The War in the Middle East: Reactions to the Vatican's Reaction

What are people saying about the Vatican's response to the War in the Middle East?

• Dom starts us off with a preliminary defense of Cardinal Sodano's comments (which ticked off Michelle Malkin, who wonders if Pope Benedict is behind Sodano on this one).
• Catholic News Services gathers together a wide sampling of opinions.
• Church officials in Gaza complain about Israeli military incursions.
• L'Osservatore Romano "sharply chided[ed] the "do-nothing policy" of the UN regarding the mounting violence in the Middle East, and chided the US for using its veto power to "prevent the adoption of concrete measures in support of international law." [More...]
• Pope Benedict "not[ed] that July 16 was the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel ... [and] reminded his listeners that the mountain which has attracted so many pilgrims over the centuries is "just a few miles from Lebanon," near Haifa, where terrorist bombs recently struck. He urged the faithful to "pray to Mary Queen of Peace, that she may implore from God the fundamental gift of harmony, bringing political leaders back to the way of reason and opening new possibilities of dialogue and understanding." [source] [more]
• Amy points to a rather unfair cartoon and sparks more discussion on her blog. [NB: I agree substantially with the article that accompanies the cartoon, even if I do take issue with including Pope Benedict in the cartoon itself ...]
• Julie has some links to Middle East bloggers.
• Spero Forum also has good content and don't forget Against the Grain's roundup.

I'm sure we haven't reached the end of the Holy See's comments on the unfolding crisis in the Middle East, but I am hoping for a bit more clarity from the Vatican... the response so far seems fairly muddled and disorganized.