On the weekend of Feb. 15–16, the eternal city hosted a mammoth peace demonstration. The city claimed that 300,000 people marched. Organizers said the numbers were closer to 1 million.

Whatever the numbers, what made the march significant was that for the first time organized groups from within the Catholic Church found themselves marching alongside those who traditionally protest in Italy — namely, members of the country's labor unions and the political left.

Nuns in habit found themselves next to teen-agers with nose rings and tattoos. Members of the Community of Sant’ Egidio, a well-known lay movement that helps the poor and works on peace mediation around the world, were also there.

Many marched for the first time in their lives. Entire parishes were bused up from southern Italy for the demonstration. In the news, it was said that one pastor in Salerno told his parishioners if they did not go to the march, he was going to quit.

I knew when I arrived at my parish last Sunday that it was going to be a different sort of Mass. Perhaps what gave it away were the huge banners hanging from the parish house with the word Pace blazed across the colors of the rainbow. Once we settled in our pews, an announcement was made that parishioners could purchase these banners, which were being sold by Italy's Catholic Charities. Since Feb. 16, I noticed various families on my street did in fact buy them. The banners are now hanging from their balconies.

The head of the parish council spoke to us parishioners for 15 minutes prior to the Mass on the subject of peace. The gist of the talk was that war was never a solution, and there could not be peace without justice.

When the moment came for the homily, my pastor took his portable microphone to a group of children sitting in the front. He asked them to explain to us in their own words why war was a bad thing. A 6-year-old said, “War is bad because people die.” Then our pastor expounded on this subject further, continuing the discussion along the lines of the parish council president. At one point he said, “And who is the enemy of peace? Who is it? It is those who use war as a solution to problems.”

During the presentation of the gifts, various symbols of peace were brought up to the altar, including a cross, an enormous rosary, a broken chain and a basket of gifts. They had been hand-made by the parish's schoolchildren earlier that week.

As the only American member of my parish, I could appreciate that Italian culture is very pacifist, especially nowadays. But my parish seemed to impress upon us parishioners that one must be a pacifist at all costs or else one is not truly Catholic. The idea of just-war theory, of the conditions that permit the use of force and of the complexities of the issue at hand were completely lost amid the peace songs harmonized by our folk group.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “all citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war” (No. 2308). Thus, pacifists rightly remind those in authority about the evils of war.

The catechism also notes that “those who renounce violence and bloodshed … bear witness to evangelical charity” (No. 2305). Therefore the call for peace is a noble one. As the catechism concludes, Christ has declared, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (No. 2305).

The catechism goes on to say that “the strict conditions of legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration” (No. 2309). Some have argued, as American theologian Michael Novak did in a speech here Feb. 10, that a war against Iraq is justified because “it is the lawful conclusion to the just war fought and swiftly won in February 1991.”

“At that time the war was summarily interrupted,” Novak said, “in order to negotiate the terms of surrender with the unjust aggressor, Saddam Hussein.” Novak explained how the United Nations insisted that for Saddam to continue his presidency he had to disarm and prove it. For 12 years Saddam has flouted these obligations.

Novak went on to argue that the new brand of terrorism in the world since Sept. 11, 2001, will be used by Saddam if he is given the chance to continue his production of weapons of mass destruction. Therefore, Novak said, given Saddam's proven record in the use of such weapons and given his recognized contempt for international law, only an imprudent and foolhardy statesman could trust that these two forces — Saddam and these new terrorist groups — can stay apart forever.

As I sat in church, I found myself thinking, “Of course I want peace. But would the Iraqi regime disarm without the threat of force? Without the threat of war, what would be different?”

I began thinking that using every possible means to secure peace is praiseworthy, but perhaps because this is the year of the rosary the best thing we can do is pray — harder than ever.

Sabrina Arena Ferrisi has been living in Rome for the last three years.