CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go to Vatican City right now, prayers for peace on this Ash Wednesday. Pope John Paul II is calling on Catholics to fast and pray for peace today, and he's urging world leaders to make every effort to avoid a war in Iraq. We head now to Rome and CNN's Jim Bittermann.</s>JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, on this the traditional day of fasting for the beginning of Lent, the pope has called for Catholics around the world, and anyone else who might want to join in, to pray for peace, very much in line with what he has been saying over the past few months, trying to avoid a war with Iraq. He said this morning during his general audience that everyone has to assume their responsibility and make a common effort to spare humanity another dramatic conflict. And he said in Polish -- he spoke in about 10 different languages at that audience this morning -- he said in Polish that when you're talking about questions of peace, dialogue should always continue. The pope very much engaged in the process of trying to avoid a war in Iraq. He sent his personal envoy, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, to Baghdad to meet with Saddam Hussein. Later today, his personal envoy, Pio Laghi, Cardinal Pio Laghi, will be meeting with George Bush in the White House. He's a good friend of the Bush family. And the pope getting the message across to leaders in both countries that he would like to see them avoid a war in Iraq, saying that there's no need to go to war right now, that nothing justifies a war right now with Iraq. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Rome.</s>COSTELLO: Jim Bittermann, thanks very much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Pope Urges Catholics to Fast, Pray Against War