In yet another passionate appeal for peace, Pope John Paul II yesterday made reference to his own experience of the second World War when calling on both the United Nations Security Council and on Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to do everything within their power to avoid war, writes Paddy Agnew in Rome
"I belong to that generation which experienced the second World War and survived. It is my duty to tell all those younger than me, those who did not go through that experience, 'Never Again War'," said the Pope during yesterday's Angelus address in St Peter's Square.
Taking up a theme that he has hammered home throughout the last four months, the Pope argued that there is still time for peace, reminding the Security Council that war represents a "last resort" while at the same time calling on Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, to "fully collaborate" with the international community:
"The political leaders in Baghdad have an urgent duty to fully collaborate with the international community, to remove any motive for an armed attack. It is to them that I make my fervent appeal: let the fate of your countrymen be your main priority", said the Pope, adding: "But I would also like to remind all United Nations member countries, in particular those who make up the Security Council, that the use of force represents the last resource, to be used only after every peaceful solution has been tried, in accordance with the well-known principles of the UN Charter.
"That is why, when faced with the dire consequences that an international military operation might have both for the population of Iraq and for the equilibrium of the entire Middle East region, already hard pressed, not to mention the extreme reactions that it might provoke - therefore I say to everyone: there is still time to negotiate, there is still space for peace. It is never too late to try to understand one another and to keep on negotiating", concluded the Pope.
His appeal comes against the background of a sustained Vatican diplomatic initiative aimed at avoiding war in Iraq.