POINT

Michael Novak is the George F. Jewett scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. A noted author and former U.S. ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission, Mr. Novak was also ambassador to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe...

ONE-O-FIVE LIVE WEB EXCLUSIVE
TO AIR ON VATICAN RADIO 105 FM ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10 AT 10:30AM

COUNTERPOINT

Father Stan De Boe, OSST is the director of the Office of Justice and Peace for the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM), which serves the leadership of the Catholic orders and congregations of the 25,000 vowed religious priests and brothers of the USA...

ONE-O-FIVE LIVE WEB EXCLUSIVE
TO AIR ON VATICAN RADIO 105 FM ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10 AT 12:30AM

HIGHLIGHTS

• "I have been trying to show why the argument being made in America today is not an argument based upon preventive war at all, but an argument based on the traditional use of just war theory – a war of self defense. The way I look at it … we are engaged in a war that began twelve years ago with Saddam Hussein. After the first one hundred hours we cut the war short because he was ready to negotiate. The way lay open to us to Baghdad … Saddam Hussein promised as a condition to stay in the presidency, that he would do two thing, and the United Nations made him promise: A) disarm, and B) prove that he had disarmed. The burden is on him. He hasn’t done that for twelve years. In my opinion, it was shameful for the international community, the UN, and for the United States not to force him to obey. It was shameful. It was cowardly …[The war on terrorism] changed the situation with Iraq. It is one thing to tolerate Iraq even when it is violating international order by refusing to disarm, but it is another thing that it has refused to disarm when there is a group of international cadres of skilled people pledging to breed huge destruction in the United States and Europe and elsewhere … and is looking desperately for weapons of mass destruction."
• "It’s not proper for [the Vatican officials Novak met] to give a reaction to that. I can only tell you … that it is an open Church, and they will hear from Tarek Aziz in the next few days. I can tell you the reception could not have been more friendly and could not have been more open. I’m exceedingly grateful to them and very happy … It was sort of a normal day at the Vatican, as far as I can see."

HIGHLIGHTS

• "Because of the nature of this invitation, we find it quite odd that the United States government would invite a well-known Catholic intellectual and theologian to address the Vatican on what they’re calling the just nature of our actions toward Iraq. We think the appointment of a Catholic theologian can violate the separation of Church and State and we are wondering why one theologian was chosen as opposed to bringing over a group of people who could have a dialogue about this."
• "Many of us have tried to have meetings here in the United States so that we can present not just a Catholic viewpoint on this, but to represent Catholic voices on this, and it is very difficult for us to get a meeting with our own government. For our government to be meeting with the leaders of our Church we find to be a little disconcerting because it doesn’t seem that there is a dialogue where they are interested in listening, but we do understand they are trying to make diplomatic inroads not only with the Vatican but with other countries as well"
• "I’m pleased that the Catholic voice is being used here and that it is causing the debate even within the Catholic Church in the United States. We believe the separation of Church and State does not mean that the State and the Church should not be in dialogue, should not be informing one another, and should not be working, sometimes closely, on issues like this. We are just concerned that if this is seen as an official voice of the government or in any way the use of the Church by the government, that’s a great concern to us."