Publication Date:
Thu, 2003-03-20 03:00
VATICAN CITY, 20 March 2003 — Pope John Paul made a last-minute appeal for peace yesterday as US and British troops prepared to launch war on Iraq. The pope invoked the “precious gift of goodwill and peace...for all of humanity, especially those people threatened in these hours by war.
“I pray that...in this moment of trepidation for peace, the desire for harmony and reconciliation is revived,” he said.
The pope lost his temper with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi in recent discussions at the Vatican on a possible war in Iraq, a newspaper reported.
“John Paul II used words and gestures bordering on a diplomatic incident,” in his audience with Blair on Feb. 22, the daily said.
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