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An appeal to all the parties involved in the crisis to dedicate themselves “fully and with urgency”, under the aegis of the UNO, “to a process that includes the continuation of the weapons inspections” to avert recourse to war has been made by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Catholic archbishop of Westminster, and Rowan Williams, Anglican archbishop of Canterbury. In a joint communiqué issued on 20 February, shortly before British Prime Minister Tony Blair is due to visit the Pope on Saturday 22 February, the two religious leaders say they are “conscious of the great burden of responsibility supported by those who are called to make the final decision in this situation”. They are “daily in our prayers and in our thoughts, as are all those who could find themselves involved, directly or indirectly, in a war against Iraq”. “We recognize – they add – that the moral alternative to a military action cannot be one of passivity or indifference”. It’s vital, therefore, that “all the parties involved in this crisis devote themselves fully and with urgency, under the aegis of the UNO, to a process that includes the continuation of the weapons inspections to make recourse of war unnecessary. At the same time, we urge the Iraqi government to accept the UN resolutions on weapons of mass destruction”. “We pray that a solution may be found to the crisis in Iraq within the framework of the United Nations, and that disarmament, humanitarian aid and the promotion of human rights be achieved without recourse to war”: so writes the Rev. Keith Clements, general secretary of the Conference of the European Churches (CEC), an umbrella organization representing 125 Christian churches in Europe, in a letter sent to US President George W. Bush. Clements, recalling the recent meetings with the leaders of the American Churches (NCCCUSA) in Paris, Berlin and London, also expresses the hope that the president of the USA would receive the NCCCUSA delegation, as his European colleagues had done.———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1183 N.ro relativo : 13 Data pubblicazione : 21/02/2003
