Catholics reflect on peace

These days, simply opening a newspaper brings Catholics into contact with complicated questions regarding war and peace: The specter of nuclear confrontation lurks in the background of talks between the United States and North Korea, for example, and experts justify -- or denounce -- military action in Afghanistan and Iraq using the just-war theory.

Catholics in the Albany Diocese should be paying attention to such issues, according to Fred Boehrer, co-founder of Emmaus House, the Albany Catholic Worker community.

"Many Roman Catholics respond to war without taking into account what our Church teaches about war and conflict resolution," he said.

Paying attention

Since the World Trade Center bombings and the cascade of events that followed, Emmaus House has hosted peace vigils, talks and panel discussions about the just-war theory, and Christian perspectives of war and peace.

"We're trying to raise questions so that people might look at things from a different perspective," Mr. Boehrer said.

Catholic Workers in other places are involved with radical peace actions, such as breaking into federal property, hammering on missile casings and nose cones in an effort to "beat swords into plowshares," and painting crosses -- sometimes in their own blood -- on planes, silos, and conventional weaponry.

"In Albany, we choose not to express our opinions in that particular way," he explained. "We are not interested in shocking people or planning something that would be sensational."

Tax resistance

Some Catholics in the Capital District were "so upset and opposed" to the war in Iraq that they contacted Emmaus House to learn about ways to keep their federal income tax dollars from funding the military, Mr. Boehrer said.

Legal methods of war tax resistance exist, he said, such as reducing one's income, which, in turn, reduces the amount of money one pays to the government. Others did not pay a portion of their federal income taxes to withhold the amount used on military spending. That choice puts them at risk for fines or imprisonment.

"These actions point out the tension between the competing values of secular society and the non-violent Gospel that Jesus preached," Mr. Boehrer said.

'Way of life'

Pax Christi is an international Catholic peace fellowship with a branch, Pax Christi-North Country, that encompasses part of the northern section of the Albany Diocese.

"Pax Christi is a way of life," said coordinator Jeanne Fletcher, a member of Corpus Christi parish in Round Lake. "Once a year, we renew a promise to solve problems without becoming violent, which includes war. Being a peacemaker can go from big things to the small things in your own personal life."

At their recent annual meeting, members listened to the testimony of a Pax Christi member who spent the recent war living with Iraqis near the village of Safwan.

Just-war theory

Barbara DiTommaso, head of the diocesan Office for Peace and Justice, doesn't always agree with the pacifist standpoint of groups like Pax Christi. She explained that the Church's just-war theory exists because sometimes the answers to difficult questions aren't black-and-white.

"The Church's teaching on war starts with the presumption that peace is better than war," she said. "Pacifism reminds us that armed conflict is not the kind of situation we want to be in and that our enemy is also human."

However, "given the imperfect world we live in, we sometimes have to use imperfect means. Everybody has to make complex decisions in life where you have to choose the lesser of the two evils. There's no getting away from the fact that Jesus did make a whip and drive people out of the Temple."

What to do

Ms. DiTommaso recommends education as a starting point for Catholics who want to learn more about working for peace. They should read up on world events, consult non-mainstream resources via the internet and in bookstores, and attend lectures and panel discussions about peace issues.

"People also have to develop critical thinking," she said, in order to "evaluate what's coming out of Washington. It's easier to turn your conscience over to someone else."

Mr. Boehrer agrees that education is key to living the Church's social justice teachings.

As he has visited churches around the Diocese, he has learned that most Catholics "are not familiar with the just-war tradition or what Christian non-violence means," he said. "It's long been said that Catholic social teaching is the best-kept secret in the Catholic Church."

Parish role

Mr. Boehrer advises parishes to form a committee to examine Church teaching on social justice and to discover ways to apply those principles in their communities. Individual Catholics can consider prayer, fasting and talking to others about social issues.

"It's great to have other people to share this with," he said. "That's where it comes alive. Social teachings are not meant to just exist on a piece of paper. They are meant to be incorporated into our daily lives through prayer, study and action."

Catholics are "called to be faithful, not to be effective," he added. "This is a matter of forming our consciousness and responding to what is happening in the world."

(9/11/03) [[In-content Ad]]