"Just and Urgent Cause"

"The Holy See realizes that the international community is rightly worried and is addressing a just and urgent cause: the disarmament of arsenals of mass destruction, a threat surfacing not just in a single region, but unfortunately in other parts of our world," Migliore said. But, urging the international community to "draw strength from the wealth of peaceful tools proved by the international law," he said war would not be a "just" tool to use against Iraq.

"To the grave consequences for a civilian population that has already been tested long enough are added the dark prospects of tensions and conflicts between peoples and cultures and the deprecated reintroduction of war as a way to resolve untenable situations," the prelate said.

The Vatican representative called on Security Council members to line up behind the weapons inspection process instead, presenting a united front against the U.S. push for armed intervention. He said "the vast majority of the international community" has called for a diplomatic resolution of the crisis, and "that call should not be ignored."

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