ROME, Italy, Sep. 28, 2004 (CNA) - Sandro
Magister of the Italian weekly “L’Espresso” is reporting in his column
this week that the Holy See is interested in promoting the presence of a
multinational force in Iraq in order to support the government of Iyad Allawi.
According to Magister, the signs of this Vatican concern can be seen in various
statements issued simultaneously by different Vatican authorities, from an
unusual interview granted by Cardinal Angelo Sodano to the Italian daily “La
Stampa,” to the editorial of the Catholic Church’s daily “L’Avvenire,”
which clearly calls for military support for the Allawi government and the new
democracy in Iraq. “The Pope and the authorities of the Roman Church have not
said so in first person,” writes Magister, “but they have clearly indicated
such. They would be very happy with a massive commitment from NATO in Iraq in
order to support the Allawi government and defend free elections.”
According to Magister, this idea was favored in an editorial on the front
page of Avvenire on September 26
Written by International affairs expert Vittorio Parsi, professor at the
Catholic University of Milan, the editorial clearly calls for intervention by
the West in order to bolster the Iraqi government.
The same call was also made, says Magister, by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar
of Rome and President of the Italian Bishops Conference, in a recent conference
on the threat of radical Islam. Magister’s column includes the Parsi editorial
in its entirety, the interview with Cardinal Sodano, and the address by Cardinal
Ruini on the “Islamic Threat.”