All the Pope's Men (43 page)

February 16, 2003
Etchegaray released a statement prior to his departure from Baghdad. He said: “I have just experienced in Iraq an extraordinary intensity of communion with the person who sent me there, Pope John Paul II. Seldom have I felt so strongly that I was not only the bearer of his message of peace, but that he himself was present. I only followed him among the Christian communities, among all the Iraqi people, to President Saddam Hussein who showed a profound willingness to listen to a living word that comes from God, and that every believer, as descendant of Abraham, welcomes as the surest leaven of peace. As I leave this land, unjustly cut off from all others, I want to be more than the simple echo and amplifier of the aspiration of a country that has an urgent need of peace. Among the dark clouds that recently have gathered, here is a small glimmer of light. But let no one stop praying. The new and brief respite that has been granted must be used by all in a spirit of reciprocal confidence to respond to the demands of the international community. The least step in these days will have the value of a great leap towards peace. Yes, peace is still possible in Iraq and for Iraq. I depart for Rome crying this out more strongly than ever."

A full-length interview with Etchegaray is published in L’Avvenire, the official newspaper of the Italian bishops. He said of Hussein, “He appeared to me to be in good health, and seriously aware of the responsibility he must face before his people. I was convinced that Saddam Hussein now wishes to avoid war." Etchegaray was asked if his emphasis on the suffering of the Iraqi people could end up providing an alibi to the regime. “It could, but faced with a people that has suffered for so many years just to survive, you can’t speak of alibis, there are no alibis," he said. Asked if he saw a new global openness to peace, Etchegaray said: “The world needs gestures that express the desire for peace. I believe it’s necessary for public opinion to influence the decisions of leaders, but this must be a well-formed and well-informed opinion, because—I’m speaking generally—there is the possibility for manipulation. . . . The Iraqi people have a natural goodness of heart, but after two wars and the embargo they have been stricken in every aspect of their lives and cannot inform themselves."

February 18, 2003
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan met with the Pope in the Vatican, followed by talks with Sodano, who in this case was accompanied by Etchegaray. “In a cordial and detailed colloquium, the Pope and Mr. Annan were able to examine the diverse aspects of the critical situation currently regarding Iraq. Underlining the essential role of the United Nations, it was hoped that just and effective solutions may be found to the challenges of the moment with respect to international law, of which the United Nations is guarantee. May these solutions avoid additional grave sources of suffering for those populations already tried by long years of embargo," the Vatican statement read.

Respected Italian journalist Sandro Magister voiced the discomfort some conservative Catholics, including some Vatican officials, felt over Etchegaray’s peace mission to Baghdad in his
www.chiesa
online column. Reflecting on Etchegaray’s interview with L’Avvenire, Magister complained of an “incomprehensible" and “deafening" silence on Hussein’s brutality to his own people. “The cardinal does not devote a single word to the horrible sufferings endured for decades by the Iraqi people, not at the hands of external agents, but at those of its tyrant and those who surround him," Magister wrote. Noting the Etchegaray interview and the February 12 interview in
Corriere della Sera
with Coli about the Aziz visit to Assisi, Magister sounded a warning about moral fuzziness. Both suggest “a certain confusion between true and false, between good and evil, between just and unjust," Magister wrote. “On a question like that of Iraq, so critical for the destiny of the world, the danger is . . . that same indiscriminate relativism, in the dressings of peace, that the Church itself is the first to identify as the great temptation of today’s Christians."

February 19, 2003
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Holy See’s observer at the United Nations, spoke before the Security Council on the Iraq issue. Migliore said: “The Holy See is convinced that in the efforts to draw strength from the wealth of peaceful tools provided by the international law, to resort to force would not be a just one. To the grave consequences for a civilian population that has already been tested long enough, are added the dark prospects of tensions and conflicts between peoples and cultures and the deprecated reintroduction of war as a way to resolve untenable situations. . . . The Holy See is convinced that even though the process of inspections appears somewhat slow, it still remains an effective path that could lead to the building of a consensus which, if widely shared by nations, would make it almost impossible for any government to act otherwise, without risking international isolation. The Holy See is therefore of the view that it is also the proper path that would lead to an agreed and honorable resolution to the problem, which, in turn, could provide the basis for a real and lasting peace. . . . On the issue of Iraq, the vast majority of the international community is calling for a diplomatic resolution of the dispute and for exploring all avenues for a peaceful settlement. That call should not be ignored. The Holy See encourages the parties concerned to keep the dialogue open that could bring about solutions in preventing a possible war and urges the international community to assume its responsibility in dealing with any failings by Iraq."

February 20, 2003
The Pope received an interreligious delegation from Indonesia that had come to Rome to express opposition to the war in Iraq. He said: “At this time of great tension for the world, you have come to Rome, and I am grateful to have this occasion to speak to you. With the real possibility of war looming on the horizon, we must not permit politics to become a source of further division among the world’s religions. In fact, neither the threat of war nor war itself should be allowed to alienate Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and members of other religions. As religious leaders committed to peace, we should work together with our own people, with those of other religious beliefs and with all men and women of good will to ensure understanding, cooperation and solidarity. Earlier this year, I said: ‘War is always a defeat for humanity’ (
Address to the Diplomatic
Corps accredited to the Holy See,
13 January 2003, 4). It is also a tragedy for religion. My fervent prayer is that our efforts to promote mutual understanding and trust will bear abundant fruit and help the world to avoid conflict. For it is through commitment and continuing cooperation that cultures and religions ‘will be able to break through the barriers which divide them, to understand one another and to pardon those who have done them wrong’ (Pacem in Terris, V). This is the way that leads to true peace on earth. Together, let us work and pray for this peace."

February 22, 2003
British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited John Paul II in the Vatican, and then held talks with Sodano and Tauran. “The Holy Father expressed the hope that in resolving the grave situation in Iraq, every effort will be made to avoid new divisions in the world," the Vatican statement afterward read. “In the meetings in the Vatican this morning the necessity was reconfirmed for all interested parties in the well-known Iraqi crisis to be able to collaborate with the United Nations, and to make use of the resources offered by international law, for dispelling the tragedy of a war that is still regarded in many quarters as avoidable. Special consideration was given to the humanitarian situation of the Iraqi people, already so harshly tried by long years of embargo."

February 23, 2003
The Pope delivered his Sunday Angelus address. In it, he called for a day of prayer and fasting to implore peace on Ash Wednesday, March 5. He said: “For months the international community has been living in great apprehension on account of the danger of a war that might upset the whole Middle East region and aggravate the tensions that, unfortunately, are already present at the beginning of the third millennium. It is a duty for believers, regardless of the religion they belong to, to proclaim that we can never be happy if we are against one another, the future of humanity can never be assured by terrorism and the logic of war. We Christians, especially, are called to be sentinels of peace wherever we live and work. We are asked to watch out so that consciences may not yield to the temptation to egoism, lying and violence. Therefore, I invite all Catholics to dedicate with special intensity next 5 March, Ash Wednesday, to prayer and fasting for the cause of peace, especially in the Middle East. Above all, let us ask God for the conversion of hearts and the farsightedness of just decisions to resolve with adequate and peaceful means the conflicts that impede the pilgrimage of humanity in our time."

February 23–24, 2003
The annual meeting of a joint committee between the Vatican and Cairo’s prestigious al-Azhar institute, widely considered the Vatican of the Islamic world, took place in Cairo. The Vatican was represented by Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. “War is a proof that humanity has failed," its concluding statement read. “It brings about enormous loss of human life, great damage to the basic structures of human livelihood and the environment, displacement of large populations, and further political instability. . . . In the present circumstances there is the added factor of increased tension between Muslims and Christians on account of the mistaken identification of some Western powers with Christianity, and of Iraq with Islam. . . . The Muslim members of the committee welcomed the clear policy and strenuous efforts of His Holiness Pope John Paul II in favor of peace," it said.

February 24, 2003
Tauran spoke at a conference on peace held at a Roman hospital, warning that “a war of aggression would be a crime against peace." He said the conflict would be illegal without UN warrant, especially if it were launched “by one or more states" outside the framework of the United Nations. “For us, everything must be undertaken and decided in the context of the United Nations," Tauran said. “No rule of international law authorizes one or more states to have unilateral recourse to the use of force for changing the regime or form of government of another state, because for example they may possess weapons of mass destruction. Only the Security Council could, on the basis of particular circumstances, decide that those facts constitute a threat to peace." He warned of the likely response to a war from countries in the region, which “in solidarity with Iraq could assume extreme attitudes."

Tauran appeared to downplay one of the key motives advanced by the Americans for this conflict, Saddam’s arsenal. “Weapons of mass destruction are present not only in the Middle East, but also elsewhere," Tauran said. “Their destruction is certainly a pressing necessity, but it can be achieved with the inspections now underway." A war would lead to “disproportionate damages in relation to the objectives to be reached and would violate the fundamental rules of international humanitarian law," Tauran said, in language widely taken as a reference to the Geneva Convention. Tauran indicated that Iraq must act in ways consistent with its membership in international organizations, and that Bush should opt for “the force of law instead of the law of force."

Borgomeo used his Vatican Radio broadcast to again assert that the United States was acting in Iraq on the basis of its oil interests. Borgomeo took his cue from signs reading “no blood for oil" that many American antiwar protestors had been carrying, and suggested that they had a point. He noted that in late November representatives of American oil companies met with Iraqi opposition groups in London to open talks about the disposition of oil rights in a postwar Iraq. Despite the fact that Blair called the suggestion a “conspiracy theory," Borgomeo said it is “difficult" not to believe that Iraq’s vast resources, estimated at some 112 billion barrels, has something to do with the military buildup.

February 27, 2003
John Paul II received Prime Minister José María Aznar of Spain, who also held talks with Sodano and Tauran. “In the cordial conversation, which lasted a half-hour, it was agreed that the situation created in Iraq is grave and that there is a need for a solution. The Holy Father hopes that all the parties involved—without exceptions—will adopt just decisions and will take up effective peaceful initiatives which conform to justice, inspired by international law and ethical principles," the Vatican statement read. “The head of the Spanish government explained the line of action followed by the Spanish government up to this point on the Iraqi crisis, illustrating, in particular, the danger of terrorism, and hence the necessity of a common action on the part of the United Nations. On these points was noted a convergence of views with the Holy See."

John Paul II received Seyyed Mohammad Reza Khatami, vice-president of Iran’s parliament and the brother-in-law of the country’s reformer president, who then held talks with Sodano and Tauran. “The meetings permitted an exchange of opinions on the necessity of protecting the peace in the area of the Middle East," the Vatican statement read. “On this very serious subject, the vice-president was the carrier of a message from President Mohammad Khatami for the Holy Father."

In a rare session, the ambassadors from all the nations accredited to the Holy See had a briefing session with Tauran, in which he outlined the Holy See’s reasons for opposing a war in Iraq. In brief, Tauran argued that all decisions about the use of force on Iraq should be made in and through the United Nations. A war, he insisted, would have unacceptable consequences for the civilian population and would inflame extremist sentiments in the other countries of the area. It would inflict damages disproportionate to the good to be achieved and would violate international law, including the Geneva Convention. The Holy See acknowledged, Tauran said, the urgency of disarmament, but believed that the process of inspections could be effective.