Vatican 'Decananza Diplomatica' and the French Language Keep Some Space Between Bush, Assad and Khatami

Published April 13, 2005

VATICAN CITY--For politicians, for the first time it was not important where they stood, but where they sat. That was last week, during the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

For most of us unable to organize two shoes in a box, it's not hard to see that the handling of all the world's heads of State and government during the papal funeral was the mother of all headaches for any diplomat. We don't know...