Did The Pope Denounce The War In Iraq?
Maybe…
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI issued one of his strongest appeals for peace in Iraq on Sunday, days after the body of the kidnapped Chaldean Catholic archbishop was found near the northern city of Mosul.
The pope also denounced the five-year-long war, saying it had provoked the complete breakup of Iraqi civilian life.
“Enough with the slaughters. Enough with the violence. Enough with the hatred in Iraq!” Benedict said to applause at the end of his Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
The left will undoubtedly take that as a call to quit Iraq, but given these quotes from the English version of a Roman news site I’m not sure that’s exactly what he has in mind:
“At the end of this solemn celebration in which we have meditated on Christ’s Passion,” the Holy Father said today: “I would like to recall the late Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Monsignor Paulos Faraj Rahho, who tragically died a few days ago.
“His beautiful witness of fidelity to Christ, to the Church and his people, whom he did not want to abandon despite numerous threats, moves me to cry out forcefully and with distress: Enough with the bloodshed, enough with the violence, enough with the hatred in Iraq!”
Lift up your heads
The Holy Father went on to plea for an end to the upheaval caused by the war in Iraq, which began five years ago this week.
He said: “And at the same time I make an appeal to the Iraqi people, who for five years have endured the consequences of a war that has provoked upheaval in its civil and social life: Beloved Iraqi people, lift up your heads and let it be you yourselves who, in the first place, rebuild your national life!
“May reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and respect for the civil coexistence of tribes, ethnic groups and religious groups be the solidary way to peace in the name of God!”
Sounds to me like that’s a call to the Iraqi people to quit fighting one another and reconcile. It also sounds like a call to the extremists to quit with their hatred and murder.
It sounds...like exactly what President Bush and every single proponent of the Iraq war want. Reconciliation and an end to the suffering so that Iraqis can get on with their lives.
The only problem is that isn’t going to happen with the withdrawal of American troops.
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