The Anti-War Pope

"In his 2002 Christmas message, John Paul had called on the governments of the world to make an urgent effort 'in the Middle East, to extinguish the ominous smoldering of a conflict which, with the joint efforts of all, can be avoided.' This year, with resistance to the American occupation growing, and domestic antiwar sentiment persisting, the War Party was nervously anticipating his annual 'Urbi et Orbi' (the City and the World) message, and he did not disappoint:

'Save us from the great evils which rend humanity in these first years of the third millennium. Save us from the wars and armed conflicts which lay waste whole areas of the world, from the scourge of terrorism and from the many forms of violence which assail the weak and the vulnerable. Save us from discouragement as we face the paths to peace, difficult paths indeed, yet possible and therefore necessary; paths which are always and everywhere urgent, especially in the Land where You were born, the Prince of Peace.'

God save us from George W. Bush."

Pope John Paul II: Man of the Year