US puts 'just war' case to the Pope
From Richard Owen in Rome Vatican
timesonline.co.uk
THE American Government, alarmed by the Pope’s opposition to military action and by preparations for a peace mission to Baghdad, is attempting to persuade the Vatican that it is pursuing a “just war”.
The case will be made by Michael Novak, an outspoken conservative Catholic scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a leading supporter of President Bush. Mr Novak, best known for his moral defence of capitalism, arrived in Rome yesterday to hold talks with Vatican officials and to address a conference on “just war” organised by James Nicholson, the US Ambassador to the Holy See.
The US move comes as the Pope, who has said that war with Iraq would be “a defeat for humanity”, prepares to meet Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, next Friday.
Mr Aziz, a Nestorian Catholic in a country dominated by Muslims, told Le Monde that he had requested an audience with the Pope and had had “an immediate and positive response”. The Vatican is preparing a high-level mission to Baghdad as part of its attempt to stop the war.
Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister, said after meeting the Pope yesterday that Germany and the Vatican were united in opposition to war. Herr Fischer said that Iraq must disarm, but Berlin and the Holy See were both concerned about the consequences of war and the danger of regional instability.
The concept of a just war was formulated by St Augustine of Hippo, author of the Confessions in the 4th century, and elaborated by St Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century.
The Vatican has said it was not convinced by the “vague” evidence against Iraq presented to the UN by Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State. |
