Interview With Ambassador Rooney

Rooney1John Allen (yes, I know this is kinda turning on to John Allen week, but he’s a good source and I’m doing a bunch of pre-blogging since I’m going to have to be offline for a few days and I don’t want to just leave the blog inactive) has an interesting interview with the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Rooney (pictured).

EXCERPTS:

In the struggle against terrorism, most people are on board in terms of ends. The debate is over means. Have there been exchanges between you and the Holy See on that question?
Obviously, everybody hopes there won’t be any more wars. Like I said, the Holy See is supportive of our nation-building efforts in Iraq, and hopes that the seed of some kind of pluralistic, tolerant society, if possible, will be an example to other countries in that area.

Has there been any additional conversation between you and the Holy See about when the use of force is justified to try to curb terrorism?
No. The subject hasn’t come up. I haven’t seen any particular reason to raise that at this point. When we talk about Iran, the Holy See has been clearly supportive of all the nations working to avoid a nuclear armed Iran. There’s really nothing to talk about at this point. I think we all agree that a war in Iran would be a horrible thing. The fortunate thing is, the Holy See is willing to speak up about the right of Israel to exist. The Holy Father opposed President Ahmadinejad’s comments. We’ve encouraged them to be strong, to continue to speak up, because that shows Iran the whole world is united against them having nuclear weapons and threatening their neighbors.

You haven’t heard anything from the Holy See to the effect of, ‘Please don’t use force in Iran?’
No.

You mentioned religious liberty, another core theme of interest to the Holy See, especially these days in the context of the Islamic world. Benedict XVI seems a bit more outspoken on Islam than John Paul II. Some welcome that, others worry that it will heighten tensions. What’s your reading?
I think the evolving consensus that the church needs to be clear and strong that religious freedom is a two-way street is unimpeachable. I haven’t heard anything from my government to oppose that. We’re for religious freedom of all stripes. When you apply that principle, you have to say that for Saudi Arabia to say, ‘There can’t be any churches,’ is an issue. I believe even Secretary Rice is starting to address that, and I think the President’s comments that pluralism in Iraq should germinate pluralism elsewhere, is all playing into that same thing. You can’t have it two ways.

You would agree that there’s a stronger line under Benedict XVI?
Absolutely. I think they’ve hardened up. I think they’ve gotten clearer. They’re focusing on this reciprocity doctrine. They’re also focusing on the possibilities of working together in non-doctrinal areas, which I think is smart. It’s kind of hard for people to hate each other who have worked together building a Habitat for Humanity house, that kind of team-building concept, which can be applied in pastoral care, in AIDS relief. There are also the life issues, where the Catholic Church has been on the same side with Islam before the U.N. Maybe there are some things like that they can work on together. I think that’s part of their thinking, and that’s all great.

I thought the interview overall was quite interesting and insightful. I’m not happy about everything I read–partly because Ambassador Rooney puts a political spin on a few points, which is what you’d expect from a political appointee–but it’s well worth reading.

GET THE STORY.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

4 thoughts on “Interview With Ambassador Rooney”

  1. You found this interview “interesting,” Jimmy? I learned nothing from reading it. Quite frankly, reading it was a waste of time.

  2. Funny I never thought about the US being the Vatican’s ally, I always thought of the US as a new roman empire. (I guess thats what a liberal education will do to you.) But looking at things I suppose he’s right. Europe has gone very secular anti-religous. Russia is dealing with it’s waves of change. China is systematically abusing people. India deals with societal problems. Australia is to small. The muslim countries could be potential allies, but many of them are focusing on anti-western hatred. Africa is to disjointed and in such turmoil. South America has little interest, ability, or capital to do much outside their own countries. Mexico is trying to manage a mass exodus due to their own corruption. Canada is anything but Catholic. Wow, nobody is really on the vatican’s side overall.
    Well, looking at all these grand generalizations I made I can’t believe how ignorant and bombastic I am, but I am an American so thats expected of me, right?

  3. You found this interview “interesting,” Jimmy? I learned nothing from reading it. Quite frankly, reading it was a waste of time.
    What exquisite manners your momma taught you when you were little.
    I see they’re still working at top of form.

  4. To learn more about the “real” islam, please check out Catholic author Robert Spencers excellent site:
    http://www.jihadwatch.org
    Obviously I don’t agree with all of the posts from other readers, but the facts and information on the site are truly frightening

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