Archbishop Conti Agrees With Lockerbie Compassionate Release

As a Catholic, this just seemed so obvious to me when I wrote it. I am therefore most gratified to know that I am in line with the thinking of the archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti, on this matter. Archbishop Conti said:

“I personally, and many others in the Catholic community, admired the decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on grounds of compassion which is, after all, one of the principles inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament by which Scotland’s Government should operate. The showing of mercy in any situation is not a sign of weakness. Indeed in this situation, with the pressures and circumstances of the case, it seemed to me a sign of manifest strength.”

Amen. And by the way, who can deny that the almost universal American outrage over this release comes from its Calvinist culture? Indeed, there are Catholic bloggers out whose reaction is “screw the complicit appeasement-happy Europeans” (and no, I am not linking to this person). Kneejerk Americanism first, Catholicism second, and with a whiff of violence in the rhetoric. Rather standard fare among that crowd, I’m afraid.