King Abdullah gives Pope a sword?

How very Religion of Peace of him

Makes all that "work for peace, build closer ties" business kind of suspect to me.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Pope Benedict XVI pledged to work for peace and build closer religious ties at an historic meeting at the Vatican in Rome on Tuesday. It was the first official visit by a Saudi monarch to the Holy See and the meeting lasted for thirty minutes.

The 84-year-old monarch, wearing a traditional blue, gold and white robe, gave the 80-year-old pope a gold sword encrusted with stones and in exchange the pontiff gave King Abdullah a 16th century engraving of the Vatican.

More details on the historic meeting can be found here.
They spoke for about 30 minutes in the Pontiff's private study with the help of interpreters in what both the Vatican and reporters described as a cordial atmosphere.

A Vatican statement said "the presence and hard work of Christians (in Saudi Arabia) was discussed" -- seen as a clear reference to the Vatican's concern over the Christian minority.

That's it? That's the sum total of the Pope's concern about the persecution of Christians in the Muslim world? Geez. How do you say lame in Italian? Oh wait, they sent the Bishop out to be the mouthpiece - and guess what? It's still lame.

In an interview with Reuters on the eve of the meeting, the bishop in charge of Catholics in Saudi Arabia called on the country to guarantee more freedom and security for minority Christians and allow more priests in to minister to the faithful.

"What I am hoping is that there can be more security and freedom for our people in a very low profile manner," said Bishop Paul Hinder, a Swiss national who is based in Abu Dhabi.

"I am not expecting to be able to build a cathedral. But at least (we need) the freedom to worship in security," he said.

How the meet and greet is being played in Riyadh. (Okay, what's Italian for bologna -and I don't mean the city. )

Being the custodian of Islam's holy shrines and the leader of the Islamic world, Saudi Arabia, which is calling for a dialogue with one of the heads of Christianity, is proving that it is not the one raising arms and creating enmities, the paper said in an editorial.

More about that sword. It looks like a statue was included in the King's giftage as well. (Man riding a camel under a Palm tree - how original)

The pope admired the statue but merely touched the sword.

(and shivered as he thought about it being used upon his throat.)