Blair Worried by Pope's Opposition to War

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (London), Feb. 23 — British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been U.S. President George W. Bush's staunchest ally in the buildup to a joint attack on Iraq. But Blair is deeply troubled by Pope John Paul II's vocal opposition to such an attack, reported London's Daily Telegraph. (The Pope has called such a war a “crime against humanity.”)

This explains Blair's request — which was granted — for a private audience with the Pope. “The prime minister's robust Christian convictions and his readiness to take military action have always been intimately linked in his own mind … there is no doubt that he seeks authorization for war, as well as personal spiritual solace, in the Gospels,” the Telegraph wrote.

Officially, the audience was a courtesy extended privately to the prime minister's family because of Mrs. Blair's devout Catholicism, but it was also Blair's sincere attempt to win over the Holy Father, whom he deeply respects.

Rumors have long swirled that Blair might well convert to Catholicism after he leaves office.

The Telegraph noted that Blair has courted controversy by attending Mass, and “visitors to his study have been startled on occasion to see a well-thumbed copy of Paul VI's bull on human reproduction, Humanae Vitae.”

Pope Nominated for Nobel Again

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Feb. 19 — The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has received some 150 nominations for the 2003 award, according to the Associated Press and committee secretary Geir Lundestad.

Nominations are made by past laureates, committee members, select university professors and international organizations and are kept secret for 50 years, although sometimes nominators do announce their choices.

As happens virtually every year, Pope John Paul II was nominated for the Peace Prize — perhaps this time in recognition of his attempt to promote a peaceful resolution to the crisis over Iraq.

Other nominees included Cuban freedom activist Oswaldo Paya Sardinas; Israeli nuclear scientist Mordechai Vanunu, who sits in an Israeli cell for exposing that country's atomic weapons stockpile; Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng; and former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who emptied that state's death row.

Other nominees include outgoing Czech president Vaclav Havel, France's President Jacques Chirac and U2's lead singer, Bono.

Ecumenical Progress With Orthodox Churches?

I MEDIA NEWS, Feb. 19 — Tensions persist between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church, but there are also some signs of ecumenical progress, Cardinal Walter Kasper told I Media News, a Rome-based news agency.

Cardinal Kasper, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, pointed to closer cooperative arrangements he has achieved with the Greek and Serbian Orthodox churches, and the cooperation of Orthodox and Catholic leaders in insisting that Europe's Christian heritage play a role in the nascent European Union.

Cardinal Kasper also pointed out that several autonomous Orthodox groups are drawing closer to the Holy See. He said ecumenical talks are “reawakening,” and that the patriarch of Constantinople has expressed interest in restarting stalled negotiations, as have Orthodox patriarchates in Greece, Serbia, Belarus and Bulgaria.