editorial" "
The war in Iraq is being protracted; once set in motion, the war machine is not easily halted. But the determination of Christians not to accept the logic of war is equally firm. There are three salient points that spring to the mind in this context. Never before as in the case of the Iraqi crisis have all the Christian Churches shown themselves in agreement in their rejection of war. The leaders of all the churches have expressed their support for a peaceful solution of the crisis. While accepting the need to disarm the tyrant Saddam, they have clearly said that the war now unleashed responds neither to the classic criteria of the just war, nor to the dictates of political wisdom. In particular the Churches are not willing to accept a war which is intended to oust a dictator, but in reality is striking the most vulnerable and innocent people children, women, the elderly. We are witnessing a turning point in the history of the papacy. John Paul II, with re-found vigour, has become the point of reference for exponents of the most varied conceptions of the world. He is the great prophet of peace who draws consent even from “critical” environments. It’s significant that a “theologian of dissent” like Hans Küng has rediscovered himself as a fervent supporter of the Pope’s mission in favour of the maintenance of peace. The prophetic role of the elderly Pope is expressed as a leaven of unity also inside the ecclesial communion. Disappointed by the divisions and the uncertainties revealed once again by the European Parliament when faced by the tragedy of war, the young European generations in particular but not only they are looking to the fragile and stooping figure of John Paul II as a “sign of hope” in an absurd world. A process of re-elaboration of the doctrine of the Catholic Church and also of other Christian Churches regarding the great issues of war and peace is taking place. On the fortieth anniversary of John XXIII’s encyclical “Pacem in terris”, Catholics are rediscovering the evangelic impulse of the Beatitudes also because the conditions of ultra-technological war no longer permit the subtle distinctions of the classic doctrine of the just war. The most recent events in the war also show that the designated victims are in the first place the civilians: the very ones that the war is supposed to defend or liberate. The perceptive words of the venerable Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, prefect of the Holy Office, during the Second Vatican Council, spring to mind: “Bellum omnium interdicendum esse”.
