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Vatican joins campaign to avoid war, disarm Sadda m By John Thavis Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — With dip lomatic moves and moral encouragement, the Vatican backed international efforts in mid-February to prevent a new war in Iraq and promote the country 's peaceful disarmament. Meanwhile , Catholic leaders and organizations joined a growing anti-war movement that stretched across the globe and spilled into the streets of major cities on every continent. After sending Cardinal Roger Etchegaray to confer with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, Pope John Paul II met privately with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz at the Vatican Feb. 14 and asked Iraq for "concrete commitments" to respect U.N. disarmament resolutions.
San Francisco priests meet Iraq envoy
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The Vatican said the talks underscored "the danger of an armed intervention in Iraq, which would add further grave sufferings for those populations which are already tried b y long years of embargo. " Aziz, a Catholic of the Chaldean rite, also spoke with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state, and Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran , the Vatican 's equivalent of foreign minister. The Vatican said Aziz assured the church leaders "of the Iraqi government's willingness to cooperate with the international community, particularly in regard to disarmament. " Aziz said he told the pope that a Western-led war against Iraq would provoke negative reaction in the Arab Muslim world and "poison " Christi an-Muslim relations. On Feb. 15, Cardinal Etchegaray met with Saddam Hussein for an hour and a half and delivered a papal message to the Iraqi leader. Cardinal Etchegaray later said the talks covered "concrete issues," but he would not elaborate. "I am convinced that Saddam Hussein wants to avoid war, " Cardinal Etchegaray told reporters in Baghdad. "He seems seriously aware of the responsibility he faces with WAR TALKS, page 9 regard to his people. "
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Parishioners from St. John of God Parish, above and the Dominican Sisters of San Raf ael join in Sunday 's rally against war with Ira q.
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By Sharon Abercrombie The 250,000 individuals who marched to Civic Center last Sunday to protest a possible U.S. attack on Iraq were praised by Father Gerard O'Rourke , Archdiocesan representative to the San Francisco Interfaith Council , for their pioneering spirit. As long as humankind has been on this earth, "we have never taken charge of peace before we went to war the way we are doing now. Instead we have always looked for peace during and after a fight," Father O'Rourke said at an interfaith prayer service before the march down Market Street. The series of marches in San Francisco and around the world last weekend revealed, "we are truly pioneers. And I wonder, does George Bush understand this , " the priest asked. Father O'Rourke told the crowd that this new massive outpouring of anti-war sentiments symbolizes what the PEACE, page 8
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