When I was a school boy a couple of years ago , Joschka Fischer was visiting us at Berlin's Jewish Highschool to have a discussion about the Arab-Israeli conflict. What followed was two hours of intense exchange of arguments between our students – with him moderating in the middle. At the end we all agreed on his proposals.
Never since then have I seen a politician who managed to see both sides to a conflict, understand their fears and their hopes and manage to bridge their gapes.
If he would only had a bigger role in the peace talks back then and if Bush wouldn't have stepped on the breaks so much, I'm sure the conflict wouldn't have escalated as bad as it did since then!
Joschka Fischer was truly a great, yet controversial leader!
I disagree. If actions speak much louder than words, what is the the lifting of the ex-communication of one crazy bishop for the sake of inner church politics compared to the numerous conferences, meetings and events the pope so far has held in order to facilitate the jewish-catholic relationship?
I think we should differentiate between Mr. Williamson and his now again boss. As far as I hear the vatican and numerous catholic bishops have immediately distanced themselves from Mr. Williamsons remarks. Now that Mr. Williamson is part of the Roman-Catholic church again I trust the leaders in the vatican to keep the guy under control and draw the necessary consequences if he should deny the holocaust again.
In summary, it is my believe that right now, it would not be wise to turn the back to the pope – he has proven before that he can be trusted.