Disrespecting the Pope
It seems that American president George W. Bush made another gaffe:
US President George W Bush drew gasps at the Vatican on Saturday by referring to Pope Benedict XVI as “sir” instead of the expected “His Holiness”, pool reporters said.
They could clearly hear the US leader say “Yes, sir” when the pope asked him if he was going to meet with officials of the lay Catholic Sant’Egidio community at the US embassy later during his visit.
James Joyner defends Bush by writing, “Bush isn’t Catholic. He’s the leader of the dominant country on the planet. Aside from the age gap, it’s rather remarkable that he’s addressing the pope as ‘Sir.’ Why on earth should he address him in the third person, let alone pretend that he considers him ‘holy’?”
Let me answer that question: manners.
When one meets the Dalai Lama, for instance, one has refer to him as “Your Holiness.” Now, I am not a Buddhist, so I do not for one second believe that the Dalai Lama is holy, but I would refer to him as “Your Holiness,” if I will ever have the pleasure to meet him, nonetheless.
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9 Responses to “Disrespecting the Pope”
Well it is a mistake, but I think a forgivable one. His handlers probably should have told him the title the Pope goes by. Actually, he should, as the president, know those sorts of things, but I hardly think he should be errr crucified for it. It sounds like he was trying to be polite and simply didn’t know the tradition.
Now then James Joyner’s defense is actually worse than Bush’s little gaffe itself. “My country is bigger’n yours and I ain’t even your religion so nanny nanny boo boo!” is childish, at best. I think the proper response would be “oh, excuse me, I wasn’t aware of the tradition, sorry ’bout that.” No biggie, calling someone “sir” can hardly be construed as an insult. We already have Islamic extremists for disproportionate outrage.
Silly Memes #147: Bush Disrespects The Pope
It’s a measure of George Bush’s impact and visibility that every little action gets wide exposure and viewed outside of context. It’s also a measure of his low popularity that some of these get used to paint him in the…
[...] Joyner makes the point that Bush is not Catholic, while Michael van der Galien claims that anyone addressing the Pope should use the response “Your Holiness” (not [...]
I can accept rules of protocol, but not to the extent that protocol itself becomes more timportant than substnce.
The word ‘sir’ expresses respect; it’s not like the word ‘dude’ was used.
Beseides, if the Pope is His Holiness in the sense the title implies, he won’t be worrying overly about personal obeissance expressed by visitors.
I think you’re all being a little to hash on the President.
Anyone who pays attention knows that George Bush is an idiot and it’s just not reasonable to expect an idiot to the held to the same standards of respect and decorum that we’d hold a normal person. Lighten up all ready… Give the poor guy a break.
This reminds me of the story about Jim Thorpe being presented to King Gustaf of Sweden at the Olympic Games. “Hi, King,†said Thorpe, holding out his hand.
It must be a slow news day. But I’m glad to see the MSM’s new found concern for Catholic sensibilities.
Yeah really… who cares?
At least he didn’t do a Nazi salute or something.
Yeah, I’m sure Jesus would want the Pope to get all hung up about titles of office. That’s all over the Gospels.
Big deal. The Pope is human like everyone else, he doesn’t have to be treated special.