[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Especially ironic since George Bush II was deeply involved with the Vatican under Pope Benedict in ways that even Kennedy would have avoided.. I find it interesting the Vatican using in a literal way the "bully pulpit" considering that historically (I'm talking like two thousands years) the Patriarchates and Bishoprics in Christendom were platforms of criticizing political leadership in the tradition of the Prophets of the Old Testament who criticized openly the Biblical Kings. In the days of the Patristic Fathers, the bishops and patriarchs were vocally critical of political leadership even when aligned. Indeed political intrigues are what divided the universal Church in the 450s (at Chalcedon Council) and then again in the 1050s (Great Schism) and then again in the 1550s (Protestant Reformation)..