Pope Enters Iraq Fray; Iraq would welcome Pope peace trip - Iraqi envoy

BBC / Reuters ^

[RCW2001]

Pope enters Iraq fray

The Pope is said to be worried over a possible war on Iraq

A senior Vatican envoy is being sent to Baghdad on a humanitarian mission as part of diplomatic moves being made by the Holy See to stave off war against Iraq.

Retired French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray is expected to tell the Iraqis they should co-operate fully with UN weapons inspectors.

He will be travelling by air on Monday to Jordan, from where he will fly on to Baghdad on Tuesday, carrying a personal letter from Pope John Paul II to President Saddam Hussein.

The Vatican has already had assurances from Iraq that the cardinal will be received by the president himself.

The Pope's aides say he remains profoundly concerned over the possibility of war against Iraq and especially for the possible effects of the war upon the Iraqi people, 3% of whom are Catholics.

A Vatican statement said Cardinal Etchegaray's mission was to show the Pope's concern over the situation and ask "Iraqi authorities to reflect seriously on the need for an effective international co-operation based on justice and international law aimed at guaranteeing the people [of Iraq] the supreme good of peace".

Cardinal Etchegaray still plays a prominent behind-the-scenes role inside the Vatican and has travelled numerous times to the Middle East on Vatican business, says the BBC's Rome correspondent, David Willey.

It will be his third diplomatic mission to Baghdad.

He first went to the Iraqi capital in 1985 when he helped to arrange an exchange of prisoners of war between Iran and Iraq while they were at war.

Then in 1998, he visited Baghdad to determine if a papal visit was feasible.

That never happened.

Diplomatic moves

The pope has has previously said war against Iraq would be a "defeat for humanity." In the past weeks, the Vatican has been involved in a flurry of diplomatic initiatives to try to avert a conflict.

The pope held talks with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Friday and they made a joint appeal for peace.

Later this week, the Pope is to meet Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz at the Vatican and next week he will be seeing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

On Sunday, he made a dramatic appeal for world prayer to avert war and called for renewed efforts to avoid a war.

"One must not resign oneself, almost as if the war were inevitable," he said.

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10 Feb 2003 14:21
Iraq would welcome Pope peace trip - Iraqi envoy

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ROME, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Iraq would welcome a visit by Pope John Paul in the hope that it would promote peace and stave off a U.S.-led military attack, the Iraqi ambassador to the Vatican said on Monday.

Ambassador A. Amir Alanbari said the Baghdad government would have "no hesitation" in issuing a formal invitation and added that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz may tell the pope at a meeting on Friday that the door to Baghdad was open.

"I think a visit to Iraq by the pope would be a great blessing to the Iraqi people and to the cause of peace throughout the world," the envoy told Reuters in an interview.

[Mr.Clark]

Is there any person more unimposing than a French Cardinal?

[Barnacle]

I hope you have facts to back up your slander.

[Lion's Cub]

I'm not a Catholic, so I don't keep up with all the politics at the Vatican. But, from what I've seen of the Pope, I'm not even sure he's aware of this. He's a sick, old man in insular surroundings. What does he know about current events except what his aides tell him?

[Salvation]

88Retired French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray is expected to tell the Iraqis they should co-operate fully with UN weapons inspectors.**

Maybe we should tell France that a Frenchman is going to Iraq! LOL! <sarcasm off

[Salvation]

He may be sick at times, but his mind is alert. He write encyclicals all the time!

[Desdemona]

Come on, you know that's not true. The Just War doctrine is there. Yes, this pope is trying desparately to avert war. I have my doubts that it will work, but he has to try. It's his job. That doesn't mean that the hierarchy doesn't recognize that the effort will more than likely fail.

In the end, the world will be better off without Saddam Hussein. The question of who's going to take him out is still up in the air. It wouldn't stun me if his own generals did it.

[Salvation]

Oops!

That should have been:

**Retired French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray is expected to tell the Iraqis they should co-operate fully with UN weapons inspectors.**

[St.Chuck]

The Catholic Church (the bishops in particular) marches only to the drumbeat of appeaseniks.

Actually it's probably the other way around. The appeaseniks march to the drumbeat of the church.

[Barnacle]

What a bunch of Barbara Strisand!

Next to Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II is the one man most responsible for the defeat of the Soviet Union.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Because you have to consider the Vatican to be the third leg of the "Axis of Weasels". They're in alliance with their usual buddies, the French (whose feckless diplomacy always screws things up) and the Germans (who always maintain delusions of grandeur).

For a very interesting read, there is a new book out, "The Demon in the Freezer", by Richard Preston. He authored a nonfiction book several years ago called "The Hot Zone" about the mechanics of Ebola and how close it came to spreading here. This time, he writes about weaponized anthrax and smallpox. It is spookier than hell. Bottom line is that in 1995, there was no question that the Iraqis had a facility for the manufacture of smallpox, and we wanted to destroy it, but the French objected because they built it. Apparently it would endanger their other commercial ventures in Iraq. My guess is that the Germans are neck deep in it, too.

And these are the Vatican's allies on this issue.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Pope John Paul II is the most relentless self-promoter on the planet. There is little objective evidence confirming your statement, only the lavish praise of strategically placed spinmeisters.

If anything, the man appears to be a socialist, and does not share many of the goals or values of Americans.

[kassie]

I know it's Monday and all,so I could just not be seeing this, but where in the article does it say Pope John Paul II is going to Iraq?

[sinkspur]

The Pope is not going to Iraq. It would do no good, and he knows he would be used by Hussein.

That's why he's sending Etchegary.

Not that that will do any good either.

From here on, anyone who begs for Hussein to be "reasonable" is an ignorant dupe of a man who is stalling for time.

It won't work.

[Desdemona]

It's his job to try to avert the killing of thousands of people. No matter how justified the cause, and ANY cause is going to be questioned as to whether or not it's justified, war involves the killing of thousands of people.

To question and be sure that war is the ONLY course available is the job of moral leaders. At this point, in this case, it looks like Hussein isn't going to be stopped by any means but force. Sooner or later the Vatican will realize that.

Constantine and Charlemagne had a different set of problems. They weren't dealing with people who see this as the next salvo in a 1300 year holy war.

[St.Chuck]

Today's foremost Christian political leader—George W. Bush—is confronted with an implacable enemy whose intent is no less evil than the destruction of our civilization, our life as we know it, via weapons of mass murder so frightening the world has never seen their like before.

Wow.The Japanese might take issue with some of your hyperbole, but is this Saddam you are talking about, who is out to destroy civilization? Maybe the pope disagrees with your assessment of Saddam's aim and his ability.