VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II stepped up his spiritual and diplomatic campaign against a possible war in Iraq, calling on all Catholics to fast for peace and sending Cardinal Pio Laghi as his “special envoy” to President George W. Bush.

During his Angelus address on March 2, the Holy Father said this year Ash Wednesday brings with it a “graver duty of fasting and prayer” because of the danger of war. On Feb. 23, John Paul announced that Ash Wednesday, already an obligatory day of fasting for all Catholics, should be a day of prayer and fasting for peace.

Cardinal Laghi was expected to depart Rome for Washington on March 3. According to a papal press spokesman, Cardinal Laghi was scheduled to carry a message for Bush from John Paul himself.

Cardinal Laghi, a longtime Holy See diplomat and curial official, is now retired but was likely chosen by the Holy Father for his friendship with the Bush family.

The Holy See announced the naming of the envoy on March 1, confirming reports that had leaked in the Italian press. However, no date was announced for the meeting, and it was not clear exactly how and when Cardinal Laghi would be received.

The U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Jim Nicholson, was not able to provide any details, leading to speculation that the Holy See had announced the initiative before complete agreement with the U.S. government.

The choice of Cardinal Laghi, 81, was based on his personal history rather than his current office, as he holds none. From 1980–90 he was the Holy See's apostolic delegate and then nuncio in Washington, during which time he negotiated the establishment of full diplomatic relations with the United States. Prior to the Reagan administration, there had not been diplomatic relations.

Cardinal Laghi also established a friendship with then vice president George H. W. Bush. The nuncio's residence and the official vice presidential residence were close to each other, and in diplomatic circles it was said Cardinal Laghi and the vice president played tennis together.

On Oct. 4, 2001, President George W. Bush sent his father to brief John Paul about the impending war in Afghanistan. After the papal meeting, Bush Sr. walked through St. Peter's Square with Cardinal Laghi on the way to the latter's apartment for lunch. It was a highly unusual and very public sign of Bush Sr.'s esteem for Cardinal Laghi.

The Holy Father is no doubt hoping personal history will persuade George W. Bush to consider seriously the anti-war message Cardinal Laghi will be carrying.

In the last month, the Holy See has waged an aggressive diplomatic campaign against an American-led invasion of Iraq, making both moral and practical arguments.

Catholic leaders — most recently Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., who was in Rome the last week in February — have said the putative war in Iraq does not meet the traditional criteria for a just war, for which there must exist the prospect of an “imminent attack.”

Practically speaking, the Pope's top official, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, has put the question bluntly: “Do you really want a billion Muslims to be upset with you?”

Aside from the United Nations itself, the Holy See has likely been the busiest site of multilateral diplomatic action this past month.

On Feb. 27, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, the Holy See's “foreign secretary,” delivered a briefing to the entire diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. He outlined the Holy See's opposition to war and preference for continued multilateral action through the United Nations. During that meeting, he reported that John Paul's special envoy to Saddam Hussein, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, had insisted upon the obligation of Iraq to comply with the U.N. demand for disarmament.

In the meantime, the usual stream of diplomatic visitors to the Apostolic Palace has become a flood. In the last five weeks, John Paul has met with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and the leader of the Iranian Parliament, Seyyed Mohammad Reza Khatami, who is also the brother of Iran's president.

Diplomats here have been repeatedly told the Iraq situation must be resolved by the “force of law and not the law of force.”

Some diplomats — the Germans and Iranians — have come to reinforce that view. Others — the British and Spanish — have come to argue that an armed invasion of Iraq would be morally justified. And still others — such as Annan — have come to insist that whatever is done must be done multilaterally.

While the Holy See's anti-war position has become more widely supported in Europe since November and since the unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution No. 1441, commentators have also noticed a slight shift in the Holy See's position after months of diplomatic activity.

Recent comments from Holy See officials have emphasized more practical concerns rather than moral ones. High among them are the prospects of instability throughout the Middle East and the possibility of inflaming anti-Western elements in the Islamic world.

Father Raymond J. de Souza writes from Rome.