Pope Tells Bush 'No Moral Justification' For Pre-Emptive Attack On Iraq

Pope steps up efforts to avert war

By The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY - Intensifying his diplomatic efforts to avert a war against Iraq, Pope John Paul II is sending a special envoy to Washington to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush, the Vatican said yesterday.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the pontiff has designated Cardinal Pio Laghi, an Italian who for years served as the Holy See's ambassador to the United States.

"The cardinal, who will depart from Rome in the next few days, will be the bearer of a message from his Holiness and will have the opportunity to illustrate the position and the initiatives undertaken by the Holy See to contribute to disarmament and to peace in the Middle East," Navarro-Valls said.

No exact date for the visit was announced but the Italian news agency Ap.Biscom said Laghi would leave for Washington tomorrow.

The Rome-based U.S. Embassy to the Holy See said it had no comment.

As part of his diplomatic efforts to head off a war, John Paul last month dispatched to Iraq a French cardinal, who met with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein bearing a message from the pontiff.

The pope has said a war would be a "defeat for humanity" and Vatican officials have argued there is no moral justification for a preventive war against Iraq.

The Vatican also fears a U.S.-led attack on Iraq would be seen by Muslims as a Christian crusade against them, leading to deteriorating relations between both sides and leaving Christians vulnerable to possible retaliation.

Highly respected across much of the globe for his moral authority, John Paul, in addition to his own diplomatic moves, has been sought out by top political leaders, both those opposed to the war and those who maintain that armed intervention might be the only way to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.

On Wednesday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, when asked what Bush thinks about the pope's view against the war, replied: "The pope has historically played a role in dialogue around the world. It is the papacy's right to engage in dialogue."

He added: "The president will make his decisions based on what he thinks is right to protect the American people."

In recent days, John Paul has held private talks here with two of Bush's staunchest allies in the front against Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. Preceding them was the foreign minister of Germany, which has flat out opposed war, and Iraq's deputy premier.

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