IRAQ-CONFLICT: Pope John Paul II denounces war

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Att.Editors: The following item is from the Qatar News Agency (QNA)

VATICAN CITY, Mar 22 2003 (IPS) - Pope John Paul II today denounced the war against Iraq as a threat against the fate of humanity.

When war, as in these days in Iraq, threatens the fate of humanity, it is ever more urgent to proclaim, with a strong and decisive voice, that only peace is the road to follow to construct a more just and united society, John Paul said. Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men, he noted.

The Pope made his remarks in an address at the Vatican to an Italian religious television channel, Telepace.

A few hours after the war began, the Vatican expressed deep pain and faulted both sides for failing to find a peaceful solution.