Germany" "
In deciding military actions, the criteria of the ethics of peace must especially be borne in mind, affirms Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Episcopal Conference, in an official declaration published in recent days concerning the intervention of German military forces in Afghanistan. The bishop of Mainz recalls that the German bishops “have appealed in recent weeks to the criteria of the ethics of peace, which should always be borne in mind in deciding military actions”. Lehmann regards “any military intervention as an evil, however legitimated by international law”, justifiable “only as a last resort in the context of a global political plan”, and expresses the hope that these actions be predicated on the pursuit of a wider political goal. On the other hand, he recognizes “Germany’s obligation, in accordance with the Atlantic Pact, not to pull back in the hour of need” and to provide assistance to the United States which has “become the victim of brutal terrorist attacks”. Pointing out how difficult the decision was to reach, Cardinal Lehmann stresses that “the German bishops regard with concern the fact that neither public opinion nor what matters more the deputies of the Bundestag are able at this time to gain a sufficiently broad view of the dangers of a possible enlargement and gradual escalation of the deployment of troops” and therefore invites “the German government and parliament in this situation to constantly verify the justification of any further course of military action”. The declaration ends by recalling the spiritual care of soldiers: “At this time our thoughts go to the German troops; the Catholic Church will spiritually accompany them in their probable and imminent intervention abroad. Let us pray for peace. Let us recall in a particular way the civil population, for whose protection everything possible must be done”.
