ITALIAN MEDIA sources last weekend reported that the Holy See has rejected the possible appointment of Caroline Kennedy as US Ambassador to the Vatican.
Milan-based daily Il Giornale, owned by the family of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said that the Vatican has rejected three possible choices by the Obama government for the post of US ambassador, including that of Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F Kennedy.
Il Giornale claims that the appointment of a new US ambassador to succeed Mary Ann Glendon has proved difficult because of the “strained” relations between the White House and the Holy See, which has been less than enamoured of Barack Obama’s public support for both abortion and stem cell research.
...my first reaction was DUH. What did the White House think would happen when they floated to nominate someone that was so visibly pro abortion and pro embryonic stem cell research (both virulently opposed by the Catholic Church and thus the Vatican) Maybe, after, he can choose David Duke for ambassador to Israel.
The real story is not that Vatican rejected Kennedy. Anyone could see this. The real story is why in the world would the White House choose Kennedy. There's only two scenarios and neither is very good for the administration. The first is that they are so incompetent that they didn't realize how the Vatican would respond to a visibly pro choice and pro embryonic stem cell research nominee. The second is that they knew full well and wanted to rub it into the faces of the Vatican.
The White House has been silent on the issue, and so we don't know what they were thinking. It would be nice to know why a pro choice pro embryonic stem cell research candidate was chosen to be the ambassador to the center of Catholicism.
1 comment:
I suppose if Obama really wants to offend the Pope he could just not appoint an ambassador at all. I mean, there's gotta be enough ambassadorships to fill to keep him occupied for a while that he could just say he'll get around to finding another Vatican nominee later.
That being said, Obama is probably just insistent that the Vatican accept someone who reflects his policies and beliefs which isn't exactly unusual for a President to want. Otherwise he could just give the job to Bob Casey in the hopes that a more liberal Democrat would take his place in the Senate. I'm sure there are Catholic pro-life Democrats in the House but they're more likely to represent districts that could turn Republican if a vacancy opened up. In any case, an ambassadorship isn't a cabinet position, there's no policymaking role so it would be harder to find someone willing to leave elected office to fill it.
I think the stubborn aspect is probably the most likely explanation. I mean, would Obama *really* want to offend Catholics after they voted for him 54-44? In the words of Ozzie Guillen "Pssh. Please."
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