VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has expressed his concerns over the military campaign in Libya, a sentiment echoed by some Vatican officials who reportedly fear the conflict may turn into a protracted war with civilian casualties.
Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square March 20 for the recitation of the Angelus, the Pope appealed “to those who have political and military responsibilities to concern themselves above all with the safety and well-being of the citizens, guaranteeing access to humanitarian aid.”
Allied forces, made up mainly of U.S., British and French military, began a series of strikes against Libya’s air defenses March 19 as part of a United Nations-approved effort to protect pro-democracy protesters from retaliation by Col. Moammar Gadhafi. Last week, Gadhafi threatened to attack the protesters, mostly located in and around Benghazi in eastern Libya, “without mercy.”
The Pope said he was following the events with great concern and praying for those involved in “the dramatic situation.” He added that he was also praying that “peace and harmony would soon come to Libya and the entire North African region.”
As is the case with most international conflicts, the Pope stopped short of explicitly taking sides, instead describing events in the country as “worrying news” and saying he was “following the latest events with great apprehension.” The Vatican says, at least for now, it has no more to say officially about the military action beyond what the Pope said Sunday.
The Italian daily La Stampa claims that the Vatican recognizes the legitimacy of humanitarian air raids against Gadhafi’s forces. Similar to its position on the war in Afghanistan, it reportedly acknowledges that such intervention may be necessary. But unidentified diplomatic sources cited in Famiglia Cristiana, an Italian Catholic monthly, also claim some officials have made no secret of their unhappiness that the international community did not pursue dialogue with the Libyan regime — of any kind — before taking military action.
It adds they are reportedly concerned that the goals and interests of the allied forces are unclear and that the military action could turn into a protracted war. If that happens, they fear that humanitarian concerns “will take a back seat.”
The apostolic vicar in Tripoli, Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, has explicitly voiced his opposition to the military action. “War does not solve anything,” he told the Fides missionary news agency March 21, adding that it “is reawakening sad memories about the Libyans’ recent history.”
“I keep repeating that we need to cease shooting immediately and begin mediation straight away to resolve the crisis peacefully,” he said, adding: “Why have diplomatic means not been considered?”
In another interview with the Italian news agency ANSA, Bishop Martinelli said he doubted that the military intervention would stop Gadhafi’s forces. The bishop, who is reported to know the colonel well, said he hoped Gadhafi would surrender, but that he didn’t think he would do so. “On the contrary,” he said, “I think the use of force will accentuate a reaction. In my opinion, the go-ahead has been given to the wrong strategy.”
The Italian bishops, however, have been more supportive of the action. Their newspaper, Avvenire, said in an editorial that the air strikes are a “real act of war, but a response to a war that a bloody regime has unleashed on its own people.” Noting that the war was taking place “on Italy’s doorstep,” it said that it was being waged for “noble humanitarian” reasons but “is not without risks and shadows.”
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, said: “We hope that everything takes place quickly, fairly and equitably, and with respect to saving many poor people who right now are facing serious difficulties and misfortunes.” The cardinal said “the Gospel shows us the duty to intervene to save those in need. If someone attacks my mother who is in a wheelchair, I have a duty to intervene.” Without peace and justice in the world, he added, “life is wretched.”
The Church’s official teaching, as quoted in the Compendium on the Social Doctrine of the Church (506), is that the international community has a “moral obligation” to intervene on behalf of those groups “whose very survival is threatened or whose basic human rights are seriously violated.”
But it stresses that military action must always be a last resort. “States cannot remain indifferent,” the Compendium continues. “On the contrary, if all other means should prove ineffective, it is legitimate and even obligatory to take concrete measures to disarm the aggressor.”
It also says any measures must be carried out “in full respect of international law.” The current military operation in Libya won the backing of a U.N. resolution last Thursday.
Edward Pentin is the Register’s Rome correspondent.
Edward Pentin: Improving Communication of Pope's Early Morning Homilies
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thank God for the Italian Bishops. Last resort is irrelevant when already for days, civilians were being slaughtered and when the ruler in question seems like he’s on drugs and had his hand in terrorist incidents including Lokerbie for which the Vatican should have demanded an international court indictment. Would the Vatican people like to take shells through their windows for 14 days of first resort diplomatic phone calls to a nut job? In the times of Popes Alexander VI and Pope Julius II, the Vatican was war central…...now in our day when Popes are no longer connected to rulers by religion, it took 4 decades for the Vatican to maybe protect its own male children due to hesitancy neurosis…..is there a happy medium? Can we have a Vatican that is not constantly trying for the Noble Peace Prize with predictable constant expressions of sorrow?
They aren’t protestors, they are rebels trying to drive Gaddafi from power. They had no reasonable expectation of success and thus their war was not Just.The POTUS is supposed to get permission from Congress before he starts a war. There is nothing in the Constitution about getting “permission” from foreign countries to start a war.
This is madness and the Italian Bishops will reap a whirlwind of non-christians “migrating” into Italy after having sown these corrupt seeds.
I don’t see how military intervention can be justified here when we never did anything to stop depredations in other parts of the world. And where we have intervened in Iraq and Afganistan it has only resulted in religious clensing against non-Muslims, mostly Catholics and Coptses.
I know it seems ethreal hearing of these prayers for “peace and harmony” in seemingly impossible situations, but that is because these praying have a prayer life and great hope. They have a spiritual relationship with the Lord who enables proper prayers. Were we to be in our proper position through prayer and relationship with Christ Jesus, we too would come out of the world as we see it and enter into a spiritual reality arranged for us by Jesus, through prayer. We too could assist Heaven and our Holy Father and our Church on earth in the spiritual combat necessary in this era.
Why is the U.S. in Libya?
The “freedom fighters” as the media calls the Libyan rebels, are linked to al-Queda and want Gaddafi ousted so they may install shari’a. They don’t want a democracy.
President Obama is perpetuating radical Islam into the region. He did not consult Congress—this is unconstitutional.
I’m torn by this news. However, I remain steadfast in God’s mercy.
St. Michael, pray for us!
Rumor has it that these protesters/rebels may be connected to Al-Quada but no one knows this for sure. I do know that they helped our pilot escape after hiding in a barn when his plane went down. We as US citizens should thank God we are not being “shot” when we leave our house or worse our children. Those people are being slaughtered because they dared defy a vicious murderer for over 40 years of rule. To think about ourselves and our economy, etc. etc. is actually heartless.
Nancy Dietz says: “To think about ourselves and our economy, etc. etc. is actually heartless.”
Actually, I wasn’t thinking about ourselves or our economy. I’m thinking of the innocent civilians to die with the U.S. intervention.
What comes to my mind is the war now in Libya: is this an unjust war and will it actually alleviate the suffering of Libyans.
As Michael Denton from The American Catholic blog:
“... What is most troubling about this campaign, and what probably prevents it from being a just war under any theory, is the total lack of an objective. You cannot have reasonable prospects of success if at the outset there is no definition of what success is. Is it stopping the massacres? Is it thwarting Qaddafi’s attempts to crush the rebellion? Is it removing Qaddafi? If it is, what are we seeking? Who are the rebels? Is there someone in power? Are we deciding the government or are the Libyans? And who is we? The UN + the Arab League? Just the Arab League? Perhaps mostly the US?
While it would be unreasonable to anticipate every possible solution, it is reasonable to require governments to have a much more detailed and settled plan before going to war so that they and their peoples can have a basis on which to determine whether a war will do more harm than good. They still haven’t decided who is actually going to be a part of the no-fly zone, with no one willing to pick up the bag. Considering our lack of resolve coupled with the immense damage modern wars do, it is very difficult to make an argument that we will do more good than harm.” (Source: http://the-american-catholic.com/2011/03/22/libya-and-just-war/ )
I’m praying this will be resolved.
I’m also wondering why the U.S. is not intervening in Bahrain and Iran as the people are being persecuted by their government.
Our Canadian parties in Ottawa have supported a military mission in Libya under the euphemism of a humanitarian mission to defend a no-fly-zone and protect civilians. When looked upon closely our intervention is in violation of international law and as my letter will demonstrate involves the complicity of all four parties in war crimes.
Libyans didn’t seem too keen in welcoming our ‘humanitarian aid’ cause according to a May 2011 report from the U.N. some 750, 000 Libyans had already fled their country.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/18/c_13879664.htm
If the mission was to ‘protect civilians’ then why have on the ground journalists from Venezuela’s Telesur have reported some 50, 000 dead since NATO’s mission began?.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26618
We were told that we weren’t going to take sides but it didn’t take long before we heard reports that NATO was arming and directing the rebels,many of whom are linked to Islamic terrorists groups like Al-Qaeda.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26255
The overthrow and assasination of Gaddafi was not in the cards but NATO bombs did drop on one of his home compounds killing one of his sons and three grandchildren.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382341/Libya-Nato-strikes-kill-Gaddafis-son-grandchildren.html
We were told that we will be protecting civilians from Gaddafi’s forces and enforcing a ‘‘no-fly-zone’’ order but what do you call 9000 strike sorties, tens of thousands of civilian targets: residential areas, government buildings, water supply and electricity generation facilities ? (See NATO Communique, September 5, 2011. 8140 strike sorties from March 31 to September 5, 2011)
An entire nation has been bombed with the most advanced ordnance, including uranium coated ammunition and unexploded bombs (land mines) scattered across the country.
Already in August, UNICEF warned that extensive NATO bombing of Libya’s water infrastructure “could turn into an unprecedented health epidemic “ (Christian Balslev-Olesen of UNICEF’s Libya Office, August 2011).
Is this what one calls a humanitarian mission or protecting civilians ? It sounds like a war crime to me.
For some Vatican elites and their friends from western govts to have taken the bait and supported the initial military mission displays either a lack of expertise in geopolitics or worse, stooges for empire.
Our govt and media have used the arguments of “genocide” and “bloodbath “against Gaddafi’s own people based on what evidence?
Why should we believe our leaders and media this time?
Remember the manufactured incubator story from Gulf War one? Or what about the Downing Street Memos that proved how the public was deliberately mislead about the WMDs? In addition, the “Yellow Cake ” story from Niger was a forgerie as demonstrated in July, 2005, by the Italian Parliament which concluded their own investigation and named four men (tied to U.S. Intelligence) as suspects in the creation of the forged documents, Michael Ledeen, Dewey Clarridge, Ahmed Chalabi and Francis Brookes. This report has been included in Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation into the outing of Valerie Plame, and Paul McNulty, the prosecutor of the AIPAC spy case. Should I add more examples ?
“Deception is a state of mind and the mind of the State,” said the late James Jesus Angleton, CIA Counter-Intelligence Chief (1954-74)
Alan J. Kuperman, is a professor of public affairs at the University of Texas, the author of “The Limits of Humanitarian Intervention’’ and co-editor of “Gambling on Humanitarian Intervention,’’ and wrote the following in the Boston Globe on April 14th of this year,
EVIDENCE IS now in that President Barack Obama grossly exaggerated the humanitarian threat to justify military action in Libya. The president claimed that intervention was necessary to prevent a “bloodbath’’ in Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city and last rebel stronghold.
But Human Rights Watch has released data on Misurata, the next-biggest city in Libya and scene of protracted fighting, revealing that Moammar Khadafy is not deliberately massacring civilians but rather narrowly targeting the armed rebels who fight against his government.
Russia Today even had reports about questionable film footage that was propagated around the globe about Gaddafi jets bombing ‘rebels.’
American historian Dr. Webster Tarpley wrote,“They showed a picture of a jet fighter being shot down and claimed this proved Qaddafi was defying the UN by keeping up his air strikes. It later turned out that the destroyed plane had belonged to the rebel air force. Such coverage provided justification for the bombing attacks starting a few hours later. The parallels to the Kuwait incubator babies hoax of 1990 were evident.”
Gaddafi had even offered observors from the international community to come witness for themselves what was occurring on the ground
but our morally superior western leaders rebuffed him.
But lets say Gaddafi did kill his own citizens indiscriminately. International law still forbids invasion. Tarpley continued,” The United Nations Charter strictly limits Chapter 7 military actions to threats to international peace and security, which Libya has never represented, but rules out interference in internal affairs of member states. The pretext cited in this case was the protection of defenseless civilians, but it is clear that the rebels constitute an armed military force in their own right. Since no state can be an aggressor on its own territory, the Security Council resolution stands in flagrant violation of the UN Charter.”
Without even delving into long ago dirty tricks of imperialism, a basic understanding of recent NATO interventions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq has shown us that the moment you open the door to defending a ” no-fly-zone” or the need for intervention to “protect” civilians you open-up a can worms to escalating horrors unimagineable: Islamic jihadists begin appearing coincidentally alongside NATO/CIA/French/British covert operations, mass looting, ethnic tensions,civil war, bombs begin dropping on civilian targets, infrastructure, rape, massive violence,etc… In other words a chaotic seen worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster that dwarfs whatever problems existed before the intervention.
So why the rush to military action on Libya? You can’t argue the protection of innocent Libyans. If that was the case then why haven’t we intervened militarily in the decades long Israel bloodbath against Palastinians? What about the other massacres by other corrupt regimes such as Yemen, Morocco,Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia,...all supported by western colonial powers???
Could it be cause Gaddafi wasn’t playing ball all the time with the three musketeers-France, England and Uncle Sam?
Could it be cause Gaddafi’s popular Green revolution in mobilizing African unity was going to cut the hands of western control? More importantly, Gaddafi’s plan to introduce the gold dinar, a single African currency made from gold, a true sharing of the wealth would enable them to sell oil and other resources around the world only for gold dinars?
Gerald Perreira , a founding memeber of Guyanese organizations Joint Initiative for Human Advancement and Dignity and Black Consciousness Movement Guyana , said it best:
“Qaddafi had amassed the necessary funds for the establishment of three African banks … It was this move, more than even Libya’s vast oil wealth that made Qaddafi and the Al Fateh revolution a target for this invasion”
Gaddafi was no saint but so is the case with Obama and many western leaders where millions from their own backyard are barely hanging on economically due to policies of their own and a media that lies to them. Lets not forgot the war crimes that Bush Co. and Obama and friends have committed from invading three countries to sanctioning torture and causing the maiming,displacement and deaths of millions from these interventions. This dwarfs whatever Gaddafi did but somehow no one has invaded USA?
As Canadian economist Dr. Chossudovsky writes,” whatever one’s views regarding Moamar Gadaffi, the post-colonial Libyan government played a key role in eliminating poverty and developing the country’s health and educational infrastructure…Public Health Care in Libya prior to NATO’s “Humanitarian Intervention” was the best in Africa. “
According to a U.N. report, as early as prior to your humanitarian mission in Libya , it was number one on the Human Development Index for Africa and it had the highest life expectancy on the continent.
But this is okay cause the $150 billion dollars belonging to the Libyan Investment Authority, not Gaddafi’s personal treasure chest as our media has been playing it, will now go to western firms for reconstruction after their NATO goon-squads finished bombing them to hell.
And in the end NATO’s NTC and their ‘revolutionary’ rebels will bring stability, peace,justice and a fairer distribution of wealth than Libyans ever saw before. Just like the sunshine we brought to the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan and others.
For years now our govts. in Ottawa and even progressively oriented groups have lost a sense of direction and sadly the masses haven’t realized that their being sold a bunch of hollow goods,as the masses voted in droves for Obama and to a certain extent here with the NDP.
A team of French lawyers, including a former foreign minister, are gearing up to defend Gaddadi and press charges against Sarkozy for war crimes. Maybe it’s a matter of time before our own Canadian politicians, Vatican elite and others will be held to account also.
The same barbaric destruction that nato brought to the people of libya,hopefully would be the Experience of the catholic church and italy.
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