The Italian bishops “not only reaffirm their support for the Pope’s words, but are promoting concrete actions in favour of peace in our communities”, beginning with initiatives of prayer. Describing the final communiqué of the permanent Episcopal Council, held in Rome in recent days, Msgr. Giuseppe Betori, general secretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference, in a briefing to journalists on 1st April, summed up the position of the Italian Church on the war in Iraq by expressing “the hope that peace may soon triumph, that this war which ought not to have been begun may end as soon as possible, and that the principles of democracy and justice may be re-established also in Iraq”. The bishops’ major concerns explained Betori include “a constant effort to promote and teach the values of peace, based on the four mainstays of truth, justice, love and freedom”, according to the teaching of John XXIII’s encyclical ‘Pacem in terris’. With regard to demonstrations in favour of peace, the bishops are unanimous in their “respect for all those who with sincerity demonstrate and work for peace”, but at the same time warn that “ideological claims are always a threat in demonstrations”.
