"The Pope's Legions"

A very thoughtful editorial in yesterday's Wall Street Journal:

.... We have been here before. In his otherwise positive biography of the pope, George Weigel notes that the pontiff struck an "almost apocalyptic" note in the run-up to the war provoked by Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Today the Vatican argues that no war against Iraq can be just without the imprimatur of the Security Council and an overt act of aggression on Baghdad's part. But back in 1991 we had both -- and the Vatican's opposition was equally impassioned.

Certainly there exist legitimate concerns, from the consequences of war for Iraq's Christian minority to the church's reluctance to appear to be sprinkling holy water on what the Islamic militants incessantly refer to as latter-day "crusaders."

But as America's archbishop for military services, Edwin O'Brien, reminded his priests in a recent letter, the catechism says that "the evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good" -- that is, to lay authorities and not clerical leaders. Can anyone honestly say that the Vatican has communicated this crucial point with anywhere near the force or enthusiasm with which it has communicated its opposition?

Over the course of a pontificate that helped bring down the Berlin Wall, Pope John Paul II has made his greatest impact with the blazing focus he has brought to moral truths and teachings. As long-time admirers of his, we are thus saddened to watch these principles, advertently or not, being clouded rather than clarified.

The archbishop's letter is at the Military Archdiocese's website.

(Thanks, Patrick.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sat. 03/15/03 09:59:46 AM
Categorized as Pope John Paul the Great & Religious.