Pope will not attend his own White House dinner

[CatWoman]

Raw Story reports, “The White House has scheduled a dinner next week in honor of Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the United States, but one guest will be conspicuously absent from the proceedings: the pope himself. There are no competing events listed on the pope’s schedule, and the White House was unable to explain Benedict’s absence from the dinner.” During Friday’s White House press briefing, press spokesman Scott Stanzel was stumped in explaining why the Pope would not attend:

Q: I’m sorry, the Pope doesn’t attend a dinner in his honor?
MR. STANZEL: No.
Q: How does that work?
MR. STANZEL: He doesn’t come into the building.
Q: But then it’s not a dinner for the Pope, is it?
MR. STANZEL: It’s in honor of his visit. There will be leaders from the Catholic community from all over the country who are in town for that visit.
Q: Is there a reason the Pope doesn’t attend the dinner?
MR. STANZEL: I don’t know. I don’t have the full extent of his schedule.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/12/pope-will-not-attend-his-own-white-house-dinner/

[tridim]

1. Self delete. Sorry.

[gateley]

4. What a vile and unnecessary comment. nt

[tridim]

7. Self delete. Sorry.

[gateley]

9. Neither is he.

And the church is finally coming out and addressing the issue.

Your hate must run deep.

[tridim]

11. Are they really addressing it?

All I've seen are slaps on the wrist.

[gateley]

13. I believe they are.

They're not denying or hiding it any longer in anyway. THAT was what was unconscionable -- knowing it was going on, doing nothing AND hiding it.

[gateley]

Thanks for deleting --

:hug:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

15. According to Bill Maher, on Friday night, Pope Benedict, prior to

becoming Pope worked for Pope John Paul. In that capacity he wrote a letter to every Bishop to keep the sex abuse a secret until the statue of limitations ran out.

Maher, goes on to say, that if the Pope wasn't a religious leader but a CEO of a nationwide chain of child day care centers, where 1000s of employees had been caught molesting kids and covering it up, he'd be arrested.

Here is the clip of Maher's New Rules. This segment starts at about 4 minutes into it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=s-D5b-qr7XA

[MADem]

18. I missed the original insult in this thread, but what you say is accurate about the

statuate of limitations. Benedict also facilitated the soft landing for Cardinal "Above The" Law, to keep him in Rome, in charge of a cathedral, safe from the threat of civil lawsuits.

[TomInTib]

8. Bad, tridim, bad, bad, bad...

Hell, even I would not post that.

And I don't give a damn about the Pope.

You shouldn't have done that, man.

Tom

[YDogg]

2. perhaps he wants to keep satan at arms length?

[gateley]

3. I read where Bush is going to

meet the Pope's plane, and honor him with a 21 gun salute.

I'm not making this up.

[TomInTib]

6. Oh, come on, you cannot possibly be serious.

A 21-gun salute?

For the Pope?

Please tell me that you are kidding, gateley.

Please...

[gateley]

12. No way am I clever enough to make this shit up, Tom. Here:

Bush readies big welcome for pope.

WASHINGTON - The leader of the world's Roman Catholics has been to the White House only once in history. That changes this week, and President Bush is pulling out all the stops: driving out to a suburban military base to meet Pope Benedict XVI's plane, bringing a giant audience to the South Lawn and hosting a fancy East Room dinner.

snip

A crowd of up to 12,000 is due at the White House on Wednesday morning for the pope's official, pomp-filled arrival ceremony. It will feature the U.S. and Holy See anthems, a 21-gun salute, and the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Both men will make remarks before their Oval Office meeting and a send-off for his popemobile down Pennsylvania Avenue.

snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080413/ap_on_go_pr_wh/popes_and_presidents

Sounds like it could be from the Onion, doesn't it? :7

[TomInTib]

16. Somewhere, the Blessed Virgin is weeping.

A 21-gun salute....

Damn.


I don't know whether to thank you or simply swear off Current Events for the rest of my life, gateley.

[gateley]

17. Swearing off Current Events

until January 2009 might not be a bad idea. :) :hi:

Even a Good Act of Contrition and Penance wouldn't help much until then.

[TomInTib]

5. This just cracks me up.

I have been reading about this for a couple of days and you just have to try to imagine how red those faces are.

One has to wonder if there is any precedent being set.

[gateley]

14. I'm dying to see media coverage.

All those people, no Pope. :rofl:

[lpbk2713]

10. The Pope doesn't like hot dogs.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: