THE Australian Bishops’ Committee for Justice, Development and Peace (BCJDP) last week prayed that the attack on America would not ‘produce further violent conflict and bloodshed’.
The BCJDP, chaired by Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane, met on September 23.
The bishops joined with Pope John Paul in praying for the gift of wisdom for heads of state so that by ‘not allowing themselves to be dominated by hatred and the spirit of retaliation, they do everything possible to keep weapons of destruction from sowing new hatred and new death and strive to bring light to the darkness of human affairs with works of peace’.
Supporting the idea that such acts of terrorism should be prosecuted as international crimes rather than as a war, the bishops said the promotion of international criminal justice in this age of globalisation was essential.
The UN and its security council must not be by-passed, they said.
