Statement by Bishop Angell on War in Iraq, March 20, 2003

March 20, 2003

Most Reverend Kenneth A. Angell, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, today issued the following statement as the war in Iraq begins:

"For the past two weeks, Vermont Catholics throughout Vermont have united with our Christian Brothers and Sisters of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and community in a fervent prayer for peace.

Our hopes of avoiding war were quashed today, but our prayers for peace will not end until this war does. We will continue to pray for our President, George W. Bush. We will continue to pray for our country and our people. We will be praying especially for the members of our armed forces, for the pain of separation from their anxious loved ones, for their fears, and the danger to their very lives. We pray that they may return home safely to us.

We pray also for the safety and deliverance of the innocent citizens in Iraq, that they be protected from harm and freed from oppression. We pray their terror will be of short duration and that their rewards will be a new country based on freedom and democratic principles, supported by a united international community.

And most of all, we will be on our knees to the Lord, that he grant this weary world peace."

For Further information
Please Contact:
Gloria J. Gibson
Director of Communications
(802) 658-6110, Ext. 300
ggibson@vermontcatholic.org