Never been much of a Catholic, however i am happy with how far the church as come:
War never inevitable, says Pope
Last Updated Sat, 08 Feb 2003 19:39:21
VATICAN CITY - With talk of a U.S.-led war against Iraq intensifying, Pope John Paul pleaded with the world Saturday to find peaceful solutions to disputes.
He said humanity must never give up on diplomacy and fall into the trap of preferring weapons to words.
“We have to multiply efforts. We can’t stop when faced with either terror attacks or the threats that are on the horizon,” the Pontiff said.
“We should never resign ourselves, almost as if war is inevitable.”
“Tensions and winds of war” are swirling around the planet, he said, and people are being tempted by “hate and violence.”
Addressing members of an Italian peace group that helped end a civil war in Mozambique 10 years ago, the Pope emphasized that hope and dialogue are always the answer.
Saturday’s remarks were made as the Vatican prepared to step up its own efforts to avoid a war in Iraq.
The pope is scheduled to meet Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz on Friday. There are also reports that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will fly to Rome in the next few weeks.
The Roman Catholic Church is opposed to the use of force against Iraq, and has said it would not consider any attack a “just war.”
On Friday, the Pope sat down with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer before issuing a joint appeal for peace. Germany is one of the leading critics of the White House’s threats to launch a unilateral attack against Baghdad. It wants UN arms inspectors to have more time to assess the threat that Iraq poses to the world.
The head of the Vatican’s justice and peace division, Archbishop Renato Martino, has said the church is unswayed by Washington’s allegations that Iraq poses weapons of mass destruction. He called the claims too vague. Martino has also warned that bombs dropped on Baghdad would undoubtedly spark terrorist reprisals that would kill civilians.
- by the way, does it piss people off when i copy and paste stuff? If it does, then SCREW YOU :evil: :evil: :evil:
:D