Pope delivers cooperation plea

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Pope John Paul II has continued his theme of cross-religious cooperation on the third day of his trip to Kazakhstan.

In a Mass on Monday, he urged Roman Catholic clergy in Kazakhstan -- a country where Europe meets Asia and Islam meets Christianity -- against aggressively seeking out new converts.

The previous day he had warned against religion being used as an excuse for conflict -- as the region prepares for the possibility of U.S. military action in Afghanistan just 300km (200 miles) from Kazakhstan's southern border.

Kazakhstan has announced it is ready to join the U.S. planned "global coalition against terror."

In Vatican City, the Pope's chief spokesman, said the Roman Catholicism hierarchy would prefer a non-violent solution to the crisis but accepted the principle that military force can be used to prevent further loss of life.

Joaquin Navarro-Valls told Reuters news agency: "Sometimes self-defence implies an action which may lead to the death of a person.

"Either people who have carried out a horrendous crime are put in a position where they can do no further harm, by being handed over and put into custody, or the principle of self-defence applies with all its consequences.

"Christian ethics say that, when force is used as a last resort for self-defence, it must be proportionate to the threat and innocent people should not be harmed."

In Monday's Mass the Pope returned to his twin themes of peaceful coexistence between different faiths and "the gentleness of dialogue."

In his homily the Pope quoted Kazak scholar Abai Kunanbai: "Precisely because we worship God fully and have faith in him, we have no right to claim that we must force others to believe in him and worship him."

The words were seen to be directed not only at his own flock and the Muslim faith in Kazakhstan but also the Orthodox Church.

It has objected to the Pope's recent tours of Central Asia and former Soviet states where it is the majority Christian religion.

The Kazakhstan trip has been overshadowed by the military build-up against militant Osama bin Laden -- the man Washington believes masterminded the hijack attacks against the U.S. -- taking place to the south.

Bin Laden is believed to still be in hiding in Afghanistan despite the ruling Taliban saying they cannot locate him.

The Pope insisted on going ahead with his trip in spite of security concerns following the hijack attacks.