LEADERS of 13 Churches have called on Prime Minister John Howard not to join a US-led attack on Iraq.
They have urged the Government to use its influence to avoid war.
‘The possibility of a US-led attack and Australia’s involvement in such a conflict fills us with much disquiet,’ they told Mr Howard in a letter, which they made public in part on August 29.
‘Such action could have catastrophic consequences,’ they warned.
President of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Francis Carroll of Canberra and Goulburn, was the major signatory for the Catholic Church.
The letter was also endorsed by other Church leaders, including seven other Catholic bishops, and heads of state councils of Churches.
The other Catholic signatories were Bishop David Cremin (acting for Archbishop George Pell of Sydney), Archbishop Adrian Doyle of Hobart, Bishop Peter Ingham of Wollongong, Bishop Michael Malone of Maitland-Newcastle, Bishop Kevin Manning of Parramatta, Bishop Christopher Toohey of Wilcannia-Forbes and Rt Rev Henry Dabbous of the Melkite Catholic Eparchy.
