Vatican Warns Against Dangers of Massive Military Operation

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 21, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican reacted cautiously to the announcement of the U.S. operation in response to Black Tuesday´s attacks, with L´Osservatore Romano stressing that the "dramatic situation calls for wise thinking."

"Never as at this time -- while military operations seem to be undertaken against the authors of the madness of terror -- is it urgently felt that the decisions of those responsible in the world must be guided by wise thinking," stated a front-page article in today´s Italian edition of the semiofficial Vatican newspaper.

L´Osservatore Romano added: "To be anchored in wisdom so that thoughts of solidarity, justice, and peace will prevail is, in fact, the task of the Family of Nations, which must journey in the century just begun, keeping alive the memory of the tragedies that bloodied the century that just ended."

"Justice and peace are not abstract concepts or distant ideals; they are values rooted in the heart of every person, as common patrimony," the article continued.

The newspaper recalled John Paul II´s words, written for the 1993 World Youth Day.

Military operations, the Pope stated at the time, "never serve the common good of humanity, violence destroys, it does not build; the wounds it causes bleed for a long time and, finally, conflicts worsen the already sad conditions of the poor and are fueled by new forms of poverty."