[Kevin Curry]

Yet he never goes so far as to define war in Iraq as “a crime against peace,” as have, for example, two of his aides, Archbishops Jean-Louis Tauran and Renato Martino.

If the Pope is the "supreme authority" of the Catholic Church, why does he allow these beyond-the-pale statements of lesser--but close and intimate--authorities to stand unchallenged?

The Vatican (not merely the Pope, whom I believe to be an eminently decent man) is speaking with a forked tongue.

[LadyDoc]

The pope is not a dictator. Every Catholic knows that he speaks his opinion, as do bishops. We have to pay attention to Faith and Morals, but unless he speaks "ex cathedra" we can differ in our opinion.
Ditto for bishops.
There is actually only a few things Catholics are bound under pain of sin or excommunication to believe. Much of the tradition is optional.
For example, this pope would like to eliminate both war and the death penalty. But there is a long tradition that says both can be done legitimately.
There is a question of the morality of this war outside the UN. Most Americans however point out that the problem is that the UN has failed, so war is moral --this is a threat to us and the world, and a decent UN would have approved of it. However, a UN that allows a minor country like France to veto such a war means that we can either ignore the problem or take up the failed responsiblity of the UN and act on our own.
I don't like the war without a UN, but like the Pope I see a future Islamofascism. He merely thinks the war will make it worse, whereas Bush thinks this might cure it.
As for WMD: I suspect the Vatican has spies that know where they are hidden.