By John L. Allen Jr.
Rijeka, Croatia

A senior papal aide has acknowledged that one could ask if the Vatican "is among the losers of the war" in Iraq, since the United States rejected Vatican opposition and went on to score a quick military victory without the cataclysmic consequences of which some Vatican officials had warned. The aide insisted, however, the opposition was morally justified.

"The utility of the proclamation of moral values cannot be judged by results," said Joaquin Navarro-Valls, Vatican spokesperson, speaking with reporters during a June 8 papal Mass in Riejka, Croatia.

In the build-up to the Iraq war, John Paul II emerged as perhaps the leading moral reference point for the opposition, insisting in a series of public statements on the necessity of non-violent solutions to international conflicts. Several of his lieutenants were more blunt, referring to the U.S.-led incursion in Iraq as "illegal" and suggesting it was motivated by oil interests.

Raising a moral critique of the war, Navarro said, was a worthwhile exercise even if it didn't change the minds of the Anglo-American coalition, because it "causes a reawakening of moral responsibility."

"This is always a victory," Navarro said.

On the current situation in Iraq, Navarro said "there are still deaths, still a very difficult internal equilibrium," and that the Catholic Church has offered to help the country "with all the resources that are at its disposal."

Navarro also confirmed that the Vatican continues to believe that the United Nations should play a lead role in the reconstruction of Iraq.

On other matters, Navarro said:

• A projected papal trip to Mongolia "is still to be evaluated," but he suggested that "perhaps the moment for the trip has not yet arrived."
• The same thing, Navarro added, could be said for a possible stop in Kazan in Russia to return a famous icon to the Russian Orthodox Church.
• The pope has the "scandal of the war" in the Balkans on his mind during these days in Croatia, Navarro said, but also "trust that it will not happen in the future." There is still "much work to do for internal reconciliation" in the Balkans, Navarro said.

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Read more reports posted from Croatia:

• Pope uses Croatia trip to press Europe to acknowleged its Christian roots
• Cardinal Sodano's comments on the Middle East
• Mongolia trip may not happen
• Pope underlines concern for families and women
• Pope defies age and heat during five-day trip

John L. Allen Jr. is NCR's Rome correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@natcath.org.

National Catholic Reporter, June 8, 2003