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It's part of the Holy Father's job to deplore war and violence. After all, he is supposed to be the representative of the Prince of Peace. However this is going way, way over the top. I can only assume that he is ill, and the liberals in the Vatican are using him as a proxy; the healthy Holy Father of the 1980's that stood up to Communism was far more aggressive in his feelings about dictatorships.

Regards, Ivan

"All things have their season and in their times all things pass under heaven ... A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace." (Eccles. 3.1, 8)

"Let him who has no sword sell his tunic and buy one." (Luke 22.36)

The Prince of Peace: "And I saw heaven standing open; and behold, a white horse, and He Who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and with justice He judges and wages war." (Revelation 19.11)

"Proclaim ye this among the nations: prepare for war, rouse up the strong: let them come, let all the men of war come up. Cut your plowshares in swords, and your spades into spears. Let the weak say: I am strong. Break forth, and come, all ye nations, from round about, and gather yourselves together: there will the Lord cause all thy strong ones to fall down." (Joel 3.9-11)

I don't think Jesus Christ was or is or ever will be a pacifist.

What you can assume is that he is being quoted out of context. It is becoming increasingly obvious to me that quite a few folks who despise the Pope are having a great time twisting his words. Here is a sample of what Bishop Gregory President of the US Conference of Bishops has said in their official statement.

The role of conscience. While we have warned of the potential moral dangers of embarking on this war, we have also been clear that there are no easy answers. War has serious consequences, so could the failure to act. People of good will may and do disagree on how to interpret just war teaching and how to apply just war norms to the controverted facts of this case. We understand and respect the difficult moral choices that must be made by our President and others who bear the responsibility of making these grave decisions involving our nation's and the world's security (Catechism #2309)

I'm going to read it more closely and if I find the anti-American, brain dead sentiment that is being reported about the official statements of the Vatican and the American Catholic bishops, I will post them. But, so far I haven't seen them. What I have seen is the usual suspects in the media doing what they love best to do to the Church.

It's part of the Holy Father's job to deplore war and violence. After all, he is supposed to be the representative of the Prince of Peace. However this is going way, way over the top.
I agree. But I also think the "over the top" is intentional to the point of "crazy like a fox." JPII, the anti-Catholic brigade here is fond of forgettin, was probably responsible for kicking over the forst domino in the fall of the Soviet Union. Even in his dotage, he is no dummy. In his modern role, he is placing himself in diametrical opposition to the radical Islamic Imams calling for jihad and "death to infidels." The smartest thing he can do to protect the lives of the millions of Christrians spread throughout the ME is to make repeated emphatic statements that make it clear that there will be no modern day "Crusades. He can do this safely from his Holy See knowing that America needs to do what it needs to do - and nothing he says will change that. When the smoke clears, Iraq will be a haven for ME Christians living under the tyranny of Sharia law and dhimmitude.