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Pope And Bush: Not Always Sharing Values

Former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican Jim Nicholson painted a moving picture of the relationship between the deceased Pope John Paul II and President Bush on Fox News Sunday:

Well, the last meeting I had with him was just a few weeks ago with my wife and I in his apartment when I was getting ready to leave Rome…And the discussion he wanted to have that morning with me was about President Bush, who he admired greatly for his value system… And I was able to tell him that we want to fulfill our number one goal of our foreign policy, which is to enhance human dignity worldwide, which is the same goal that he had.

Last summer, however, the Pope had some harsh words for President Bush on foreign policy and values. From the London Times:

In a Papal lecture far stronger and more stinging than the White House had expected, the Pope told Mr Bush during a meeting at the Vatican that without a commitment to “shared human values” the War on Terror was unwinnable.

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And here’s Pope John Paul II on the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal:

“In the past few weeks other deplorable events have come to light which have troubled the civic and religious conscience of all, and made more difficult a serene and resolute commitment to shared human values: in the absence of such a commitment neither war nor terrorism will ever be overcome.”