Threat of
War
Papal
envoy, president dialogue and disagree
By JOE FEUERHERD
Washington
As Cardinal Pio Laghi, perhaps the last opponent of war President
Bush will meet face-to-face prior to a U.S.-led attack against Iraq, made the
case for peace, the president was engaged and attentive.
“He was interested, listening to me, communicating to me what
is in his mind,” Laghi said of his 40-minute Ash Wednesday meeting with
the president, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and U.S. ambassador
to the Vatican James Nicholson. Their “frank” discussion was “a
very good dialogue,” said Laghi.
Had he persuaded the president? “You’ll have to ask
him,” quipped the veteran Vatican diplomat.
Bush was not persuaded, administration officials said after the
meeting.
War with Iraq, Bush told Laghi, would be a “last
resort,” but one the United States will be compelled to take to disarm
that nation if left with no other options.
Allowing Saddam Hussein the opportunity to share weapons of mass
destruction with terrorists or other rogue nations would be immoral, White
House spokesman Ari Fleischer told the press. “Removing the threat to the
region will lead to a better, more peaceful world in which innocent Iraqis will
have a better life,” said Fleischer.
Laghi, too, was unpersuaded.
Denied the opportunity to address the White House media following
the meeting -- administration officials “told us not to do it,” said
Laghi -- the papal envoy held a hastily called news conference two blocks from
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. at the National Press Club. There he told a different
group of reporters that war with Iraq would be “unjust” and
“illegal.” Said Laghi: “A decision regarding the use of military
force can only be taken within the framework of the United Nations.”
Laghi repeated that theme two-and-a-half hours later, during a
homily at a Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Peace, he
said, should be pursued “using the vast and rich patrimony of
international law and institutions created for that very purpose.” Those
institutions, he said, “may be incomplete” or “act too slowly at
times” or “may not have yet even caught up with realities of our
times that threaten world order.”
Still, he continued, “they are based on principles that are
true and relative for all times: honest and patient dialogue between and among
disagreeing parties, and the absolute duty of each member of the family of
nations to comply fully with all its obligations.”
At NCR press time, Laghi was scheduled to deliver that
message to Secretary of State Colin Powell in a meeting March 6, the day after
his Oval Office session.
Iraq, Laghi told the press, “is obliged to fulfill completely
and fully its international obligations regarding human rights and disarmament
under the U.N. resolution.” Further, he said, Saddam Hussein has moved
“too slowly” in cooperating with U.N. weapons inspectors.
Responding to an international press corps -- Laghi took questions
in English, French, Spanish and Italian -- the papal envoy said:
• War against Iraq threatens to create a “great
gulf between Islam and Christianity” when the two faiths should be
“building bridges.”
• It is “up to the American government to
consider the consequences” of how war will affect U.S./Vatican
relations.
• He was unaware of any plan, rumored in the Italian
press, for Pope John Paul II to address the United Nations.
Laghi presented Bush with a letter from the pope in which John
Paul II wrote that he is “praying for you and for America.” Said the
pope: “I ask the Lord to inspire you to search for the ways of a stable
peace, the noblest of human endeavors.”
Laghi said he and Bush discussed the Israeli/Palestinian
situation. Laghi said he was told that the United States would more actively
engage in a peace process after Iraq is disarmed. He urged the president to
take action now rather than later. “We have to solve that problem”
which is at the heart of unrest in the Middle East, said Laghi.
The 80-year-old Laghi was a logical messenger during the current
papal peace offensive. As the Vatican’s ambassador the United States from
1984-90, Laghi was a neighbor to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush and
reportedly struck up a friendship with the Bush family.
Laghi said he was leaving Washington, “with hope … in
spite of the fact that the situation is what it is.” Said Laghi, “I
have to say that, because I am a priest.”
Joe Feuerherd is NCR Washington correspondent. His
e-mail address is jfeuerherd@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, March 14,
2003
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