The Vatican has said any attack on Iraq must first have the approval of the United Nations.
The Vatican's position on the crisis was made clear today in an interview by its foreign minister, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, to appear in Tuesday's edition of the Roman Catholic newspaper Avvenire.
"If the international community...judges it to be opportune to resort to a proportionate use of force, it must be part of a decision taken within the framework of the United Nations...," Tauran told the paper.
He said Iraq should not be isolated and that any decision to strike should take into consideration the consequences for civilians in the country and repercussions on regional and world stability.
US President George W. Bush is trying to make a case for possible military action against Iraq, which Washington insists has a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.