VATICAN CITY, Sept. 11 -- The Vatican is pressing the United States to seek U.N. endorsement for any military action against Iraq, echoing the demands of many U.S. allies and Arab governments.
Published remarks by a top Vatican foreign policy official capped a flurry of statements in recent days aimed at tempering the U.S. response to the Sept. 11 attacks and the Bush administration's plans to attack Iraq.
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While strongly condemning terror, the Vatican has been reluctant to give justification to the Bush administration for its military campaigns, first in Afghanistan and now in Iraq.
Speaking about Iraq in Monday's edition of Avvenire, a Catholic newspaper here, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran said, "If the international community, guided by international law and in particular by U.N. Security Council resolutions, decides that the use of force is opportune and proportional, this should happen with a decision taken in the framework of the United Nations."
"Obviously, we cannot combat evil with another evil," said Tauran, regarded as the Vatican's foreign minister. "One can certainly question whether the type of operation being considered is an appropriate way to bring about real peace."
Over the weekend, Pope John Paul II told the new British ambassador to the Vatican that the roots of terrorism had to be fought, not only the terrorists. The world cannot overlook "underlying causes that lead young people, especially, to despair of humanity, of life itself and of the future, and to fall prey to temptations of violence, hatred and a desire for revenge at any cost."
The pontiff said he recognized the imperative to fight "well-financed and highly organized international terrorism," but also to ease "scandalous situations of gross injustice, oppression and marginalization" that afflict large parts of the world.
Historically, John Paul has steered clear of justifying military action. The Vatican has been promoting dialogue among religions, and the pope has made it a point to begin to repair long-hostile relations with Jews and Muslims. Vatican officials have also expressed worries for minority Christian denominations in the Middle East.
