AUSTRALIAN Catholic bishops have spoken out in support of a call by Pope John Paul II last week for world leaders to say ‘No to War’.
Addressing a gathering of the diplomatic corps at the Vatican on January 13, the Pope said the answer to avoiding war lay in observing international law, engaging in honest dialogue and diplomacy, and rejecting the culture of death.
Australian Catholic Social Justice Council chairman, Bishop William Morris of Toowoomba, said the council was 100 per cent behind the Pope’s comments.
The council has pleaded that Australia not follow the United States along the way to a pre-emptive strike but support dialogue.
Auxiliary Bishop Patrick Power of Canberra and Goulburn, who has marched in several peace rallies, said it was wonderful to read the Pope’s comments, ‘because he is recognised, not just as a world leader, but as a man totally committed to peace’.
Bishop Power said the Pope’s statement reflected the views of people around the world, and certainly people throughout Australia.
