MUGABE : FRIEND OF ROME.

In keeping with its medieval nature, the Roman Catholic church is all set to 'Beatify, the last pope, John Paul II, in Rome tomorrow. Beatification is a step on the road to sainthood and relies on the subject having been accredited with performing at least one confirmed miracle since his death. Apparently, John Paul is now deemed to have been responsible for the 'miraculous' cure of a nun with Parkinson's Disease, something he achieved in early 2006, 9 months or so after his death.

Yes, well, to many of us, this is all a load of tosh, though to many millions of Catholics throughout the world, it's obviously a matter of supreme significance. Leaving aside the matter as to whether or not there is any sense or logic in the behaviour of religious groups, what is undeniable is that the guest list for the event in Rome tomorrow is highly questionable in at least one respect.

Robert Mugabe, the vicious thug who's run Zimbabwe into the ground over the last 30 or so years, has already arrived in Rome, despite there being a ban on him travelling to any member state of the European Union due to his generally disgusting behaviour and total disregard for anything that might be referred to as 'Human Rights'. Although the Vatican is an independent state and not a member of the European Union, surely inviting a creature like Mugabe to attend an important state occasion raises the most serious questions about the Vatican's own moral standing; that Mugabe has been invited to a gathering to recognise the enormous good done by a former Pope, is inexplicable.

If Mugabe were not the black dictator of a former British colonial state, he would have been removed from power by the UN, US or whomever, long ago. This man is the personification of evil and his attendance at the Vatican tomorrow is akin to Britain having invited Stalin to a Royal Wedding or Hitler to a Coronation. Whether or not Catholics are right in their blind faith that Pope John Paul II has really performed a miracle from beyond the grave, the Catholic Church is utterly wrong in its choice of friends.