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Funeral to unite Bush, Blair
and Clinton - but Castro will stay away
By Anne Penketh and Peter
Popham in Rome. The Independent, UK, 5 April
2005.
Presidents will rub shoulders with kings
and queens at the Pope's funeral in a diplomatic
nightmare that will accompany one of the
biggest ever gatherings of world leaders
in modern times, as well as one of the largest
gatherings of pilgrims, who are expected
to number up to four million.
US President George Bush will be accompanied
by his wife Laura and a "small delegation"
of American officials for the funeral in
Vatican City.
President Bush said yesterday it was a
"great honour, on behalf of our country,
to express our gratitude to the Almighty
for such a man. And of course we look forward
to the majesty of celebrating such a significant
human life."
Edward Kennedy is among other American
politicians certain to arrive, while there
is speculation in Rome that George Bush
Sr and Bill Clinton will also show up.
Prince Charles delayed his own marriage
by a day in order to accompany Tony Blair
and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan
Williams, to Rome.
Pope John Paul II's worldwide popularity
and the political importance of Catholics
in so many countries guarantees a curious
assortment in Rome of the good and the great.
Kofi Annan will be there. King Abdullah
of Jordan has also confirmed.
Italian newspapers were abuzz with the
possibility that the Pope improbable friend
Fidel Castro might make it. Despite the
fact that Castro declared a three-day period
of national mourning for the pope, this
now appears unlikely, though he will certainly
send an important representative.
President Aleksander Kwasniewski, of Poland,
is sure to attend, along with Lech Walesa,
the trade unionist whose Solidarity movement
was supported by the Pope's firm stand against
Poland's communist authorities.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero will come to Rome, though he has
few friends in the Curia following his bruising
assertion of the secular nature of the Spanish
state and his approval of gay marriages.
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia will accompany
Zapatero.
Ireland is sending President Mary McAleese
and Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who faced
questions yesterday after he refused to
declare Friday a national holiday in the
staunchly Roman Catholic republic.
Italy is also counting on the appearance
of Nelson Mandela, and Israel's foreign
minister Silvan Shalom, in recognition of
the late pope's attempts to build trust
and amity between Christianity and Judaism.
President Jacques Chirac of France will
also be there. Others include President
Vincente Fox, of Mexico, and triumphant
Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko, President
Horst Koehler and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
of Germany will also attend.
Throw in such religious figures as Russian
Orthodox patriarch Alessio II, Sister Nirmala,
leader of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of
Charity and high profile Muslim delegations
and the potential for political fireworks
appears to be great. The protocol challenge
will be complex, although it is a challenge
for which the Vatican has had ample time
to prepare.
It is expected that at least some of the
world leaders will take advantage of the
event to hold one-on-one meetings with other
leaders while they are gathered in Rome.
President Bush met the Pope three times
during his presidency, and on the last occasion
the president was famously scolded for his
attachment to aggression as a means of solving
problems. The Pope was a formidable opponent
of the war in Iraq.
Nonetheless, President Bush said yesterday
that he was looking forward to attending
Pope John Paul II's funeral.
©2005
Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd.
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