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.

[F16Fighter]

"From what I've seen of the Pope, I'm not even sure he's aware of this [murders of Christians in Sudan]. He's a sick, old man in insular surroundings. What does he know about current events except what his aides tell him?"

It's a mystery to me, but politically speaking, he and whomever are calling the shots over at the Vatican appear to be contributing to anti-American propaganda by this bogus 11th hour "peace trip."

[St.Chuck]

Will you be disapponted if war is averted?

[Romulus]

Is there any person more unimposing than a French Cardinal?

Actually, Cardinal Lustiger of Paris is a very impressive man. Did you know he was born and raised as a Jew?

[Desdemona]

If the missions of earlier Christian leaders were sufficiently righteous to garner papal benedictions, why in the world would today's pontiff join the chorus of whiney appeasers and not stand with us against Saddam and his cabal of islamakazi misanthropes?

Tony, there's a difference between being whiney and seeing that an international match-up like this has the potential of turning into WWIII and trying despirately to avoid it. This is not going to end with Iraq. It's going to spread. And it's going to get really expensive. For everybody. It's inevitible, but remember that not every nation, faith, group has the short fuses we do. They have to be pulled along kicking and screaming.

As for Constantine and Charlemagne - Constantine was a great Christian warrior, but remember, he wasn't Baptized, hadn't made a Confession or First Communion or been Confirmed until his deathbed least it effect his salavation. DOn't forget that. They weren't popes. THey were civil leaders.

[Desdemona]

I'd like to see democracy and peace in the Arab world. I'd like to see a freely elected, representative body administering law and defending people's freedom in Mesopotamia, Arabia and Persia. I'd like to see prosperity built by unshackled human ingenuity in that part of the world, just like it is in the West.

Yes, but they have to decide this for themselves and take charge to do it. It does them no good and leaves them vulnerable to another tyrant if we do it for them. Getting rid of Hussein will be a favor to the world, but those people have to build themselves up.

[St.Chuck]

But do you think for a second that any of this will occur from appeasement, handwringing and pious diplo-babble?

Appeasement has become anything other than the use of military force to remove Saddam Hussein. Noone is suggesting that Saddam be ignored. In fact, the French and German plan actually calls for the noose to be tightened. So appeasement is a mischaracterization.

I'm not certain that the aim for spreading democracy to the middle east is best accomplished through conquest and occupation. ( see Afghanastan ) In a culture that has no democratic traditions and is stuck in feudalism it wouldn't be too far off the mark to describe spreading democracy as pious daydreaming. One thing the Bush administration needs to do is have an end game; while the use of our overpowering military is attractive to most Americans, as some kind of catharsis or entertainment venue, some would like to understand the long range plan and it's practical feasiblity when put in place.

[FairOpinion]

[Destro]

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz is Catholic if I am not mistaken.

[iranger]

"Yes, but they have to decide this for themselves and take charge to do it."

Instilling democracy on a subjucated and defeated Japan and Germany seems to have worked pretty well.

[Desdemona]

I don't have a problem with removing Saddam. And, regardless of how it's reported, the Vatican would rather have terrorism out of the picture, too.

What I'm worried about is this escalating into a multi-front war before we know what hit us and having to prop up other nations to keep them from being over-run by neighboring countries.

[Destro]

Iraq is a secularist Arab nation and teh Christians there enjoy more rights and are more plentiful than in Turkey. Saying this of course does not mean I support or defend the evil Ba'athist Arabic regime.