A momentous meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Saudi King Abdullah is about to take place in Rome. London Times calls it "unprecedented," but reports suggest really nothing more than the usual formal meeting between two heads of state, albeit states with no formal diplomatic ties.
The Vatican said the uprecedented meeting would take place at the Vatican on Tuesday. King Abdullah has been paying a visit to Britain as part of a European tour. The Pope has sought to promote Christian-Muslim dialogue, and last month October opened a three day inter faith conference at Naples which included Muslim representatives.
The Vatican does not have formal diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, and relations have been strained, with the Holy See demanding "reciprocity" in religious observance. While Muslims are free to practice their faith in the West Christians are not given the same rights in Saudi Arabia. Bibles and crosses are confiscated at the border.
CNS News reports that King Abdullah met several times with Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, in the 1990s when he was Crown Prince:
As crown prince, he met with Pope John Paul II twice — at Castel Gandolfo in September 1997 and at the Vatican in May 1999.
Although the Vatican and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations, Pope Benedict met with another member of the Saudi royal family, Prince Saud Al Faisal, in September. The Vatican said the pope and the prince, who is the country’s foreign minister, discussed the political and religious situation in Saudi Arabia, among other topics.
This is the kind of meeting that generates conspiracy theories among less thoughtful Christians, and of course among jihadis, who already view Abdullah as an apostate. However, the agenda doesn't appear to be very sinister, and as the CNS report notes:
Vatican-watchers are eager to see how the pope addresses those issues [ie religious freedom, etc]. But there is a good chance only the king, the pope and their top staff will know for sure.
Formal speeches are exchanged and published only on the rare occasions of a formal state visit. Otherwise, Vatican press statements about papal meetings with visiting heads of state usually begin by saying the meeting was “cordial” or “very cordial,” and then add an exceedingly general list of topics covered. Normally, reporters get details of the papal conversation only if the head of state talks about it later at a press conference.
Since radical Salafists don't recognize the legitimacy of any state (even Muslim ones) besides theirs (and they don't have any, thank God) or any religion besides theirs (and that doesn't count most Muslims), this rather ho-hum event is distorted into a momentous moment for them. It will be ever more proof of the apostasy of the Saudi regime, and yet another sign that the "Crusaders are coming to destroy Islam!," etc.
I'll bet any reader a penny that within 24 hours jihadi media groups will have taken any public photo of the two leaders together and turned it into yet another sign of threat from "Crusaders." And within a week, Zawahiri or Al-Libbi will have a tape or video condemning the meeting.
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