Archbishop Mahony Warns Bush to Use Care in Gulf Actions

WASHINGTON —  Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahony on Friday warned President Bush to use “utmost care” in actions against Iraq, saying it would be immoral to deprive Iraqi civilians of food and medicine.

“We understand that Saddam Hussein, by his words and actions, makes this complex and difficult, but the moral justification for our intervention requires that we maintain the distinction between the Iraqi regime and ordinary and vulnerable Iraqi citizens,” the Roman Catholic prelate said.

Mahony, who made his comments in a letter to Secretary of State James A. Baker III, chairs the International Policy Committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and is the church’s top spokesman on foreign policy issues.

In the letter, Mahony reiterated the church’s general support of the U.S. “decision to oppose (Iraqi) aggression and to express our humanitarian concerns.”

Meantime, the United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops appealed to Bush “as a manifestation of his faith in God . . . to pursue every possible political and diplomatic avenue--however lengthy--as a primary option.”