Washington D.C., Feb 20, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, D.C., has taken a keener interest in the plight of Holy Land Christians and, at a recent meeting on foreign trade at the White House, asked President George W. Bush for help, reports nationally syndicated columnist Robert Novak.
Cardinal McCarrick’s immediate concern is the West Bank village of Aboud, whose residents are about half Christian and half Muslim.
Novak underlines that while King Abdullah of Jordan met with members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops earlier this month about this situation and the Vatican has stepped up its interest, there is no sign that the Bush administration is interested in engaging this problem.
“The problems of the Catholic and Orthodox Christians of Aboud do not resonate in American politics,” says Novak. “The evangelicals have signed a blank check to Israel in the interests of security in the Middle East.” He says Rep. Henry Hyde, among all of the Catholics in Congress, is the only one who has shown interest.