Mairead Corrigan Maguire asks Pope to abolish Just War doctrine

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Tuesday December 06, 2005 02:18

by Justin Morahan - Peace People

Short meeting - quick words

During the recent Summit of the Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI granted them an audience together and then had a short meeting with each one.
During her very brief interview, Mairead Corrigan Maguire asked the Pontiff to abolish the "Just War" doctrine.
Here is her own report of the encounter

"On Wednesday 23rd November, 2005, I had the privilege of meeting in St. Peter’s Square, Rome, with Pope Benedict XVI. After his public address, he greeted a delegation of Nobel Peace Laureates present in Rome to attend the Sixth Nobel Peace Summit.

In his address, to the St. Peter’s Square audience, the Pope spoke of unconditional love. I could not helping asking myself: "why if the Catholic Church, speaks so much about unconditional love do so many Christians facilitate and participate in violence, armed struggles and war?" The answer might be that the message is too vague, there is too much ambiguity about violence, and many Christians are confused by the old Just war theory. In truth, as we are each the 'temple of the Holy spirit', and in the words of Vatican II 'grace lives in the hearts of all men and women’' how can we hurt or kill the spirit of God living in another person? How can we hurt or kill our brothers and sisters and say we love them?

When I met the Pope, I took the chance to ask him to ‘abolish the Just war theory, and proclaim the nonviolent gospel of Jesus’. He smiled. (Four years ago Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger, made a statement saying the time is coming when we will have to get rid of the just war theory). I told him I was from Northern Ireland, and invited him to visit us. The moment's encounter was brief and intense and I was moved by his quiet, peaceful, and listening persona. Understanding, that I would not get to speak much to him, I had written him a letter. In this letter I asked the Pope, as this was the year of the Eucharist, the sacrament of nonviolence, to consider calling a Council to declare 'No Just war and proclaim the Nonviolence of Jesus'. I stated my belief "how much the World needs the message of active nonviolence", and that "it would truly be a Pentecostal moment if the Church proclaimed Jesus' nonviolence to a World in need of renewal and healing"

The Catholic Church officials will argue that they are for peace, and always have been.

But tragically the practical gospel message of "no killing, and love your enemy" is often, for the Church, a step too far, and hence since the third century and the time of Constantine, Christians have been amongst the most war-like and violent people on earth. Even to-day, in the recent war and invasion of Iraq, carried out mostly by USA and UK Christians, the justification of invasion, torture, and use of phosphorus chemical weapons on people is described by some as ‘just war’, or justifiable to ‘stop terrorism’. They seem blind to the fact that war is terrorism! To all our shame only a handful of Bishops in the USA actually opposed the war against Afghanistan, and very many American people from Christian background supported war and the invasion of Iraq. And in Ireland, how many continued to support paramilitaries and the ‘armed struggle’? How many put aside the message of love of enemy and non-killing? How many regarded it as a non-issue, a non- thought? I believe, if there is to be any future for humanity then we must transform our violent cultures into nonviolent ones and begin to build non-killing societies where we live. In developing such a new culture, all faith traditions have a role to play, by bringing peace and non-violence to the centre of their theology. The human family faces violence on many fronts, war, nuclear weapons, poverty, environmental, human rights, women's rights. We await with hope, what His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and our world’s Spiritual Leaders have to say to us on such issues of our time……. MAIREAD CORRIGAN MAGUIRE, BELFAST." (www.peacepeople.com)

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