Seeking a Catholic response to the call for war
Peter Joseph Quaranto
freshman
These are times that try Catholics' souls. If the United States government declares war against Iraq, American Catholics will be faced with perhaps the greatest moral dilemma of our generation. On the one hand, the government of the country that has given us freedom will be asking for our loyalty; on the other hand, the Church that promises us salvation will be asking for our resistance. Quite frankly, it boils down to a classic battle of church versus state.
Since the founding of our country, there has been a convergence in the minds of most Americans between Church teaching and United State foreign policy. This sort of "American exceptionalism" is a belief that the United States is different from all other places of the past and present. It is a confidence in the infallibility, or at least the evolving moral perfection, of our country. It is a blind faith that the United States is essentially always on the side of the good.
This "American exceptionalism" is not only a blind faith, but a blinding force that limits our ability to see world affairs from a more objective and more compassionate standpoint.
Further, the belief in "American exceptionalism" is ultimately faulty. Throughout the course of our country's history, we have committed numerous evil acts. Slavery, our role in the Vietnam War, our acquiescence in the Indonesian massacres in East Timor, the use of the A-bomb and our institution of military regimes in Nicaragua and Honduras in the 1980s serve as a few examples of "American imperfection."
Now I am not anti-American, and I do think it important to acknowledge the many freedoms, humane actions and peaceful resolutions that our country has granted us and the world, but it would be invalid to conclude that our country is or should be perfect.
Our country is not moral, nor should we expect it to be. It is a nation-state, founded to secure economic, personal and national freedoms and benefits for the citizens of the United States. It was not founded to be the next Savior, nor was it founded to be a beacon of hope and peace for the world. It was founded to secure the rights and benefits of a particular group of people. With that purpose in mind, going to war with Iraq does not seem to be very controversial or questionable.
The problem that exists, however, for American Catholics and Catholics throughout the world is that the Catholic Church does not exist to secure and grant the freedoms and benefits of those under its power. To the contrary, the Catholic Church exists as the Body of Christ on earth, devoted to spreading the love and hope of Jesus Christ through respect for the sanctity of life and as a witness to the living God. In the face of unnecessary evil or unjust wars, the Church calls upon all Catholics to resist and take non-violent action in the spirit of Jesus Christ.
Today, after years of cloudiness between Church teaching and American foreign policy, the Catholic Church has made clear its stance on an American preemptive war against Iraq. This is where the moral dilemma rests for Catholics.
On Jan. 13, Pope John Paul II made it clear that the Church would oppose a preemptive war against Iraq. He said, "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."
Further, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement on Nov. 13, which stated, "With the Holy See and bishops from the Middle East and around the world, we fear that to 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." The voice of the Church on this issue has been very clear.
While these Church statements pose a challenge for American Catholics, there are also other factors that should be pointed out. First of all, there are over 1 million Catholics living currently in Iraq. Second, a war against Iraq would be an attack against already wounded, starving and poverty-stricken people who have already suffered some of the greatest tragedies of our time due to the Gulf War and U.N. sanctions.
Finally, the basic question of whether war can be justified needs to be posed. According the reports of the U.N. inspectors in The New York Times, CNN and TIME magazine, the Iraqi government has been at least somewhat supportive of the inspections. A New York Times article on Jan. 20 claimed that Iraqi government officials promised to help the United Nations hunt for its own weapons. There is no definitive evidence that Iraq is a threat.
Hopefully, there will be no war, but such a possibility seems unlikely. With over 100,000 troops mobilized for war, the United States lobbying hard for allies and support for an attack and continual threats of attack, it seems very likely that President Bush will be unable to back down from war. Therefore, American Catholics and all Americans need to begin to think about their role and views on this world crisis.
It is important to remember what is at stake: the lives of millions of Iraqi people and the lives of hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers. Dorothy Day called for "a mighty league of Catholic conscientious objectors," and while that may seem a bit idealistic for the moment, there is no reason to believe that if Catholics banded together against war that we could not have a serious impact here. There is a quote that says, "We ought to make our lives a mystery that only makes sense if God exists." I pray that the mysteries that are our lives will be rooted in working for peace.
Peter Joseph Quaranto
freshman
Sorin College
Jan. 24
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, January 27, 2003
