Local News Archive

Print Issue: September 5, 2002

Morality Of Attacking Iraq Questioned By Local Pax Christi Groups

With our country moving ever closer to war with Iraq, we as Catholics feel compelled to express our moral concerns in hopes that we can contribute to avoiding further death and destruction. Pax Christi supports nonviolent actions to restore public order and justice to the peoples of Iraq and the Middle East. The path of nonviolence is grounded in the teachings of Jesus and has been a tradition of the church since the birth of Christianity.

In the fourth century, particularly with the teachings of St. Augustine, the church came to recognize another path to conflict resolution, the Just War theory. We respect those whose conscience leads them to accept the path of the Just War, but we believe it is essential for Catholics to bear in mind that this theory allows us to participate in war only when certain rigid standards are met. The contemplated American action against Iraq does not appear to meet the standards for a Just War.

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops' Nov. 11, 2001 statement - Living with Faith and Hope After September 11 - outlines seven standards governing the right to go to war (jus ad bellum) and three standards governing conduct during war (jus in bello). We consider that a preemptive strike against Iraq violates four of the standards for going to war - Just Cause, Comparative Justice, Proportionality, and Last Resort. In addition, if weapons of mass destruction are used by either side, two standards for conduct during war would also be violated - Noncombatant Immunity and Proportionality. Furthermore, the use of weapons of mass destruction is condemned by the Catholic Church in Gaudium et Spes, Vatican II, Sec. 80.

It is the right and duty of government to protect its citizens, but as Catholics, we believe all life is sacred and when the choice is life or death, we must always choose life. Jesus taught us nothing about how to kill, but everything about how to live and how to die. Innocent civilians were killed on Sept. 11, and innocent civilians die daily in Iraq due to the UN-imposed sanctions. Going to war against Iraq will only provoke new cycles of violence, intensify the fear in this country and throughout the world, and divert needed resources from social needs.

While recognizing our own complacency in policies harmful to the human family and our own shortcomings, Pax Christi calls on all Catholics of the Archdiocese of Atlanta to become witnesses for peace in the following ways:

1. Rejecting preemptive military action against Iraq as contrary to the teachings of our church;

2. Working diligently for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the United States, Iraq, and throughout the world;

3. Supporting continued negotiation and diplomacy that will bring peaceful and nonviolent resolutions to the conflicts in Iraq, the Middle East and around the world.

We close with words of Pope John Paul II, following the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

"No, never again war, which destroys the lives of innocent people, teaches how to kill, throws into upheaval even the lives of those who do the killing and leaves behind a trail of resentment and hatred, thus making it all the more difficult to find a just solution of the very problems which provoked the war." ("Centesimus Annus," Sec. 52, 5/1/91)

This statement was issued by Pax Christi Atlanta and Pax Christi Transfiguration. Pax Christi welcomes the opportunity to dialogue with Catholics of the Archdiocese of Atlanta about this statement. Pax Christi Atlanta meets on the second Sunday of every month at Christ the King Parish Center at 7:30 p.m. Please call Ginger Cashin at (404) 874-1109 for further information. Pax Christi Transfiguration meets the second Sunday of every month at 1:30 p.m. at Transfiguration Parish, Marietta. Please call Lynn McClintock at (678) 354-9655 for more information. Pax Christi is an international Catholic peace organization.