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Promoting Peace as Part of the Church's Pro-Life Position

A consistent ethic of life counters a culture of death.

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This Fr. Gerry Creedon homily was delivered at St. Charles on March 9, 2003

Jesus was in the midst of a struggle between wild beasts and angels for 40 days. Lent offers the church 40 days to associate our struggles with his.

The first reading remembers the covenant to Noah. This story is common to all the religions of the book, owned by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. It proclaims God's care for creation.

In my family when my mother would worry, my father would suggest they go for a drive. We would sit in the back seat and listen in. More than once my father would say suddenly, "I have the answer. Don't worry about it." In a shower of rain, he would see a rainbow. He had a kind of mystical belief in roses, robins and rainbows. All of us need to remember the promise of the rainbow, the assurance of light at the end of every tunnel. Easter will follow Lent.

Patriotic American or Good Catholic?

We have a covenant with God and God is faithful. This past week Catholics in the United States listened to a message the Pope sent though his personal envoy to the White House. John Paul II has one analysis of the impending war with Iraq; the President has another. American Catholics are torn. Whom do you follow? This question creates an inner struggle. Are you a patriotic American or a good Catholic? To whom do you respond? How do you respond?

I think it important for us to not dismiss our Pope on this question. We have a duty to read what he has to say. Our Parish Web Site carries the statements from the Pope and the Vatican and the US Bishops. We should read them for ourselves and pray about them. In assessing this situation our church recognizes that individuals may come to different opinions and judgments. Dissent from the Pope's position is allowed.

At the same time it is important to know that the Pope has raised serious reservations about the justice and legality of this proposed military action. Whatever you think about his opinion, it is good to analyze the reasons behind his conclusions.

Another Crusade?

The Pope is concerned about religious dimensions and perceptions. The proposed action may be perceived as a new kind of crusade no matter what our intentions may be. It will be seen as an attack on another region of the world identified with Allah. You can answer that we are not interested in religion; we are interested in democracy. History has seen the promotion of Christianity at the point of the sword. Promoting democracy at the point of a sword feels like a different crusade. The Pope came out with a statement that "God is neutral in the affairs of men". A general said to Lincoln, "Don't worry Mr. President, God is on our side." Lincoln answered, "I don't know if God is on our side but I get up daily and I pray that we are on God's side".

In the Papal documents with regard to decision-making, there's a strong emphasis on international institutions. In cases of intervention, authority is to be vested in United Nations not in any Nation State. This is an opinion that our Pope has come to over a period of decades. This conviction has grown within our church's social teaching. Long-term security is best established when we are part of international democratic institutions like the United Nations. These institutions are the way to security and peace.

Catholic teaching tends to argue against the view that overwhelming power is the answer to terror. There are illustrations in Romania and Chechnya. The Vatican believes the long-term resolutions of problems of violence internationally have to do with the billion people who suffer poverty. The Popes teach that the road to peace is through a better balance and fair use of the earth's resources. Pope Paul VI said, "Development is the new name for peace. If you want peace, work for justice." That's a long-term process with no short-term fix.

The Pope's Assessment

The fundamental issue in Catholic ethical reflection on war and peace is the question of life itself. Vatican II called for a review of war with an entirely new attitude. John Paul II makes a different assessment of the merits and the consequences of war. The Pope ties his critique of war to the pro-life stance of our church. It strikes me as strange that there are Catholic laity and clergy who see themselves as lockstep with the Vatican on life issues such as abortion or euthanasia who break ranks very quickly on the ethics of war, and dismiss the Pope as irrelevant. For the Vatican there is a consistent ethic of life that counters a culture of death.

In the Pope's own words,

"First, a yes to life. Respect life itself and individual lives: everything starts here, for the most fundamental of human rights is certainly the right to life. War itself is an attack on human life. Since it brings in its wake suffering and death. The battle for peace is always a battle for life."

Then he offers,

"No to war. War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity. International law, honest dialogue, solidarity between States, the noble exercise of diplomacy: these are the methods worthy of individuals and nations in resolving their differences."

Despite how we refine the instruments of war they often tend to be instruments of mass destruction that do not discriminate neatly between civilians and those in uniform. We know that increasingly modern wars involve civilians.

We return to the story of Noah, God's care for all of creation.

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