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Washington Post - January11 ,2005
Pope urges dialogue to counter 'arrogance of power'
By Daniel Williams
ROME, Jan. 10 -- Pope John Paul II, who opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the Bush administration's policy of preventive war, criticized the "arrogance of power," which he said should be countered with reason and dialogue. The pope made his remarks in a televised speech to an annual gathering of diplomats accredited to Vatican City and other dignitaries.
Meanwhile, a retired cardinal and former envoy said President Bush had assured him on the eve of the Iraq invasion that the war would be short. Cardinal Pio Laghi, speaking during the broadcast on the Vatican's official Telepace service, described a conversation with Bush on March 5,2003 : "When I went to Washington as the pope's envoy just before the outbreak of the war, he told me, 'Don't worry, your eminence. We'll be quick and do well in Iraq.' "Unfortunately, the facts have demonstrated afterward that things took a different course -- not rapid and not favorable. Bush was wrong," Laghi said.
Laghi's comments reflected the pope's often-stated view, which he reiterated today. "Recourse to arms and violence has not only led to incalculable material damage, but also fomented hatred and increased the causes of tension," the pope said. "The arrogance of power must be countered with reason, force with dialogue, pointed weapons with outstretched hands, evil with good."
The quest for peace was one of four challenges the 84 -year-old leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics said faced the world this year…..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64158-2005Jan10.html
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