[Griff]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Their support of an assertive (sometimes emphasized) foreign policy will probably continue long after the semiretired William F. Buckley is in the ground.

Not that their war mongering was approved by Catholics in general or the Holy Father.

"When war, like the one now in Iraq, threatens the fate of humanity, it is even more urgent for us to proclaim, with a firm and decisive voice, that only peace is the way of building a more just and caring society," he said.

The Pope, in a speech to employees of Catholic television station Telepace, added: "Violence and weapons can never resolve the problems of man."

The Pope led the Vatican in a diplomatic campaign to avert war, putting the Holy See on a collision course with Washington and its backers in the Iraq campaign.