CARDINAL HOPES FOR QUICK RECOVERY IN IRAQ, FOR U.N. ROLE

VATICAN CITY, APR 11, 2003 (VIS) - Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state, presided at ceremony this evening at the Pontifical Lateran University to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the publication of Blessed John XXIII's Encyclical "Pacem in terris." Archbishop Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, addressed the assembly.

Cardinal Sodano, in his opening remarks stated that "this very same day, 40 years ago, another message of hope for the entire world came from Rome." After the meeting he was interviewed by journalists about the situation in Iraq and the posture of the Holy See in the current international phase.

"The Holy See," said the cardinal, "continues on its usual course; the course of the Magisterium on the one hand and the diplomatic path on the other hand. Before the war we tried everything to see that it did not break out. Once it broke out, we worked for it to end as soon as possible and now there is the hope that the civilian population recover quickly, that interreligious dialogue is never interrupted."

Asked if the U.N. still had a role to play, Cardinal Sodano said, "Certainly, the Pope said so," adding that "we are a family of nations and we must cooperate: this is the destiny of peoples." Asked if this is true for Iraq, he replied, "Even in Iraq."

Regarding the Holy See's fears for other conflicts in the Middle East, he said: "We are not prophets of doom. Certainly we hope that the U.N. resumes its role, as you heard in the speeches here during this symposium on the teachings of Pope John XXIII."

A communique from the pontifical council summarized the remarks of Archbishop Martino who, until recently was the Holy See permanent observer for 16 years at the U.N. "The crisis situation of the United Nations," said the communique, "following the decision for war in Iraq, does not contradict but rather reinforces and makes more urgent the calls of Pacem in terris for a world political authority able to assure peace and the development of peoples."

Instead of "a world super-State," and "for the U.N. to completely fulfill its irreplaceable role," says the communique, for Archbishop Martino "there is need to favor multilateral action, not only at the diplomatic level but also within the sphere of plans for development." In his words: "the weakening of international organisms could mean a weakening of the awareness of being one family, but they will not be strengthened if their capacity to express a moral order and articulate a subsidiary system of authority for a world governance with realistic courage is not consolidated."

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