Aged 82 and debilitated by Parkinson’s disease, he is determined in the immediate future to avert a war with Iraq and more generally to promote peace in the Middle East, the cradle of the three great monotheistic religions, and reconciliation between Islam and the West to avert a devastating clash of civilisations.

His stand on Iraq is one that places him starkly at odds not only with Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, but also with President Bush.

The ailing pontiff, who often appears barely able either to walk or talk, yesterday spoke clearly, vigorously and with much of the old force of his famous charisma as he sought to put more moral backbone into moves to stop the impending conflict in Iraq. “The Pope believes that he has a divinely inspired mission to save the world from war,” one Vatican insider said. “He looks better than he has for months, perhaps years. You can see it in his body language.”

Aides said that the Polish-born pontiff, who used his moral example and influence to help to put an end to communism in Eastern Europe, was “deeply distressed” by violence in the Holy Land and was determined in his twilight years to achieve reconciliation between Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Two years ago the Pope sought to include Iraq in his millennium-year tour of the Holy Land and achieve his long-held ambition of visiting the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham at Ur. The project failed, not least because of objections by Britain and the United States that Baghdad would use his presence for propaganda purposes. Vatican officials say that the trip remains an ambition as the Pope approaches the 25th anniversary of his reign in October.

The Pope’s mobilisation of Vatican anti-war diplomacy runs the risk of being seen by detractors as helpful to the Iraqi dictator.

Amir Abdel al-Anbari, the Iraqi Ambassador to the Holy See, praised the Pope yesterday, saying that the Vatican “has neither arms nor an army, but has always taken the side of the weak, using only the force of religious principles. Unlike some other religious institutions, it acts in defence not only of its own followers but of all humanity: that is the secret of its power. I say this as a Muslim.”

But the Pope’s anti-war views are also in tune with opinion polls in Italy, where millions are expected to take part in pacifist rallies next weekend. La Repubblica said in an editorial yesterday that although Signor Berlusconi had been “broadly supportive” of Mr Bush, most Italians agreed with the Pope. The popular Roman Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana carried an opinion poll showing that 95 per cent of its readers supported the Pope’s view of war.

Archbishop Renato Martino, the former Vatican Ambassor to the UN and now head of the Vatican Council for Justice and Peace, said that the Pope felt that “thousands of missiles raining down on Iraq” were bound to kill and maim the poor, the sick and children. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Secretary of State, said: “We want to say to America — is it worth it? Won’t you have hostility from the Islamic world afterwards for decades to come?”

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