been prophetic.

"The facts speak for themselves. Alienating the international 
community (with the U.S. push for war) was a mistake," he said in the 
magazine's Aug. 10 issue. A copy of the interview was released in 
advance to journalists.

He said an "unjust approach" was used to unseat Saddam from power, 
resulting in the mounting chaos in Iraq today.

"Power is in the hands of the strongest -- the Shiites -- and the 
country is sinking into a sectarian civil war (between Sunni and 
Shiite Muslims) in which not even Christians are spared," he said.

Christians, "paradoxically, were more protected under the 
dictatorship," he said.

Cardinal Tauran is a longtime veteran of the Vatican's diplomatic 
service and a specialist in international affairs. He was Pope John 
Paul II's "foreign minister," the official who dealt with all aspects 
of the Vatican's foreign policy from 1990 to 2003.

He said his new appointment as head of the interreligious dialogue 
council carries "great responsibility" but that he also sees it "as a 
new chapter in my service to the Holy See." The cardinal will be 
responsible for overseeing the Vatican's dialogue efforts with 
representatives of non-Christian religions, including Islam.

His June 25 appointment alleviated concerns that Pope Benedict XVI's 
temporary merger of the presidencies of the Vatican's interreligious 
dialogue council with the Pontifical Council for Culture indicated a 
downgrading of the Vatican's interfaith efforts.

Cardinal Tauran told 30 Giorni, "We have to do everything so that 
religions spread brotherhood and not hatred."

The Vatican's efforts at bridge-building with Muslims hit a speed 
bump when the pope's remarks on Islam in a September speech in 
Regensburg, Germany, prompted negative reactions across the Muslim 
world.

When asked if the pope's Regensberg address had compromised the 
Vatican's dialogue efforts with Muslims, the cardinal replied, "At 
first, yes."

"But later, especially during his subsequent trip to Turkey, the pope 
explained himself very well," the cardinal said.

He said Pope Benedict has great respect for Muslims.

The controversies that arose after Regensburg only highlighted the 
importance of having a specific Vatican department dedicated to 
dialogue with Islam and other religions, he said.

"Thank God the erroneous interpretations of the Regensburg speech did 
not stop the development of relations -- diplomatic, too -- with 
Islamic nations," he said, giving the example of the recent 
establishment of full diplomatic relations between the United Arab 
Emirates and the Vatican.

Cardinal Tauran said that as head of the Vatican's interreligious 
dialogue office he would use as his guide the Second Vatican 
Council's declaration on relations with non-Christian religions, 
"Nostra Aetate."

"To examine everything humanity has in common ... and to appreciate 
how much truth and holiness there is in other religions" would be 
some of the council's goals, he said.

But the quest to understand others will leave room to courageously 
pay witness to "the way, truth, and life" of Jesus, he said.

"In this sense," he said, "our road map is obviously the declaration 
'Dominus Iesus,'" the 2000 document of the Vatican Congregation for 
the Doctrine of the Faith which said Christ and the church are 
necessary for salvation.

Interreligious dialogue should not promote the idea that all 
religions are equal, he said, but that all religions "which are 
seeking God must be respected because they have the same dignity."

END

Este correo lo ha enviado
Néstor Miguel Gorojovsky
nestorgoro en fibertel.com.ar
[No necesariamente es su autor]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
"La patria tiene que ser la dignidad arriba y el regocijo abajo".
Aparicio Saravia
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _