text: "it was John Paul II & Benedict XVI who criticized the Bush Administration over Iraq"
  
  I'm so glad some of you conservatives remember that - not that it did much good at the time. As I recall, the USCCB basically ignored that criticism out of fear that their monied conservative parishioners (who were more loyal to George W. Bush than they were to the pope) would react badly. So all we got was pretty much a tepid letter on USCCB stationary which offered mild condemnation. I never heard a word of condemnation about the Iraq War from my local bishop nor any prominent bishops in the news media at the time. None. So it's quite convenient for you to mention this now, fifteen years after the fact, when it meant next to nothing in practical terms at the time.