Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Letters

Christian casualties of war

byStaff writers
4 May 2003
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

THE virtual end of the pre-emptive war against Iraq does not signal the end of the casualties.

In fact it is likely that in the long term history will show that the most significant casualties were the Christian Churches rather than Iraqi soldiers and civilians and the few Americans who were killed, mostly by each other.

It is inevitable that civilian casualties will continue to occur far into the future. Iraq was still suffering “collateral damage” from the previous war, particularly from the residual effects of depleted uranium ammunition used by the US, when this war began. It is reliably estimated that in some areas up to 50 per cent of babies were either stillborn or born with gross deformities as the direct result of radiation.

However, it is within the Christian Churches, and particularly the Catholic Church which, because of its insistence on its right to tenure of the high moral ground, where the real long-term effects will be seen.

Since Vatican II perhaps the greatest problem the Church has found itself contending with has been the increasing drift from its ranks of young people.

One result of this is, of course, the current lack of recruits to the priesthood.

And the Iraqi war, for all its horror, provided an unequalled opportunity to reverse that trend. It was an opportunity the Church failed to grasp and the future damage resulting from that failure is incalculable.

Reports coming out of the Vatican indicate that far from being united against the US-led attack on Iraq in defiance of the United Nations, the Church hierarchy was and is deeply divided, with opinions ranging from extreme disapproval to outright support of the incursion.

This division is mirrored among Australian bishops with support for a nuclear attack “in certain circumstances” on the one hand and condemnation of the attack on the other.

Catholic Church action in response to the attack, which at best was simply an attempt to conquer evil with an even greater evil and at worst an act of outright terrorism, seems to have consisted mainly of appeals for prayer (and certainly prayer was needed) and diplomacy.

Related Stories

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

It was action that fell far short of what was required as far as most young people were concerned.

The essence of diplomacy is compromise and Jesus, to whom young people are initially attracted more than to the Church, wasn’t much inclined to compromise. If he had been he might well have lived a lot longer than he did.

Young people seek real leaders. And as Jesus explained to his friends on more than one occasion, real leaders need first of all to be servants. Men who are often referred to as princes of the Church are unlikely to be seen by young people in that light and are not generally seen as leaders either. Nor does it help that they talk a great deal about diplomatic efforts.

It matters little whether these efforts are genuine attempts to prevent war; they are seen as weak and ineffectual attempts to compromise and the suspicion remains that they are mainly directed at maintaining the Church’s standing in the world.

Many, perhaps most, young people are clear-eyed enough to see through the propaganda which takes the place of truth in the lead up to a war.

They know that what St James taught 2000 years ago is still true today. “What causes war and what causes fighting amongst you? … You desire and do not have so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and wage war.”

They know that ultimately wars are fought for power and are therefore evil, so they want more than diplomatic niceties, they want a firm, uncompromising and united stand against that evil regardless of the cost. They want to see the money-changers and the traders driven out of the temple again and they will not settle for less.

And if such a stand results in a Church that suffers poverty and persecution, well, that is the sort of Church that Jesus founded and people will flock to it as they did in the first days and the prayer of Pope John XXIII for a new Pentecost will at last be answered.

CLYDE COOK

Yungaburra, Qld

ShareTweet
Previous Post

ALL OR NOTHING – Trapped in working class

Next Post

Great renewal

Staff writers

Related Posts

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies
QLD

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

20 May 2022
Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition
QLD

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

20 May 2022
Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning
QLD

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

19 May 2022
Next Post

Great renewal

Taking part in historic event

Up to Governor-General

Popular News

  • Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Queensland election: The pro-life political parties committed to abortion law reforms

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies
QLD

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

by Joe Higgins
20 May 2022
0

BRISBANE grandmother Gwendoline Grant has clocked up 15,000 hours cuddling and caring for sick and premature babies...

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

20 May 2022
Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

19 May 2022
Catholic relationship advisers offer five tips to look after your mental health

Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

19 May 2022
Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

19 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping