Victims of the war

When President Bush Senior embarked on the Gulf War he had much greater support than President Bush Junior. The "first" edition of the Gulf War had the support of the United Nations. The current war does not. This fact makes a great difference.

There was then and now an opponent of the war: Pope John Paul II. Then and now he spoke against the war. The consistency of the Pope flows from his constant defence of the culture of life.

The position of the Pope and the Catholic Church has been communicated in several media. A front-page story in Thursday's L'Osservatore Romano draws attention to the risk of a humanitarian "catastrophe" in Iraq.

The story, headlined "The Tragedy of the Civilian Population", states that "as in every modern conflict, the greatest costs of the war in Iraq are paid by the civilian population, crushed between the retreating army of Baghdad and the very severe Allied bombings."

More than 300,000 people have left their homes in northern Iraq and sought refuge in rural areas, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard confirmed. According to the Vatican semi-official newspaper, Iraq is running the risk of "a 'catastrophe' of enormous proportions that could extend to the whole region."

In an interview with the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire, Cardinal McCarrick, the Archbishop of Washington, said he has asked his Catholic community to pray that the war will be quick and not cause too much suffering. The archbishop, who, like the US bishops' conference, is opposed to the war, emphasises that the Church is not interested in apportioning blame or reproaches, but in alleviating the suffering.

Cardinal McCarrick said that "together with our people we pray for the war to end soon. We pray for the salvation and health of our men and women in uniform, and for the life of innocent Iraqis."

The US bishops are telling their government that it is important that they not target the civilian population. The forces of the coalition have continually assured everyone that they are taking every possible precaution so that this will not happen.

Cardinal McCarrick also told Avvenire: "We have told the US government that they must reconstruct Iraq and then they must concentrate their attention on the Holy Land to actively promote a peace dialogue."

The human cost of the war is high on the agenda of the US bishops. Cardinal McCarrick said: "Unfortunately, the victims of war are increasing. And, whereas in the beginning it seemed that the victims would be minimal, now it seems that the human cost will be high. But we are consoled to know that for the time being a limited number of civilians have been hit."