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Article: Pope wins Muslim applause in Mideast: but some dynamics of papal trip reinforce Catholic/Jewish tensions.(WORLD)(Pope Benedict XVI )
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- May 29, 2009
- Author:
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After every papal trip, but especially the high-wire act that Benedict XVI performed May 8-15 in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, the obvious question is: How did the pope do? Putting things that way, however, overlooks an important point, which is that it's not just the pope who had something to gain or lose.
The bully pulpit of the papacy, the institutional support of the Vatican, and the sympathy of more than a billion Catholics worldwide are hardly prizes to be sneezed at. Thus, another way to frame analysis is: How did Benedict's hosts do?
On this trip, there were at least seven groups with something on the line: Muslims, Jews, ...