HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE ON NATO BOMBINGS OF YUGOSLAVIA

VATICAN CITY, MAR 25, 1999 (VIS) - Last evening, Wednesday, March 24, shortly after the start of the bombings by NATO forces against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls made the following declaration:

"Recourse to the use of force is always a defeat for humanity. One cannot help but think of the eventual victims and the feelings of hatred that will inevitably arise. It makes one think of Pius XII's words on August 24, 1939: 'Nothing is lost with peace. All can be lost with war'."

Also last night, relative to the postponement of the visit of a delegation from the Patriarchate of Moscow, which was to have taken place in coming days in the Vatican, Dr. Navarro-Valls thus answered journalists' questions:

"The decision taken by the Patriarchate of Moscow, due to the situation which has been created in the Balkans, and for reasons extraneous to both the Holy See and the Patriarchate, is understandable.

"As was previously announced in Moscow, it is only a question of changing dates, agreed to by both parties."

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