On Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Basilica of St. Francis to commemorate the 800th Anniversary of the conversion of Francis. Before praying the Angelus at the Basilica, Benedict spoke about the conflicts taking place in the world today, especially the conflicts in the Middle East.

"I consider it my duty to launch from here an urgent and heartfelt appeal for all the armed conflicts bloodying the earth to cease, for arms to fall silent and everywhere for hatred to give way to love, offense to forgiveness and discord to union.

"Here we feel the spiritual presence of all those who weep, suffer and die because of war and its tragic consequences, in all parts of the world, Our thoughts go out particularly to the Holy Land, so beloved by St. Francis, to Iraq, to Lebanon, to the entire Middle East. The peoples of those countries know, and have long known, the horrors of combat, of terrorism, of blind violence, the illusion that force can resolve conflicts, the refusal to listen to the other's reasons and to do them justice. Only responsible and sincere dialogue, supported by the generous support of the international community, can put an end to so much pain and restore life and dignity to individuals, institutions and peoples.

"May St. Francis, man of peace, obtain for us from the Lord an increase in the number of people ready to become 'instruments of His peace,' through the thousand small acts of everyday life. May those in positions of responsibility be animated by a passionate love for peace and by an indomitable will to achieve it, seeking appropriate means to that end."

Benedict seems to have been referring to blind commitment to war when he said, "...the illusion that force can resolve conflicts, the refusal to listen to the other's reasons and do them justice." His Holiness reminds us that "...only responsible and sincere dialogue, supported by the generous support of the international community, can put an end to so much pain and restore life and dignity to individuals, institutions and people."

This gives us so much to reflect on in a political environment where the common thread of Iraq debates revolve around the question of the potential consequences of pulling out of Iraq to the stability of the Middle East; as if we had pursued a legitimate purpose for being engaged there in the first place. I think we have come to a juncture where the neo-con agenda of cleaning up in the Middle East once-and-for-all, through direct use of force or through indirect force via existing governments and regimes has proven both an abysmal failure and gravely immoral.

His Holiness is calling us back to peace, not just as a means of efficacious practicality, but as a religious and moral duty rooted in our calling to live in and to be witnesses for Christ; one that perfects our own spiritual lives as it serves the good of humanity. He prays that "those in positions of authority be animated by a passionate love for peace and by an indomitable will to achieve it...." This follows up on his earlier homily at Mass when he rooted justice and mercy in the life of Francis of Assisi as a conversion to love by passing "...from bitterness to 'sweetness', from sadness to true joy."

His Holiness further reminds us in the same homily of our Christian duty to be witnesses to peace. He said:

Failing to bring together acceptance, dialogue and respect for everyone with the certainty of faith that all Christians, like the saint of Assisi, are called to cultivate, would be neither evangelical nor Franciscan.... We must all announce Christ as the way, the truth and the life of man; the only Savior of the world.

Interestingly, His Holiness referenced our duty to announce Christ as the only Savior of the world. Rhetorically, this seems to be a direct answer to the claim of the use of force as a means of saving.

The challenge, here, is to return to proclaiming Christ, conversion and the way of life consistent with following Christ. That way pursues peace and dialogue, rather than deference to war, as a way of achieving stability, security and justice.