Archbishop Jean Louis Tauran, an official who is described as the Vatican's "Foreign Minister", talked of there being still "a glimmer of hope" that a war could be avoided, calling on UN members to allow weapons experts to continue their inspections in Iraq.
The prelate also urged Iraqi officials to behave in accordance with the code of conduct prescribed by its membership to the United Nations.
Archbishop Tauran described a possible unilateral war against Iraq launched by several states without the backing of the UN Security Council as "a crime against peace".
The Vatican and Pope John Paul II have emerged at the forefront of international efforts aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis.
The 82-year-old pontiff, who has defined war as "a defeat for humanity", urged Catholics on Sunday to observe a day of prayer and fasting for peace on Ash Wednesday, March 5.
Speaking to pilgrims gathered at Rome's St. Peter's Square on Sunday, the pontiff said the future of humanity would never be assured "by terrorism and the logic of war".
The pope invited all Catholics "to dedicate with special intensity next March, Ash Wednesday, to prayer and fasting for the cause of peace, especially in the Middle East".
"We Christians, in particular, are called to be like guardians of peace in the places where we live and work," the 82-year-old pontiff said.
"We are asked, that is, to be alert, so that consciences will not yield to the temptation of egoism, falsehood and violence."
The pope has in recent weeks met with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and has sent an envoy to Baghdad to meet Saddam Hussein.
On Saturday, he met British Prime Minister Tony Blair for a private audience and urged him to find a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis - Sapa-DPA.
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