CODEL SMITH AND VATICAN FOREIGN MINISTER REVIEW IRAQ,

UNCLAS VATICAN 000482

SIPDIS


DEPT. FOR (LEVIN, JAN)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM XG IZ IS VT
SUBJECT: CODEL SMITH AND VATICAN FOREIGN MINISTER REVIEW IRAQ,
ISRAEL, EUROPE AND DIRECTIONS FOR NEW PONTIFICATE

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. Senator Gordon Smith and a delegation of Senators
discussed Iraq, Israel and the church in Europe in a May 30
meeting with Foreign Minister Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo.
Lajolo stressed U.S.-Holy See engagement for common goals
in a stable Iraq, Middle East Peace settlement, and an
outward-looking Europe rooted in moral values. Lajolo told
the Senators he expected broad continuity in the Holy See's
external engagement under Pope Benedict XVI, given that
Pope Benedict had been such a close collaborator of John
Paul II. Responding to the Senators' questions about the
role of women in the church and the impact of the clerical
abuse scandals, Lajolo said he expected the Holy See would
continue to find ways to expand women's involvement in
Vatican decision-making and expressed regret over the
damage the abuse had done to the victims and the Church in
the U.S. End Summary.

--------------
Common engagement on greater goals
--------------


2. Senator Gordon Smith, accompanied by Senators Patrick
Leahy, Jeff Sessions, Mike Enzi, and Jim Bunning met at the
Vatican with the Holy See's Secretary for Relations with
States, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo May 30. Senator Smith
began by thanking Lajolo for the "moral clarity" the Holy
See brought to its international engagement. Lajolo
welcomed this recognition, noting that the United States
and the Holy See share the same broad values, but differ on
minor points of how to achieve these goals. As an example
of this, Lajolo cited the war in Iraq where the Holy See
had disagreed with the initial decision to go to war, but
now recognizes that there is "a new situation where we all
have to work together to realize democracy." Lajolo
expressed appreciation for President Bush's visit to the
Vatican in 2004, which he believed served to point out the
scope of our shared agenda and helped overcome lingering
questions about the bilateral relationship in the wake of
the wartime differences. Lajolo also mentioned that former
President Clinton had just visited the week before in his
capacity as the UN special envoy on Tsunami relief. All of
this, he believed, highlighted the extent to which "the
U.S. and the Holy See are united for greater goals." He
concluded that "we must have common engagement on poverty,
human rights, the family, and development."

-------------- --------------
Inter-Religious Dialogue and Faith in the Public Square
-------------- --------------


3. Lajolo agreed with Senator Leahy that people of faith
should unite to face common challenges and added that
religiously inclined people needed to engage on values in
public life, and not to allow fanatics or divisive elements
to control the dialogue. Senator Sessions asked Lajolo for
his views on the relationship between Christians and
Muslims and prospects for greater dialogue and
understanding. Lajolo distinguished between relations with
individuals and with the Muslim faithful as a whole, noting
that one-on-one relations with Muslims, "as neighbors
rather than enemies of their faith," are easier than
bridging major theological differences. "We have a
historical-critical approach to the Bible, whereas Muslims
take the Korean literally," Lajolo explained. This
contributed to a lack of flexibility on the Muslim side in
dialogue. He believed that challenge was to expand
appreciation for the Western tradition of dialogue more
broadly within the Muslim world."

--------------
Continuity of Policy
--------------


4. Lajolo told the delegation they could expect broad
continuity between the international orientation and
priorities of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, with
the most notable differences being ones of style and
temperament. A similar continuity would also prevail on
theological and social issues, Lajolo indicated, especially
since Cardinal Ratzinger had been one of Pope John Paul
II's closest collaborators and helped shape the Church's
direction on the major issues of the day. Here, too, the
changes would likely be more on emphasis and approach than
overall goals, which would remain constant. Already,
Lajolo noted, Pope Benedict has indicated his priority for
issues relating to the family, in particular that
"marriage will continue to be viewed as between men and
women only." Likewise, with regard to euthanasia, he has
reaffirmed that life must be respected from beginning to
end. "So the basic ideas will not change," Lajolo
observed. That said, Lajolo did indicate in response to a
question about the role of women in the Church that the
Pope had told him that women should hold more positions
within the Curia, even as they cannot hold roles that are
reserved for priests, and that he will look to create
positions of greater responsibility for women within the
hierarchy of the church.

--------------
Europe and the Constitution
--------------


5. Senator Smith asked Lajolo for his reaction to the
French "No" vote on the EU Constitution and their broader
views of the EU constitution. Lajolo responded that the
Holy See "had reservations [because of the omission of a
reference to Europe's Christian roots in the preamble], but
we supported it because it brought together the nations of
Europe." He believed the constitution's principal defects
were first, "that it is too complicated," and second, that
it was seen as too liberal in the European sense of "not
providing enough social engagement." Elaborating, he noted
that contradiction that "Europeans see the bureaucracy in
Brussels as invasive, imposing the same laws for everyone,"
but that they also expect to retain social protections that
their national governments have provided. Senator
Sessions, noting the strong role of faith in the U.S.,
asked about the role of faith in the EU and whether there
would be a return from secularism to religiosity. "It is
hard to generalize between the role of faith in the U.S.
and Europe," Lajolo responded, "as both have different
histories." The U.S. is more openly religious and American
Catholics are more active in practicing their faith than
European Catholics, he cautioned that this did not
necessarily mean that Europeans lacked faith. To be sure,
secularization in Europe had become a strong force, but it
would be wrong to conclude that faith played no role in
Europe today, he maintained.

--------------
Israel and the Holy See
--------------


6. Senator Bunning then turned to the bilateral
relationship between Israel and the Holy See, noting that
he understood there wee ongoing difficulties in
implementing the 1993 Fundamental Agreement that opened
diplomatic relations between them. Lajolo explained that,
although the Fundamental Agreement provided a framework for
relations, the Holy See subsequently learned that Israel
had never translated the treaty into domestic legislation.
Likewise, the 1997 agreement on the juridical status of the
Church was signed, but never captured in domestic
implementing legislation, as it was never brought before
the Knesset. Lajolo said the Holy See is now looking for
concrete actions, and not just theoretical agreements, and
that the ball was in the Israeli court to move this
forward. The Holy See had repeatedly been promised that
the issues would be resolved, but they are still waiting.
In the absence of progress, particularly on issues of
taxation, Lajolo lamented, the small number of Catholic
churches in Israel may be forced to close.

--------------
Sexual Abuse and the Holy See's Voice
--------------


7. Reaffirming the importance the U.S. attaches to the
Holy See's moral voice on a range of issues, Senators
Bunning and Leahy pointed out that the clergy sexual abuse
cases in the U.S. and the Church hierarchy's seeming
failure to address these cases when they had occurred had
damaged the Church's credibility in the eyes of many
Americans. They noted that an apparent unwillingness to
criticize church leaders who had failed to protect children
had been difficult for many Americans and American
Catholics to understand. Archbishop Lajolo expressed his
profound personal regret for these cases, especially for
the damage they inflicted on the victims. He noted that
the Church had to follow its Canon law in dealing with
these cases, and had taken steps to prevent future
occurrences by focusing greater attention on the formation
of priests. He acknowledged that this had damaged the Holy
See in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world.


--------------
Comment
--------------


8. The Senate delegation's visit so early in the new
pontificate, helped convey to the Holy See the broad and
bipartisan political support in the U.S. for continued
close collaboration with the Holy See toward common goals
in Iraq, the Middle East, and Europe. Archbishop Lajolo
went out of his way to reaffirm his appreciation for the
strong and consistent stands the administration has taken
to protect the dignity of mankind and the value of life,
and to convey the Holy See's desire to work with us under
Pope Benedict, just as it had under Pope John Paul II.

HARDT


NNNN

2005VATICA00482 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED