Antiwar feeling remains strong across globe: Pope leads Catholic voices decrying U.S. military action in Iraq

National Catholic Reporter, April 4, 2003 by John L. Allen, Jr.

As the U.S.-led war in Iraq continues, international opposition as measured both by opinion polls and street protests remains strong, including reactions from within the Catholic world.

Yet John Paul II's unrelenting antiwar line has not eliminated deep differences in Catholic opinion over the causes, consequences and justification of the war. Some on the Catholic right are increasingly uncomfortable with what they see as anti-American manipulation of the pope's message, while pacifists wish the pope would issue a condemnation of the war "with no ifs, ands or buts."

Public opinion in Europe was solidly against war in Iraq even before the outbreak of hostilities. One poll found 74 percent of Europeans opposed to a conflict without a clear United Nations mandate. Within hours of the first bombs falling, protests erupted across the continent.

Between 80,000 and 100,000 protesters converged on the city center in Athens, Greece, March 20, waving antiwar banners. In Berlin, an estimated 20,000 students marched from Alexanderplatz to the U.S. embassy near the Brandenburg Gate, and a further 12,000 children protested throughout the country.

In Italy, train stations were blocked for several hours by protests in Rome, Milan, Florence, Bologna, Genoa and Turin. Several million workers are believed to have walked off the job. In Genoa, the largest seaport on the Mediterranean was idled for 24 hours.

A March 24 teachers' strike turned into an antiwar protest, with some 40 percent of teachers walking off the job. The nation's schools effectively were idled. Demonstrators in Rome carried a banner of white linen calling for "a detergent against the dirty war."

All told, Italy witnessed 85 demonstrations within the first 24 hours of the conflict, scattered across 36 provinces.

A front-page March 21 essay in La Repubblica, one of Italy's leading dailies, interpreted the protests as a clash between two superpowers: the military might of the United States and worldwide antiwar sentiment at the grassroots.

Such sentiment was not confined to Europe.

In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, 1,000 protesters gathered outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta, carrying signs reading, "Bush, go to hell" and "Terrorism no, justice yes." In Melbourne, Australia, thousands of people descended on the city center to condemn the U.S.-led invasion.

This protest is mirrored by the international Catholic response.

On March 22, in an audience for the Italian Catholic TV network Telepace, John Paul spoke against the war in almost apocalyptic terms.

"When, as at the moment in Iraq; warfare threatens the very fate of mankind, it becomes all the more urgent that we proclaim, with a loud and firm voice, that peace is the only way to construct a more just and fair society," the pope said. "Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of man."

On Sunday, March 23, during a beatification ceremony for five 19th-century European Catholics, the pope returned to the theme.

"We now ask from the Mother of God, above all at this moment, the gift of peace," the pope said, his voice booming as he slowed down to emphasize the last four words. "In particular, it is to her that we entrust the victims of this war and all their suffering relatives. To all of them I feel myself spiritually close, in my thoughts and prayers."

Over the weekend, antiwar protesters in Italy brandished copies of L'Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, with its banner headline "The Madness of This War."

On March 24, a Mass at Rome's Basilica of the Holy Apostles marking the 23rd anniversary of the murder of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero turned into an antiwar rally. The altar was draped in the rainbow-colored banners that are the popular symbol of the antiwar movement in Italy. A peace banner and the United Nations flag preceded the procession that brought the offertory gifts to the main celebrant, Italian Bishop Tommaso Valentinetti. Prayers for peace drew strong cheers from the crowd of perhaps 2,000.

The massive secular demonstrations in Italy have so far been endorsed by much of the Catholic hierarchy. In Turin, Cardinal severino Poletto ordered the bolls of all churches to be rung for several minutes as a gesture of protest. In Savona, Bishop Domenico Calcagno led a march of 7,000.

Other Catholic leaders around the world have joined the antiwar chorus.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of England described the war as "wrong and evil" on March 23, as he urged Catholics to pray for a swift end to the hostilities. Murphy-O'Connor declined to invite Catholic soldiers to disobey orders, but did say that they need to fight "in a proportionate way."

In Vienna, Austria, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn told journalists that the Iraq war is "a defeat for humanity" and "the expression of the failure of politics." With all due respect for the hurt inflicted on the United States by the attacks of Sept. 11, Schonborn said, the decision to go to war without support from the United Nations was "deeply unfortunate."