Pope calls for day of peace

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VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II -- a strong opponent of a possible war against Iraq -- has called for a global day of peace on March 5.

"The future of humanity should never be tied down by terrorism and the logic of war. Never, never, never!" the pope said during his regular Sunday address.

The 82-year-old pontiff called for a special day of peace and prayer on Ash Wednesday, to appeal to all sides to try to "resolve with pacific means" the current crisis.

The pontiff said: "The international community has lived with great apprehension due to the danger of a war which could upset the entire Middle East region and aggravate the tensions unfortunately already present in this beginning of the third millennium.

"It is the duty of all believers, to whichever religion they belong, to proclaim that we can never be happy pitted one against the other.

"The future of humanity will never able to be secured by terrorism and by the logic of war."

The pope is said to be increasingly concerned that the path to war is becoming unavoidable.

His words echo those he made last month when he said: "No to war! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity.

"War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations." (Full story)

His call for peace was made a day after meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Washington's staunchest ally in the Iraqi crisis.

The pope urged Blair to make every effort "to avert the tragedy of war." (Full story)

During a private audience that lasted about 30 minutes on Saturday, the pope reiterated that "in the grave situation in Iraq, every effort to avoid new divisions in the world be made," the Vatican said in a statement.

In recent days, the pope met several players in the debate, including Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who is a Christian, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.

He also sent an envoy to meet Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

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