Papal envoy to Bush says events proved Vatican right about Iraqi war

Published: 2003-10-06

CAMALDOLI, Italy (CNS) -- Seven months after he tried to convince President George W. Bush not to invade Iraq, Cardinal Pio Laghi, papal envoy, said events have proved the Vatican right about the consequences of war and the difficulties of consolidating peace. Cardinal Laghi recounted in detail his meeting last March with Bush and other White House officials in a talk Oct. 4 at a conference on "God and the Meeting of Civilizations" at the central Italian monastic center of Camaldoli. In March, three weeks before the United States launched its offensive against Iraq, Pope John Paul II sent Cardinal Laghi, a former ambassador to the United States, to plead the case against war with Bush and his aides, but the cardinal said he did not feel his arguments were given much weight. "I had the impression they had already made their decision," Cardinal Laghi said. Today, as U.S. and allied forces try to resolve vast problems in Iraq, "Events have shown that the worries of the Holy See were well-founded," he added.

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