| Vatican keeps up drumbeat against war in
Iraq
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
Fierce Vatican diplomacy aimed at blocking a war in Iraq continued
in late February, with meetings between John Paul II and English Prime Minister
Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, and the speaker of the
Iranian parliament Mohammad Reza Khatami, brother of the country’s
president.
The Vatican also kept up its rhetorical drumbeat, with unusually
strong comments suggesting that armed force without United Nations
authorization would be illegal, and that the United States may be acting on the
basis of its desire to control Iraq’s oil resources.
On Feb. 23, John Paul II invited Catholics to a day of fast on Ash
Wednesday, March 5, as a way of expressing their desire for peace.
L’Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, featured the
pope’s words about the possibility of war in its Monday edition, with the
word “never” blazed across the front page in enormous type.
“Believers, whatever their religion, should proclaim that we
will never be able to be happy opposing each other, and that the future of
humanity can never be assured by terrorism and the logic of war,” the pope
said.
On Feb. 27, the Vatican hosted a briefing session for all its
accredited diplomats, more than 300, to explain its view on the fundamental
role of the United Nations in resolving the Iraq conflict. One Western diplomat
told NCR that the move was in response to a high volume of requests from
diplomats for the Holy See to explain its strong antiwar line.
The recent flurry of high-profile visits to Pope John Paul II
symbolizes the Vatican’s attempt to influence all sides in the debate over
Iraq, since England and Spain both support the use of force, while Iran is one
of the so-called “axis of evil” nations.
In recent weeks, the pope met British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, U.N. General-Secretary Kofi Annan and
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. He sent Cardinal Roger Etchegaray as a
special envoy to Baghdad (NCR, Feb. 21 and 28).
Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican’s foreign minister,
warned Feb. 24 at a conference on peace at a Roman hotel that “a war of
aggression would be a crime against peace,” especially if that war 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.
Meanwhile, the director of Vatican Radio, Jesuit Fr. Pasquale
Borgomeo, asserted during a live broadcast Feb. 25 that it is “difficult
to explain” American policy in Iraq without respect to the country’s
oil resources. Iraq has the second-largest oil reserves in the world, estimated
at 112 billion barrels.
Despite Blair’s recent statement that suggestions of oil
interests behind the push in Iraq amount to a “conspiracy theory,”
Borgomeo said that American antiwar protestors carrying signs reading “no
blood for oil” may be on to something. He pointed to reports of November
meetings between Iraqi opposition leaders and officials of American oil
companies to discuss the postwar development of Iraqi oil fields.
The Bush administration has indicated it would use oil revenue to
help finance the rebuilding of Iraq.
Not all Catholic figures were content with the Vatican’s full
court press against the war.
“I have the impression that by now the Catholics who count
are increasingly lined up under the banner of anti-Americanism,” said
Bishop Alessandro Maggiolini of Como, Italy.
Despite the diplomatic frenzy, senior Vatican officials seem
privately pessimistic that war in Iraq can be avoided.
“I hope for it strongly, but I don’t have much
faith,” a senior official told NCR Feb. 25.
“I’m sorry to say this to your countrymen, but my
impression is that America wants to get rid of Saddam Hussein at all costs, and
even if he does disarm that won’t be enough to save himself,” the
official said.
John L. Allen Jr. is NCR Rome correspondent. His e-mail
address is jallen@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, March 7,
2003
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