US Catholic Bishops Guilty of Material Cooperation With the Objective Evil of Unjust War!

[Ian David]

A Catholic Worker Response to the US Bishops' Statements on Iraq, November 2006-January 2007

The United States Catholic Bishops continue to evade their moral and canonical responsibilities regarding the war on the people of Iraq. On November 13, 2006, Bishop William Skylstad, president of the US Bishop's conference, issued a statement calling for a "responsible transition" for Iraq. On January 12, 2007, he issued a document evaluating President Bush's plan to expand and intensify the war in Iraq. These documents are the latest in a series of morally problematic statements on Iraq from the U.S. Bishops' Conference. The bishops ignore their own personal responsibility for our nation's disastrous war policy. They inflate their reputation as peacemakers and they call for even more war and violence in their crusade for a "responsible transition" in Iraq. See how clever they are with words? War is no longer peace, now it is "responsible transition".

The bishops protest that this accusation is untrue, but if they demand a responsible transition, then they must pray for everything that is included in such events, and that includes all of the war and violence and death that the situation requires.

The first problem is that the United States Catholic bishops have no particular competence to decide what is and is not a responsible transition for the people of Iraq. Their job was to decide whether the original invasion was just or unjust and then to act accordingly. They failed that historical test. They were right there with everybody else, chanting, "Crucify him! Crucify him! Give us Barabbas!" By their uncritical acceptance of the government's propaganda that the United States is "pursuing peace and justice in Iraq", they provide moral cover for the on-going slaughter of the Iraqi people. They offer nothing to the victims other than pious, hypocritical rhetoric. And so they continue to chant, "Crucify them! Crucify them! Give us Transition!" If these bishops have nothing better to say than what they said November 13th and January 12th, they should spare themselves and all Catholics any further embarrassment and just keep quiet on the subject.

Contrary to the deliberately misleading impression given by Bishop Skylstad's statements, the response of the U.S. Catholic bishops, as a conference and as individual bishops with canonical responsibilities for dioceses -- with one exception - to the Iraq war was moral relativism and moral laxism. All of the Conference statements, while indeed expressing "grave moral reservations" about the justice of the Iraq war, also say that people could come to different conclusions about the justice of the Iraq war, and that's fine with the bishops.

The moral problem is this: The Iraq war is either a just war or it is an unjust war. It is not "both-and" - it is "either-or". It has an objective reality and it cannot be just and unjust at the same time. While people can indeed come to different conclusions about the Iraq War, not all of those opinions are morally equal.

<snip>

Pious words of concern for the well-being of victims are a fine thing but they are not a substitute for fidelity to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Coming from the mouths of bishops who are materially cooperating with the evil of unjust war, the November 13th and January 12th documents are works of religious hypocrisy.

Robert Waldrop
Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House
the first Sunday of Lent, AD 2007

More:
http://www.justpeace.org/bishopsandunjustwar.htm

[MichiganVote]

1. Well these are the same guys who sold thousands of victims of abuse

down the river so what's surprising about this? So called pious words out the mouths of Catholic Bishops amount to nothing---pure PR.

[spanone]

2. 'Moral Responsibilities' ????Bwahahahahahaha

This is why they declare bankruptcy rather than pay off lawsuits against their pedophilia priests?

[niallmac]

3. If church and state are truly separate then the Bishops

should not feel shy about following the lead of Pope John Paul II and his
consistent defiance of the Iraqi wars I and II.
Unfortunately such separation of institutions is a naive thought.
Though I am atheist I would throw a few shekels in the baskets of
whatever churchs mosques temples would just promote peace and not worry about the
politics of the day. We've got six other days in the week to be
pummeled with war propaganda.

[Tom Joad]

4. Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.-- Dorothy Day,

co-founder, Catholic Worker Movement

[PhilipShore]

15. She looks like my grandmother -- on the my mothers side of the family...

[Tom Joad]

5. Statement from Jonah House, Catholic Worker House-- Refuse to Kill!

You are being ordered to war in the footsteps of veterans, who, more than 10 years ago, were sent to fight the first Gulf War. Many of those vets returned with severe and unacknowledged illnesses. Many gave birth to severely deformed children. All were abandoned by the Veterans Administration.
You are being ordered to war by the most powerful nation on earth. You are being ordered to war by a nation with the most destructive weapons ever conceived, developed, deployed or used.
You are being ordered to war by a nation whose self-acknowledged posture is that of world domination, mastery, control.
This nation can have no moral justification for war.

We, the undersigned, are convinced that war is the greatest evil on earth. We believe that humankind must end war, or war will end humankind, and, in fact, all of creation.
Our convictions have driven us time and again to the Pentagon, White House and Congress in acts of civil resistance to war.
Now, we bring our plea to you, sisters and brothers, in the armed forces.
Refuse to kill.
Refuse the order to go to war.
Leave the military before it is too late.
We know your resistance to war will be difficult and require great courage But please reflect:
Is it more difficult than fighting in war?
Is it more difficult than being a pawn of corporate greed?
Is it more difficult than living with a violated conscience?
Is it more difficult than living with the poisons of war in your body and spirit?
Wrong is easy. Right is difficult and long. Do what your heart says is right.

We knowingly and willingly make this plea to you in violation of 18 USC Sec. 1381 and 2387 . (see below) We knowingly and willingly embrace some of your risk by urging you to refuse duty in the U.S. military. We plead with you, as Bishop Oscar Romero pleaded with Salvadoran troops: "When you hear the words of a man telling you to kill, remember instead the words of God: 'Thou shalt not kill!' No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God? In the name of God, in the name of our tormented people who have suffered so much and whose laments cry out to heaven, I beseech you, I beg you, I order you in the name of God, stop the repression!'" If you choose to leave the military, please know that our hearts and homes are open to you.

http://www.tomjoad.org/refusetokill.htm

[Jcrowley]

6. K&R

As an atheist I do assure folk The Catholic Workers truly rock the land.

There is such clarity in those words from Robert Waldrop.

[struggle4progress]

7. Wilton Gregory Letter to President Bush on Iraq ( September 13, 2002)

The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

... the 60-member Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops asked me to write you about .. Iraq .... I thought it was important that I express our serious questions about the moral legitimacy of any preemptive, unilateral use of military force to overthrow the government of Iraq.

A year ago .. Bishop Joseph Fiorenza .. told you then that, in our judgment, the use of force against Afghanistan could be justified, if it were carried out in accord with just war norms and as one part of a much broader, mostly non-military effort to deal with terrorism. We believe Iraq is a different case. Given the precedents and risks involved, we find it difficult to justify extending the war on terrorism to Iraq, absent clear and adequate evidence of Iraqi involvement in the attacks of September 11th or of an imminent attack of a grave nature.

The United States and the international community have two grave moral obligations: to protect the common good against any Iraqi threats to peace and to do so in a way that conforms with fundamental moral norms ....

We conclude, based on the facts that are known to us, that a preemptive, unilateral use of force is difficult to justify at this time .... Of particular concern are the traditional just war criteria of just cause, right authority, probability of success, proportionality and noncombatant immunity ....

We respectfully urge you to step back from the brink of war and help lead the world to act together to fashion an effective global response to Iraq's threats that conforms with traditional moral limits on the use of military force.

Sincerely yours,

Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory
Bishop of Belleville
President

[BlooInBloo]

8. Again? What a wonderful thing religion is (ye shall know them by their fruits).

[struggle4progress]

9. USCCB Statement on Iraq (November 13, 2002)

.... Two months ago, Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote President George Bush .... This letter, which was authorized by the U.S. Bishops' Administrative Committee, raised serious questions about the moral legitimacy of any preemptive, unilateral use of military force to overthrow the government of Iraq ....

Based on the facts that are known to us, we continue to find it difficult to justify the resort to war against Iraq, lacking clear and adequate evidence of an imminent attack of a grave nature. With the Holy See and bishops from the Middle East and around the world, we fear that resort to war, under present circumstances and in light of current public information, would not meet the strict conditions in Catholic teaching for overriding the strong presumption against the use of military force.

Just cause .... Consistent with the proscriptions contained in international law, a distinction should be made between efforts to change unacceptable behavior of a government and efforts to end that government's existence.

Legitimate authority. In our judgment, decisions concerning possible war in Iraq require compliance with U.S. constitutional imperatives, broad consensus within our nation, and some form of international sanction ....

Probability of success and proportionality. The use of force must have "serious prospects for success" and "must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated" .... We are concerned .. that war against Iraq could have unpredictable consequences not only for Iraq but for peace and stability elsewhere in the Middle East. The use of force might provoke the very kind of attacks that it is intended to prevent, could impose terrible new burdens on an already long-suffering civilian population, and could lead to wider conflict and instability in the region. War against Iraq could also detract from the responsibility to help build a just and stable order in Afghanistan and could undermine broader efforts to stop terrorism.

Norms governing the conduct of war. The justice of a cause does not lessen the moral responsibility to comply with the norms of civilian immunity and proportionality .... In assessing whether "collateral damage" is proportionate, the lives of Iraqi men, women and children should be valued as we would the lives of members of our own family and citizens of our own country ....

http://www.nccbuscc.org/bishops/iraq.shtml

[struggle4progress]

10. Wilton Gregory Statement on Iraq ( February 26, 2003)

Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory
President
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

.... We join with Pope John Paul in the conviction that war is not "inevitable" and that "war is always a defeat for humanity." This is not a matter of ends, but means. Our bishops' conference continues to question the moral legitimacy of any preemptive, unilateral use of military force to overthrow the government of Iraq. To permit preemptive or preventive uses of military force to overthrow threatening or hostile regimes would create deeply troubling moral and legal precedents. Based on the facts that are known, it is difficult to justify resort to war against Iraq, lacking clear and adequate evidence of an imminent attack of a grave nature or Iraq's involvement in the terrorist attacks of September 11. With the Holy See and many religious leaders throughout the world, we believe that resort to war would not meet the strict conditions in Catholic teaching for the use of military force ....

If the decision to use military force is taken, the moral and legal constraints on the conduct of war must be observed. This is expected of every civilized nation. It surely is expected of ours .... The use of anti-personnel landmines, cluster bombs and other weapons that cannot distinguish between soldiers and civilians, or between times of war and times of peace, should also be avoided. In all our actions in war, including assessments of whether "collateral damage" is proportionate, we must value the lives and livelihood of Iraqi civilians as we would the lives and livelihood of our own families and our own citizens.

If there is armed conflict, we must be prepared for all of its implications and its aftermath. An already long-suffering Iraqi population could face terrible new burdens, and a region already full of conflict and refugees could see more conflict and many more refugees, with ethnic and religious minorities particularly vulnerable. A post-war Iraq would require a long-term commitment to reconstruction, humanitarian and refugee assistance, and establishment of a stable, democratic government at a time when the U.S. federal budget is overwhelmed by increased defense spending and the costs of war ....

http://www.nccbuscc.org/sdwp/international/iraqstatement0203.htm

[struggle4progress]

11. Vatican official says opposition to war based on political realities (Jan-30-2003)

By John Thavis Catholic News Service


ROME (CNS) -- The Vatican's opposition to a war against Iraq is based on political realism as well as moral arguments, a leading Vatican official said. "From the outside, we may seem like idealists, and we are, but we're also realists," Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, told Italian reporters Jan. 29. "We're asking for reflection not only on whether a war would be just or unjust, moral or immoral, but also whether it is opportune to irritate a billion followers of Islam," he said. The cardinal said the world's leading countries must be sensitive to the political repercussions of their actions. "I told an American friend, 'Hasn't the lesson of Vietnam taught you anything?'" he said. The cardinal said he appreciated that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 were a dramatic tragedy and a trauma for the United States. "But even in Afghanistan things are not going so well. For this reason, one must insist on asking whether a war would be opportune," he said. Cardinal Sodano also repeated the Vatican's strong moral arguments against a U.S.-led attack on Iraq. "We are against the war. That is a moral position, and there's not much that needs to be said about whether (the war) is 'preventive' or 'nonpreventive.' It's an ambiguous term. Certainly the war is not defensive," he said ...

http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/sodano2.htm

[struggle4progress]

12. John Ricard Statement on Abuse of Iraqi Prisoners (May 14, 2004)

Most Reverend John H. Ricard, S.S.J.
Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee
Chairman, Committee on International Policy
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

.... The abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners have brought shame upon our nation, are an affront to our most basic ideals, and will undermine legitimate efforts to confront the very real threats faced by our nation and the world ....

http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/torturestm.htm

[struggle4progress]

13. Church Statements on Iraq (further links)

http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/peace/churchleaders.htm

[struggle4progress]

14. The Vatican, individual US Bishops, and the USCCB have made many statements against the war ...

... beginning long before the invasion. I've posted some links above