PEACE IN IRAQ AND FOR IRAQ IS STILL POSSIBLE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 16, 2003 (VIS) - Prior to his departure today from Baghdad as the envoy of the Holy Father, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray made the following statement:

"I have just lived in Iraq several days of extraordinary intensity in communion with the person who sent me, Pope John Paul II. Rarely have I ever felt that I was not only the bearer of his message of peace, but that he himself was also present. I only followed him to the midst of the Christian communities, of all the Iraqi people, to President Saddam Hussein who listened at length and deeply to the living word that comes from God and that every believer, descendants of Abraham, welcomes as the most certain leaven of peace.

"As I leave this land unjustly cut off from others, I would like to be more than a simple echo, the amplification of the aspiration of a country that has a pressing need for peace.
"Among the great clouds that have overshadowed these times, there is a small opening. But no one must abandon their efforts. The new and brief respite which has been given us must be used by everyone full time and in a spirit of reciprocal trust to answer the exigencies of the international community. The least of steps in coming days has the value of a great step forward towards peace.

"Yes, peace is still possible in Iraq and for Iraq. I leave for Rome, shouting this more strongly than ever before."

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