Vatican visit by US President after Madrid 'exclusion' row

Bush briefs Pope on talks
by Viviane Hewitt in Rome AS the Middle East Peace Conference embarked on its first sessions in Madrid this week, it was announced in Rome that US President George Bush would meet privately in the Vatican with Pope John Paul II on November 8.
Next Friday's meeting, Bush's first with the Pope since entering the White House, was requested by the US President with the aim of summarising events in Madrid for John Paul. Rome observers this week did not rule out that the talks contained what they called a "courtesy element" to compensate for the Holy See's exclusion from an active role at the Madrid conference (Catholic Herald , October 25)
Last week there was "disappointment" in the Vatican that despite the Pope's repeated appeals for a peace conference to settle the conflict in the Middle East, as well as the diplomatic missions to the countries concerned by his "Foreign Minister", French-born Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, the Holy See had not been invited to send a representative to Madrid.
There were fears that the United States had vetoed a Vatican presence at the conference as "punishment" for the Pope's strong condemnations of the Gulf War earlier this year and for the Vatican's ongoing refusal to formalise relations with the state of Israel.
But as Bush's request for a meeting with the Pope was announced, the Holy See also sought to stress that relations between Rome and Washington remained cordial. A Holy Sec spokesperson said there had been no veto of the Vatican's participation at Madrid and Rome had not even asked to take part. Therefore there was no disappointment in the Vatican.
The whole affair had arisen because of a "misunderstanding" over the hopes Archbishop Tauran had expressed last March about Holy See participation in a Middle East peace conference.
The spokesperson pointed out that Archbishop Tannin had been referring to the possibility that a conference would be held under the auspices of the United Nations, of the European Community or the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) to all of which the Holy See sends observers.
The Madrid conference, however, had nothing to do with any organisation with which the Holy See had links, the spokesperson went on . He added that the conference was
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"essentially technical" and that as such, papal diplomats would have had no role to play.
He also denied reports in Rome on the eve of the Madrid conference, which opened on Wednesday, that the Vatican had sent negotiators there a "rnernoranduin" of recommendations.
"This does not mean, however, that there will be no messages from the Pope or the Holy See or that he will not express his opinions during the conference proceedings", the spokesperson said.
In any case, the Holy See's presence was assured because of the weight and frequency of John Paul ll's interventions on Middle East issues, he said.
The Vatican also placed its trust in US capability not only to help bring a peaceful settlement to the region and to guarantee human rights protection for the "weakest" but also to resolve the status of the city of Jerusalem and the safeguarding of Holy Sites.
The Middle East crisis, the Holy See spokesperson said, did not only concern a territorial conflict.
Problems of religious liberty, Israel's security and recognition of the rights and just aspirations of the Palestinian people were also at stake.