U.S. military archdiocese head: Modern war changes ethical challenges

Published: 2006-10-26

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the nature of war and conflict changes, so do the ethical challenges faced by members of the military, said the head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services. Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, whose flock includes all U.S. Catholic military and their families, was one of the speakers at an Oct. 23-27 Vatican conference for military ordinaries, the bishops in charge of the spiritual care of their nations' armed forces. While a Catholic military chaplain's ministry always will center on celebrating the sacraments -- in a base chapel or a field tent -- he also is called to be "an ethicist, helping form and guide" the approach of his unit and the concrete behavior of individuals, Archbishop O'Brien said. Like other speakers at the Vatican conference, Archbishop O'Brien said modern shifts in when a nation feels called to deploy troops raise new ethical questions. Ethical guidelines for a "just war" -- including the principles that actions are proportionate and civilians are not targeted -- were developed in the light of conventional wars between two countries or clearly identified groups. Now, he said, ethicists must deal with "asymmetrical war," a conflict such as terrorism where the two sides are not clearly identified, similar entities and where the battlefield can be anywhere.

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