By Wadner Pierre

Religion at Loyola

It seems from time to time that the Catholic Church has been deliberately late in addressing the real issues that face God's children on this earth.

As we all know, the Catholic Church in particular has been an instrument for powerful European countries in the past, abandoning its mission to be the voice of the voiceless and to make the poor feel that they belong to the kingdom of God as much as the rich do.

In his Easter Sunday address, the pope urged the world to welcome people who are fleeing their countries because of wars or violence. He said, "May help come from all sides to those fleeing conflict and to refugees from various African countries who have been obliged to leave all that is dear to them."

The pope's Easter Sunday message seemed mostly focused on the ongoing Libyan civil war, supported by Western power under the United Nations umbrella. According to Reuters, Pope Benedict also advocated for a diplomatic approach instead of force in the case of Libya.

The pope's Easter Sunday message, however, came too late because political leaders like those from Russia, China, Venezuela, the African Union and other countries already warned against the use of weapons in Libya.

The Vatican has a representative at the United Nations, but it seems that the Vatican failed to take a position against U.N. resolution 1973. This gave the United States and its NATO allies a legitimate mandate to use their sophisticated weapons instead of their sophisticated and smart diplomats to solve the Libyan political and social problems.