In Sunday’s Urbi et Orbi message, Pope Benedict said the following:

Likewise the population of East Timor stands in need of reconciliation and
peace as it prepares to hold important elections. Elsewhere too, peace is sorely
needed: in Sri Lanka only a negotiated solution can put an end to the conflict
that causes so much bloodshed; Afghanistan is marked by growing unrest and
instability; In the Middle East, besides some signs of hope in the dialogue
between Israel and the Palestinian authority, nothing positive comes from Iraq,
torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees. In Lebanon the
paralysis of the country’s political institutions threatens the role that the
country is called to play in the Middle East and puts its future seriously in
jeopardy. Finally, I cannot forget the difficulties faced daily by the Christian
communities and the exodus of Christians from that blessed Land which is the
cradle of our faith. I affectionately renew to these populations the expression
of my spiritual closeness.

The Pope’s remark about the impact of violence in Iraq has raised hackles.

An editorial in the New York Sun:

If the pope wants to help
Iraqis and the Americans and others who are risking their lives to help
them, he could underscore this progress rather than denying it. Recent
years have shown us that popes certainly have the capacity to play a
constructive role in world affairs. We refer not only to John Paul II’s
heroic struggle against Soviet Communism, but even to the part that
Benedict XVI himself apparently played in winning the safe release from
Iran of the royal marines. The pope, in citing a list of trouble spots
from Zimbabwe to Sri Lanka, avoided in his Easter message the error the
American left makes of focusing on the carnage in Iraq to the exclusion
of all the other woes.

It is possible, too, that the reference to Iraq was not intended as
a criticism of America’s intervention, which after all was four years
ago, but on the failures since the invasion of the followers of Sunni
and Shiite Islam to live together in peace. At least it can be observed
that the pope’s comment comes in from a prelate who has been speaking
up for Christianity in Europe, where it is threatened not only by
secularism but by an intolerant streak of Islam that also targets Jews.

The danger of Benedict’s negativism about Iraq yesterday is that it
will be interpreted in a way that will undermine the West in the war
with the very extremist factions he seemed concerned about last year at
Regensburg, where he sparked a controversy by quoting the Byzantine
emperor Manuel II. Following the controversy the pontiff courageously
made a trip to Turkey. Wouldn’t it be something were he, in the wake of
his remarks about Iraq, to make a trip to Baghdad and look for himself
at the positive things that are happening in Iraq, at the civil
population that has chosen to stay and build up the country, and give
himself and his billion or more followers a chance to see the situation
through eyes of hope.

Michael Novak at the Corner:

Benedict XVI’s Easter Sunday remarks
in St Peter Square hit a low point, I would think. He said that
"nothing positive comes from Iraq." This is a very skewed report on the
realities on the ground. But it might mean that the message the Pope
wanted to convey is that of the American Left: "Whatever the good or
the bad achievements, it is time to get out." In other words, not an
accurate description, but a prescription for the near future.

When
I was invited to the Vatican in 2003, just before the war began, I told
the Foreign Minister of the Vatican, Archbishop Tauran, that articles
appearing under a Vatican imprint in Civilta Cattolica were blaming the
US for seeking oil in Iraq (a hypothetical), while ignoring the real
and existing contracts of the French, Germans and Russians for Iraqi
oil. This double standard seemed to me hypocritical. The Archbishop
winced, and said that perhaps I was being too uncritical of the
Americans, and that I needed to factor in the fact that most such
Vatican editorials were, after all, written by Europeans from a
European point of view. I replied that I expected the Vatican to
proceed in a more catholic manner than that.

Those words came
back to me when I saw what Benedict XVI had said in his Urbi et Orbi
remarks in the Piazza of St Peter’s. They sounded like a standard
European view of reality — at least of those Europeans who have always
disagreed with the American war aims, and now that things have become
difficult and costly want to stick it to the Americans.

I was disappointed in Benedict XVI for being uncritical about this.

Even
as he was speaking, an immense protest meeting among Iraqi Shiites was
taking shape in the holy city of Najaf. Here were TWO positive things
taking place in Iraq on account of the deposing of Saddam Hussein.
First, the Shiite holy cities are free and open for feast days,
festivals, and pilgrimages from all over, as they were not under
Saddam. Second, this particular protest, against the Americans and in
favor of Iraqi nationalism, was also free, peaceful, and not only
unopposed by Coalition forces but protected and assisted by them.

In
addition, there are 200 or so free newspapers and magazines in Iraq now
that did not used to be there in the time of Saddam. There are many
hundreds of private, nongovernmental organizations and associations of
all sorts. In short, civil society is coming back to life, slowly but
surely.

Fr. Neuhaus:

Pope Benedict said that “nothing positive comes from Iraq.” The most
plausible interpretation of those words is that he sees no improvement
in the situation for the people of Iraq. He says the country is “torn
apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees.” He does
not say who is responsible for the continual slaughter, the various
factions in Iraq or the coalition forces trying to bring the slaughter
to an end. His concern for the fleeing civil population is undoubtedly
a reference to the rapidly declining Christian population there. The
plight of Christians in the Middle East comes in for more extended
treatment in his Easter Sunday address. I hope he is wrong about there
being nothing positive in what is happening in Iraq. I am confident
that he hopes he is wrong. It is inconceivable that he hopes there will
be no positive developments in the months ahead.

While opponents of American policy are, quite understandably,
capitalizing on the pope’s words, there is a dramatically different
response from some other sources. The New York Sun, for instance, featured the pope on the front page and joined that with a long editorial
deploring “Benedict’s negativism.” The editorial concludes: “Wouldn’t
it be something were he, in the wake of his remarks about Iraq, to make
a trip to Baghdad and look for himself at the positive things that are
happening in Iraq, at the civil population that has chosen to stay and
build up the country, and give himself and his billion or more
followers a chance to see the situation through eyes of hope.”

Well yes, it would be something. Something like a very bad idea, I
expect. There are many reasons why the pope should not, and almost
certainly will not, insert his person and office into the religious and
political rivalries in Iraq, or into the public debate about the merits
and demerits of the strategy being pursued by coalition forces under
General Petraeus. Among the many topics addressed on Easter Sunday,
Benedict devoted a few words to his dour assessment of the situation in
Iraq. Lost in this discussion are his extensive comments on conflicts
in Africa, very notably on the situation in Zimbabwe, where the
Catholic bishops have issued a powerful statement calling for an end to
the tyrannical regime of Robert Mugabe.

As for what he said about Iraq, he may be right but I very
respectfully hope he is wrong. As I have no doubt that he also hopes he
is wrong. In the next several months, all of us will likely know more
than we know now about whether there is anything positive about
developments in Iraq.