April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
EDITORIAL
War always again
In the midst of falling back from the Russian invasion, a combat-scarred soldier in
To say, “We have you in our prayers,” would not suffice. But Catholics, and others in the world who yearn for peace, wonder what to do in the face of
The former Soviet
Meanwhile
As ever, people suffer and die because larger powers have declared that a larger cause – sovereignty, principle, alliance, balance of power – is worth the death and destruction of others. Obviously both sides overstepped.
Catholics should, at every step, call for diplomacy instead of war, police actions instead of attacks, halts to hostilities and rapid humanitarian relief. These may fall short of Christ’s call to love our enemy while also helping the victims of those enemies. That is our ideal, never truly tried on the international level as Christian peace activists often point out.
Always we must resist the urge to violence. Yes, it can feel futile. “Never again war,” Pope Paul VI demanded at the United Nations in 1965. Who has listened, who has heeded?
Still, we must declare the Gospel truth in contemporary situations no matter how sticky these are. As Leo Tolstoy, the Russian novelist, reiterated in his fiction, every war is made possible only by the individuals on all levels – from czar to soldier to civilian – who decide to make or support that war.
Given our invasion of
Contrary to a common sentiment that we must leave our faith outside the door of public policy and diplomacy, grave situations require our deeply held religious beliefs. Only transcendent values can transcend human sin and weakness.
As the threat of war hangs over us until we are called to perfection, we will always need to pray and act against the use of killing and violence to resolve conflicts.
Pope Benedict XVI called for peace and urged all sides to “refrain, also in the name of the common Christian heritage, from further confrontations and violent retaliations that could degenerate into a wider conflict.”
The pope, as Stalin once observed, has no army. But to insist on the peace of Christ, he does have all of us.
(08/28/08)
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