January/February 2004

January 1st, 2004

Each year, for Peace Sunday, the Pope issues a World Peace Message. This year he writes: Humanity is faced with a crucial challenge: if it does not succeed in giving itself institutions that are really effective in eliminating the scourge of war, the risk is that the law of force will prevail.” This issue consists mainly of

E D I T O R I A L Each year, for Peace Sunday, the Pope issues a World Peace Message. This year he writes: Humanity is faced with a crucial challenge: if it does not succeed in giving itself institutions that are really effective in eliminating the scourge of war, the risk is that the law of force will prevail.” This issue consists mainly of a digest of a booklet which gives a clear, concise survey of Christian thought regarding war and peace and includes the just war arguments. When we read of the costs in lives destroyed and resources wasted in the war in Iraq, when we think that this is claimed to be a war on “terrorism”, how far can the conditions for a just war be said to have been satisfied? Just for fun, try to answer the Multiple Choice for Peace quiz and let me have any other suggestions of things that we could do. On Peace Sunday the Church in this country permits a collection for Pax Christi, the official Catholic agency. Please ensure that your church publicises this. Every parish will have received material from Pax Christi with suggested prayers for use at Mass. I pray for peace and justice for us all in this NewYear, and may I take this opportunity of thanking all those who arrange to distribute the Newsletter. Chris Dove Note: the views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission.

“Peace, War and the Christian Conscience” This is the title of an excellent little booklet from Joseph Fahey, Professor of Religious Studies at Manhattan College in New York City, published by Pax Christi. The following are extracts from this booklet: “A young college student writes: ‘I don’t know whether to be a pacifist, a follower of the just war, a crusader, or a world citizen. All four seem to be Christian positions.’ There is a basis for his confusion; at various times the Christian churches have espoused all four viewpoints.” Fahey goes on to give a historical overview.

The Witness of the Gospels and of Early Christianity Jesus stood in the Jewish prophetic tradition which looked to an era of universal peace and love, in which people would beat their swords into ploughshares. In the Sermon on the Mount, he offered humankind the blueprint for this new era: ‘Happy are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.’ He told his disciples they were to love their enemies and to pray for their persecutors. The early Christians concluded that: War was a denial of their hope for universal peace that characterised the reign of God on earth; The killing of enemies was incompatible with Christian love, which demanded total self-giving; A Christian could not kill others – and people of all nations were regarded as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Three Centuries of Non-violence From the first to the fourth century, most Christians would neither engage in Rome’s military campaigns nor justify killing as a means to achieve one’s goals. A significant change began when the Roman Emperor Constantine in 313 recognised Christianity as a legitimate religion in the empire. The Church became an institution closely linked with civil authority and Christianity attempted to develop an application of the law of love that permitted the defence of the innocent against unjust aggression. St Augustine (430) offered the following principles for the conduct of a just war: The intention must be to restore peace. Only a legitimate authority may declare war. The conduct of the war must be just. Monks and clerics may not engage in war.

Era of the Cross and the Sword Pope Urban II ushered in the period of the Crusades in 1095 which shattered Augustine’s precept about the just conduct of war. Christianity was more infected by the barbarity of the times than it influenced the times for the better. In practice, if not always in theory, God came to be viewed as a God of wrath, rather than a God of love. Just war principles were shelved when inconvenient. Shedding the blood of one’s enemies was seen as a way of defending the faith and meriting salvation.

Reshaping the Just-War Theory In the 13th century, St Thomas Aquinas (1274) produced his treatise On War in the Summa Theologicae and offered three principles, later four, for justwarfare: It must be waged by a public authority for the common good. A just cause is required. It must be fought with right intentions. The harm done by war must not exceed the good that comes from it. (Proportionality)

Limiting Warfare – a Reformation Approach In the early 16th century, Martin Luther (1546) discussed the question of war. He held that: The State could engage in a just war with its concomitant violence, but it must do it mournfully. The Church could not engage in violence – its only weapon was the Word of God.

Primitive Christianity Revisited During the period of the 16th to 18th centuries, three “peace Churches” arose whose influence continues to this day: The Anabaptists (now Mennonites and Hutterites) were radically pacifist and eschewed any active involvement in society. The Brethren were pacifists who believed that, as a Church, they could support no wars. The Quakers, though pacifists, attempted to change society by political means.

“The War to End Wars” In our times when nuclear weapons have added a new dimension to the quest for peace, the Churches are re-evaluating the historic Christian attitudes towards war. The major denominations have rejected total nuclear war. Nine million people were killed in World War I and the war neither ended war nor made the world safe for democracy. Christian nations fought bitterly against each other.

Voices for Peace The Fellowship of Reconciliation was founded in 1914. Its work was to “abolish war and to create a community of concern transcending all national boundaries and selfish interests…” Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922) attempted to secure the exchange of prisoners, plus humane treatment for the captured, and to limit the fighting. In Pacem Dei Mundus he counselled: all states “should unite in one league, or rather one sort of family of peoples, calculated to maintain their own independence and safeguard the order of human society.” Benedict also stated that the moral law must apply to international affairs as well as to individuals.

World War II – The Storm Breaks Just 21 years after the armistice of 1918, a second world war erupted. This carnage killed 50 million people, 25 million of them civilians. Clergy in America and on both sides in Europe declared the war “just”. On the other hand there were within the Third Reich isolated instances of conscientious objection to the war. Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian Catholic, refused to join the German army. “I cannot and may not take an oath in favour of a government that is fighting an unjust war.” The clergy with whom he consulted, including his bishop, all urged him to enter the army. He refused and was beheaded on August 9, 1943. [Fahey does not mention the many brave men who went to prison for being conscientious objectors in this country.] The Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bohoeffer was also killed for resisting the war and for participating in a plot on the Führer’s life. Late in World War II, after imprisonment for opposing Nazi deportations, Bishop Pierre Marie Théas in France was instrumental in the foundation of Pax Christi, initially to work for reconciliation between French and German Catholics. It was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII as the “international Catholic movement for peace.”

Post War The Nuremburg trials of Nazi war criminals emphasised a recognition by the Allied powers that the individual must obey a law higher than that of the state in certain circumstances. The Allied nations came under censure from theologians, belatedly, for the fire bombings of Dresden and Hamburg, and the atomic annihilation of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. These were regarded as indiscriminate assaults on predominantly civilian populations. In 1953, addressing military doctors, Pius XII said: “Let there be punishment on an international scale for every war not called for by absolute necessity. Defending oneself against any kind of injustice, however, is not sufficient reason to resort to war.”

“Peace on Earth” In his short tenure as Pope (1958-1963), John XXIII did much to advance the cause of world peace. In Pacem in Terris, he decried the arms race and called on all nations to solve their difficulties by negotiation and mutual trust. He gave strong endorsement to the United Nations.

“The Joys and Hopes ….of All” Vatican II attempted to look upon war “with an entirely new attitude.” It condemned the concept of “total war”. It declared the arms race “an utterly treacherous trap for humanity which injures the poor to an intolerable degree.” It called for a “universal public authority” which would be “endowed with effective power to safeguard security, regard for justice and respect for rights.” It urged international co-operation to end “excessive economic inequalities” between nations which are among the chief causes of war.” It foresaw a “surpassing need for renewed education of attitudes … to instruct all in the sentiments of peace.” The Council recognised the right of conscientious objection to military service. In October 1965, Pope Paul VI appealed before the UN: “No more war, war never again.” Later, he said that the modern word for peace was “development”. He called for a world fund to care for the most destitute of the world and repeated that it should be financed in part by the money “spent on arms.” In 1976 the Vatican condemned the arms race “unreservedly”, stating that it “is an act of aggression which amounts to a crime, for even when they are not used, by their cost alone, armaments kill the poor by causing them to starve.” In 1977 Paul VI initiated an annual World Day of Peace. [Peace Sunday].

The Protestant Peace Witness Through the years the World Council of Churches has consistently demonstrated a concern for peace and a just world order. The following points cover the WCC position on peace: War is incompatible with the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. Human survival can be assured only if all nations disarm themselves of atomic, biological and chemical weapons. Authentic peace can only be attained through the establishment of a world order based on international law. The just economic and political treatment of Third World nations is essential to the elimination of future global violence.

Pope John Paul II John Paul II has repeatedly called for an end to the arms race and weapons preparation and for a restructuring of global priorities to enable the poor nations to achieve justice. During the Falklands war (1982) he appealed for war itself to be abolished: “War should belong to the tragic past, to history; it should find no place on humanity’s agenda for the future.” In 1993 he said: “nuclear deterrence prevents genuine nuclear disarmament …. It is a fundamental obstacle to achieving a new age of global security.”

Source: Peace, War, and the Christian Conscience. Joseph J Fahey. Pax Christi 2003 £2.50

Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@ukgateway.net Letters to Editor: 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website:www.writingforyou.com/middlesbroughjp

MULTIPLE CHOICE FOR PEACE— tick all that apply.

We say, “Let it begin with me” – could it begin with you by: singing Tom Paxton’s song? relaxing in front of the television? praying for peace? organising a peace vigil? becoming reconciled with your neighbour? sleeping longer?

We say, “Give peace a chance” – can you do this by: joining a demonstration against war? putting a peace banner in your window? wearing a peace badge? explaining to your neighbour why his views are wrong? reading the Daily Mail? giving in to those who advocate war —”anything for a quiet life”?

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peace makers” – do we respond by: learning the Beatitudes by heart? listening and talking to our neighbours? reading the gospel? becoming active with peace groups? learning about the life of Gandhi? saying nothing and doing nothing?

You see some young people spraying a chapel wall with graffiti “Non-violence is humanity’s only weapon” – do you: call the police? meet the young people and listen to them? tell them they are criminals and no-hopers? encourage schools to use the Pax Christi peace education pack? seek to join with them in working for peace? invite them to come to speak to the J&P group?

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Commission Meetings 2004

March 16 Student views Sixth form students of St Mary’s College Hull

May 15 Asylum, Refuge & Community— Integration and Poverty Issues. Joint conference with CAP at Teesside University

Commission meetings are open to everyone and begin at 10am for 10.30, ending usually at about 1pm with lunch. Please bring food to share. You will always be very welcome.

Let us never forget “Intelligence doesn’t means something is true.” US Gen Richard Myers Chairman US Joint Chiefs of Staff Source: New Statesman 4 August 2003

MEANING A white dove, an olive branch, pretty symbols, they mean peace. But peace means pain, sweat, tears and a struggle longer than life. It’s harder to capture than gold at the end of a rainbow, but worth all our striving for the sake of our children and those who come after, for justice’s sake. Anthea Dove