I found the following quote on line but lost the link somehow. I know it was a comment posted by "Heather" on another blog (I will update if I find the link). It is a very good explanation for the statement issued by the Holy See regarding the war in Israel:

"In Benedict's defense, this is a statement that stinks heavily of Sodano and his little crowd of appeasers.

Benedict has replaced the famously friendly to Islam Sodano but the change in office has not come yet.

Benedict himself has acted in the selection of Bertone to replace John Paul's Sodano and has sent a cery clear message about how he feels about the previous direction of the Vatican towards Islam by not only NOT giving the long-expected red hat to arch-appeaser Michael Fitzgerald (the man formely in charge of the Vatican's iterreligious dialogue office and a disciple of the Sodano dhimmis) but sending him to Cairo. An appointment as apostolic pro-nuncio to a heavily non-Catholic, Islamic hotspot, to a place where the Christians that there are, are under a different jurisdiction (as Copts, they are not under Fitzgerald), is a well-established Vatican "Sicilian message."

Fitzgerald was one of the leading lights in Vatican Islamic "ostpolitik," an attitude that started at Vatican II and was heavily boosted by Paul VI's re-arrangement of the Vatican order of precedence.

In appointing his own man, Bertone, Benedict has shown anyone who follows these messages that has refuted this direction and is taking steps to reassert the Church's ancient priorities. Under Paul VI the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly second in importance only to the papacy itself, was placed under the jurisdiction of the Secretariat of State. This made Sodano, despite what the NYT would tell you, the second man in Rome.

Bertone was Ratzinger's close colleague in the CDF. Putting him into the Secretary of State, and in fact, specifically citing his great knowledge of doctrine and pastoral abilities as his qualifications, is a direct poke in the eye for Sodano and all his many, very influential cronies. Those cronies, BTW, are very numerous and form what amounts to an anti-Ratzinger party in the Vatican. This party was in the lead with many of our favorite names in EuroCath circles (Daneels, Lehman etc,) in attempting to block Ratzinger's election.

Bertone is not one of them and despite this last shot (or so we fervently hope it will be) from the Sodano party, it is NOT indicative of Ratzinger's attitude towards Islam or the previous diplomatic direction of John Paul's extremely negligent reign."


I thought Sodano was out already. Now that I know he's still there, the whole thing makes sense. In recent months, B16 has made much stronger statements against Islamic terrorists and more supportive (if only tacitly) of Israel. I think we need a Sodano Countdown Clock.

NB: Look for B16 to clean house as months go on. He is much sterner than JPII was about dissenters in the ranks. I wonder if Sodano and Fitzgerald's reassignments will make them keep their heads down? For a time, perhaps, but they'll revert to type and step out of line again and find themselves dispatched as envoys to Eastern Orthodox churches or something. The NYT will inevitably deem this a "purge" or "pogrom" or some other inflammitory language. (It's probably reaching to think that they'll even notice.)

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