Vatican grasps olive branch amid rumours of address to UN

The Pope might fly to New York to make a dramatic appeal for peace before the United Nations, a report in a leading Italian newspaper suggested yesterday on the basis of rumours circulating in the Vatican.

Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the Pope's press officer, flatly denied the idea. "There is no plan for the Holy Father to visit the United Nations in the near future," he said. "The idea is not even under consideration." But as Marco Politi, a Vatican correspondent with la Repubblica wrote, Mr Navarro-Valls would be obliged to deny the rumours even if he knew different. And the rumours are hot. The Vatican's diplomatic effort on Iraq is growing louder by the day. Today, Cardinal Pio Laghi, the Pope's envoy to Washington, is expected to meet President George Bush. Yesterday, three American Catholic bishops were received by Condoleezza Rice, his National Security Adviser.

Though racked by Parkinson's disease, the Pope is by no means a spent force. His centrality to peace efforts also appears to have rejuvenated him. Cardinal Laghi said on Monday: "In these days [the Pope] seems more lively, as if wishing to give us strength. When I met him on Sunday, his voice was strong and it seemed to me that he has found new animation in order to grasp the commitment to peace."

A Vatican insider said yesterday: "In its own way, the Vatican is a world power. It would have a dramatic symbolism if the Pope went to the UN. If he thought it would make a difference, I'm sure he would go."

A direct appeal to the UN would be entirely in keeping with Karol Wojtyla's character, another insider said. It would also be the logical last step in a diplomatic chess game over Iraq that has preoccupied the Holy See since last autumn, with the pace in recent weeks quickening almost daily.

Stalin famously said: "The Pope! How many divisions has he got?" But if President Bush were to toss the same question to his "boy genius" adviser, Karl Rove, the sobering answer would be: "None, but he's worth 40 million votes." There are 65.3 million Roman Catholics in the United States, making them the largest Christian denomination. Mr Bush went after the Catholic vote fiercely in the 2000 election and would not want to alienate them now. However unpalatable the message Cardinal Laghi brings for the President from the Pope ­ and the Cardinal will be the first representative of the "no war" camp to enter the White House in many months ­ Mr Bush cannot afford to snub the envoy.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The Pope has called on all Christians to abstain from food today, to solicit the Holy Mother's blessings for peace. Before leaving Rome, Cardinal Laghi said: "I'm not going with my head bowed, but in a spirit of prayer and fasting." But sending the cardinal to Washington is only one move.

The Pope also sent Cardinal Roger Etchegaray as an envoy to Baghdad, and received a visit fromTariq Aziz, a Christian and Saddam Hussein's Deputy Prime Minister. A few days later, the Popereceived Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar, the Spanish Prime Minister, who are two of Mr Bush's best friends in Europe. Neither European leader can ignore Christian opposition to war.

Yesterday, the third European hawk, Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, popped into the Vatican for an unannounced exchange of opinions with the Holy Father. In a striking departure from protocol, the visit was kept secret until it ended.

As the Iraq crisis has developed, the Vatican, whose views are unambiguous but which has only a moral axe to grind, has become the centre around which all the debates on war and peace revolve. Last week, ambassadors accredited to the Holy See from all nations on the UN Security Council were invited for a discussion.

Also last week, the son of President Mohammad Khatami of Iran was received by the Pope. The pontiff said afterwards that their views on Iraq were the same. On Monday the Vatican and a delegation from Israel's Chief Rabbinate wound up five days of unprecedented discussions with a joint declaration that stated, among other things, that "any attempt to destroy human life must be rejected".