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Vatican 'sorrowful' over Iraq
VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- The Vatican has reacted to the conflict in Iraq with "profound sorrow" after the U.S. and coalition forces launched missiles and bombs at targets in Baghdad. A spokesman said the Vatican "laments that the Iraqi government did not accept the U.S. resolutions and the pope's appeal, that were asking a disarming of the country." "On the other hand, it deplores that negotiations for a pacific solution to the Iraqi drama, in accordance with international law, were interrupted," he added. As morning dawned in Baghdad on Thursday, U.S. warships in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf fired more than 40 satellite-guided Tomahawk cruise missiles, military officials said. U.S. President George W. Bush announced the start of the military campaign against Iraq in a televised address Wednesday night from the White House. "American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger," Bush said. Earlier on Wednesday as the threat of war loomed, Pope John Paul II made yet another appeal for peace during his weekly speech to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. The pope has become one of the strongest antiwar voices over the past several weeks, relentlessly campaigning for peace as tensions flared across the globe. "As a man of peace, we pray to St. Joseph for those threatened by war and we invoke the precious gift of harmony upon the whole human family," John Paul told the crowd who had gathered to honor St. Joseph. It was the first time the pope had spoken publicly since Bush gave Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a 48-hour ultimatum to accept exile or prepare for a U.S.-led invasion. But it wasn't the Vatican's first response to the president's deadline. "He who decides that all peaceful means that international law offers us are exhausted, assumes a great responsibility, in front of God, his conscience and history," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said on Wednesday. On Thursday, a spokesman also said the Vatican is pleased that "the various Catholic organizations in Iraq continue their work in assisting those populations." "To contribute to this effort of solidarity, even the Apostolic Office, headed by Archbishop Monsignor Fernando Filoni, will remain open in Baghdad." -- CNN Producer Flavia Taggiasco contributed to this story.
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