Editor's Desk: Differing Opinions

By Michael F. Flach
Herald Editor
(From the issue of 4/3/03)

Pope John Paul II has said that war is always a "defeat for humanity." Vatican Radio and the Jesuit monthly Civilta Catolica have openly questioned President Bush’s motivation for waging war against Iraq.

On the other hand, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of the Archdiocese for the Military Services said in a March 25 letter to his priests that members of the armed forces should carry out their duties in good conscience because they can presume the integrity of the leaders who decided to go to war in Iraq.

"It is altogether appropriate for members of our armed forces to presume the integrity of our leadership and its judgments, and therefore to carry out their military duties in good conscience," he said in the letter.

Archbishop O'Brien's letter said the moral justification for the invasion of Iraq likely will be debated long after the hostilities cease. "It is to be hoped that all factors which have led to our intervention will eventually be made public and that the full picture of the Iraqi regime's weaponry and brutality will shed helpful light upon our president's decision," he wrote.

An editorial which appeared in last week’s Wall Street Journal asked, "Can anyone honestly say that the Vatican has communicated this crucial point with anywhere near the force or enthusiasm with which it has communicated its opposition?

"Over the course of a pontificate that helped bring down the Berlin War," the Journal continued, "Pope John Paul II has made his greatest impact with the blazing focus he has brought to moral truths and teachings. As long-time admirers of his, we are thus saddened to watch these principles, advertently or not, being clouded rather than clarified."

The Journal editorial failed to mention that the fall of the Berlin War was due in no small measure to the pope’s public support and encouragement of the peaceful opposition of the Polish labor group Solidarity.

On our own editorial pages, columnists George Weigel and Russell Shaw have taken opposing positions regarding the war. Shaw’s column last week "Weigel, Iraq and the Pope" gained some additional attention. We received requests from several newspapers, including The B.C. Catholic in Vancouver, Canada, to reprint Shaw’s column.

It is also interesting to note that groups that routinely criticize the pope and the Catholic Church on matters of faith and morals (contraception, abortion) are now using the pope’s words to support their anti-war agendas.

Among the peace protestors arrested last week in Washington were two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and Daniel Ellsberg, the former government employee who released the Pentagon Papers.

The protest organized by Pax Christi USA, the Catholic peace movement, and half a dozen other religious groups brought dozens of people who oppose the war in Iraq to Lafayette Park. U.S. Park Police reported arresting 68 demonstrators who crossed barriers into closed-off areas near the White House.

The war is not going to bring peace, said Bishop Gumbleton, who visited Iraq in January. "It's going to leave behind a trail of hatred and resentment."

Obviously, Church leaders are greatly divided on this issue. Only time will tell whether the elimination of Suddam Hussein from Iraq will lead to President Bush’s prediction of peace and stability in the Middle East and justify the tragic loss of life now being felt on both sides of the Euphrates River.— M.F.F.

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