Vatican official tells U.N. war in Iraq did not make world safer

Published: 2004-09-30

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Addressing the United Nations, a leading Vatican official said the war in Iraq did not make the world safer and that defeating terrorism will require multilateral cooperation that goes beyond short-term military operations. Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican's top foreign affairs official, made the remarks Sept. 29 in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly. The text was released at the Vatican Sept. 30. Archbishop Lajolo offered a far-ranging review of Vatican positions on peace and justice issues, saying global poverty must be the No. 1 priority for the United Nations and for all international agencies. "The urgency of the situation cannot tolerate delay," he said. He noted that hundreds of millions of people are living below the threshold of what is necessary, and tens of millions of children are undernourished. Turning to Iraq, Archbishop Lajolo said the Vatican's opposition to military action in Iraq in 2002-2003 was well known. "Everyone can see that it did not lead to a safer world either inside or outside Iraq," he said.

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