VATICAN CITY, January 29 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Vatican Wednesday, January 29, warned the United States not to “irritate a billion Muslims” by launching military action against Iraq.

“The Vatican is trying to get the U.S. to reflect on whether it is in its interests to irritate a billion Muslims,” said Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Pope’s foreign policy representative, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Sodano reiterated that Pope John Paul II had clearly come out against a U.S.-led war against Iraq.

“We are against war,” he said. “Whether it’s preventative or not is not the issue – it’s clearly not defensive.”

The cardinal also urged European countries to make more effort to “speak with one voice on foreign policy.”

Pray to Stop War in Iraq, Pope Urges Christians

Pope John Paul II on Tuesday, January 28, invited members of Christian churches gathered at the Vatican to pray that a war in the Middle East can be avoided.

The pontiff was addressing members of an ecumenical committee of Catholic and several eastern Orthodox Churches gathered at the Vatican.

“Many of you come from the Middle East and surrounding countries. Let us pray together that this region will be preserved from the threat of war and further violence,” he said.

“May our ecumenical endeavors always be directed to the building up of a civilization of love, founded on justice, reconciliation and peace,” he said.

The pope and senior Vatican figures have consistently opposed a preventive war on Iraq.

The U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Jim Nicholson, said recently that the pope had exchanged letters on the possibility of a conflict with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Also recently, the Italian magazine Civilita Cattolica (Catholic Civilization), said that the principle of a preventive war was to be condemned morally, except in a case where a country was defending itself from attack.

The review, which is published by the Jesuit order and is close to the Vatican, said the reasons being put forward for a U.S.-led attack on Iraq were very weak.

While it was true that Iraq was in breach of U.N. resolutions, U.S. and its allies Israel and Turkey have also violated U.N. resolutions, the magazine said.