The Reality of Terrorism

By Michael F. Flach
HERALD Editor
(From the issue of 1/10/02)

As we witness the escalation of bombing this week in Afghanistan, and rumors of future military strikes against terrorist regimes, we would due well to reflect on Pope John Paul II’s message for World Day of Peace 2002, celebrated Jan. 1. The document, "No Peace Without Justice, No Justice Without Forgiveness," talks about how peace is under assault today by international terrorism.

"In recent years, especially since the end of the Cold War, terrorism has developed into a sophisticated network of political, economic and technical collusion which goes beyond national borders to embrace the whole world," the pope said. "Well-organized terrorist groups can count on huge financial resources and develop wide-ranging strategies, striking innocent people who have nothing to do with the aims pursued by the terrorists.

"When terrorist organizations use their own followers as weapons to be launched against defenseless and unsuspecting people, they show clearly the death-wish that feeds them. Terrorism springs from hatred, and it generates isolation, mistrust and closure. Violence is added to violence in a tragic sequence that exasperates successive generations, each one inheriting the hatred which divided those that went before.

"Terrorism is built on contempt for human life. For this reason, not only does it commit intolerable crimes, but because it resorts to terror as a political and military means it is itself a true crime against humanity," he said.

There exists a clear right to defend oneself against terrorism, the pope said, but this right "must be exercised with respect for moral and legal limits in the choice of ends and means. The guilty must be correctly identified, since criminal culpability is always personal and cannot be extended to the nation, ethnic group or religion to which the terrorists may belong."

He said international cooperation in the fight against terrorist activities must also include political, diplomatic and economic commitment to relieving situations of oppression and marginalization which facilitate the designs of terrorists. "The recruitment of terrorists, in fact, is easier in situations where rights are trampled upon and injustices tolerated over a long period of time," he said.

"Still, it must be firmly stated that the injustices existing in the world can never be used to excuse acts of terrorism, and it should be noted that the victims of the radical breakdown of order which terrorism seeks to achieve include above all the countless millions of men and women who are least well-positioned to withstand a collapse of international solidarity -- namely, the people of the developing world, who already live on a thin margin of survival and who would be most grievously affected by global economic and political chaos. The terrorist claim to be acting on behalf of the poor is a patent falsehood."

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Once again, the Arlington Catholic Herald is seeking local photographs for its annual Catholic Marriage Issue, which will be published Feb. 14. We are looking for weddings which took place during the 2001 calendar year at diocesan churches. Please include the complete name of the couple, the photographer and the priest or deacon who officiated. If you want the photo returned, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope. Deadline for submissions is Jan. 25. Send photos to: Marriage Issue, c/o Arlington Catholic Herald, 200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 600, Arlington, Va. 22203. Sorry, but we can't guarantee publication. — M.F.F.

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