Hill visits not time to say 'I told you so' on Iraq, activists told

Published: 2006-02-14

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Resist the temptation to say "we told you so" when bringing the Catholic Church's perspectives on the war in Iraq to members of Congress, a speaker advised a group of social ministry activists preparing to visit Capitol Hill. Before the March 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led forces, the U.S. bishops and Catholic activists were among those raising questions about the moral legitimacy of such an attack and predicting the sort of ongoing upheaval that has occurred, said Stephen Colecchi, director of the Office of International Justice and Peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Feb. 13. "Lots of people predicted how bad Iraq could get, including the U.S. bishops and the Holy See," Colecchi said. But he warned participants in the annual meeting of people involved in Catholic social ministries that reminding congressional staffers of the church's accurate predictions about Iraq might not be the most successful way of persuading them to listen to recommendations for how to handle the current situation there. The annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering includes a series of briefings about topics of current legislative interest, followed by lobbying visits to congressional offices.

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