Talk of war and peace in the air
Try as church leaders might to focus on ecclesiastical affairs at
the Synod of Bishops, the dramatic world situation cannot be put in
parentheses, and so talk of war and peace has been very much in the air.
In comments made largely outside the synod hall, some prelates
have called for the West to make a limited response, the scope of which would
be to bring those parties responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks to justice,
preferably before an international tribunal. Others seem prepared to support a
broader strike against terrorist networks and nations that support them.
Islamic leaders also had an unusual chance this week to address
the West at an impromptu Muslim/Christian summit sponsored by the
SantEgidio community. They called for less heated rhetoric, a limited
military response, and above all a resolution to the Palestinian problem.
At a news conference Oct. 1, Cardinal Edward Egan of New York
supported restraint.
Vengeance, reprisals and retaliation are not the words of
civilized people, Egan said. Certainly we want justice to be done
if we can identify responsible groups and individuals, but we dont want
to make ourselves complicit in a series of injustices by striking at
people who are not implicated.
Egan expressed a preference that penalties be meted out by
the United Nations or other international organisms.
We must do what is just in a manner that is just, Egan
said.
At the Oct. 3 and 4 Muslim/Christian summit, Cardinal Carlo Maria
Martini of Milan took a similar approach.
Legitimate self-defense must impede terrorism, Martini
said. But its necessary to act without hasty responses, simplistic
identifications of scapegoats and a search for immediate targets.
The terrorists must be identified and disarmed with energy
and determination, but that cannot be done if an entire culture, religion or
nation is held to be responsible, Martini said.
Other prelates, however, seemed prepared to support a strike
against at least one nation: Afghanistan and its Taliban regime.
This is a very terrible government that doesnt respect
the human rights of its own people, said Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of
the Vaticans office for ecumenical relations, in response to a question
from NCR.
When a government shelters terrorists, the civilized world
has a right to come to a conflict with this government, Kasper said.
There is a network and it must be destroyed, but without shedding
innocent blood, as much as possible.
Egan, in response to a question from NCR about whether
there should be a national examination of conscience, said the events of Sept.
11 should prompt the United States to reflect on whether its foreign policy
might have helped create a climate of hate.
To do so is not to say that there were necessarily errors
committed, though there might have been, Egan said.
But we should ask, how do we account for what has happened?
The National Catholic Reporter -- I hope they will put it on the front
page -- is recommending to the archbishop of New York that there will be an
examination of conscience. If they do that, I think it will be a big help to
the Catholic world.
Gregorio Rosa Chavez, auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, was more
pointed.
The United States must avoid the trap of war and seek
instead the ultimate causes of terrorism, Rosa Chavez said in a separate
interview.
This could be the occasion for a sharp change in
international policy, for taking account of the fact that rich and poor all
live on the same planet. The security of rich countries will be far higher to
the extent they are capable of solidarity with poor nations, he said.
At the SantEgidio conference, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi of
Qatar took a tough line.
The West must free itself from its superiority complex that
looks at the rest of the world with the eyes of a master, Al-Qaradawi
said. This cannot help but be a provocation.
Al-Qaradawi emphasized the Palestinian problem.
The true way to fight terrorism is to combat its causes
among which is the question of Palestine, whose sons are hunted and
expelled unjustly from their homes, he said.
Mohammed Salim El Awa, an Egyptian jurist, expressed frustration
at the rhetoric coming from political circles.
We have heard some politicians hark back to the wars known
as the Crusades, he said. Others have described the
glorious Islamic civilization as inferior to all others and undeserving of
respect and consideration.
The references appeared to be to President George Bush and Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, respectively. Berlusconi recently made
waves by referring to the West as a superior civilization in
contrast with Islamic nations.
Our hope is that those politicians listen to us today,
El Awa said. Otherwise the world will no longer know the enjoyment of
peace, and humanity will no longer savor the sweetness of human
fellowship.
-- John L. Allen Jr.
National Catholic Reporter, October 12,
2001
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