Still wondering about Catholic Just War Doctrine?
Apparently a Romanian Catholic bishop made the statement that no Catholic under his jurisdiction could support the war in Iraq under pain of mortal sin. Unfortunately for the bishop in question, the National Council of Catholic Bishops disagrees with him, as does Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of the Military Archdiocese. You can read the Archbishop’s response here.
Just for starters, the bishop crossed a line that he had no business crossing, as he does not have the authority to formally pronounce this type of statement and hold it as binding on Catholics. Secondly, just as the NCCB has announced that people of good will can disagree on the moral rightness of war in Iraq, the case for war can be plausibly made – and is.
There are worse things than war folks.
If you have not heard already there is a bishop in Ohio that has stated the war is intrinsically evil and (at least in his Romanian rite diocese) Catholics can not participate in this war under pain of sin. He states that participation in this war is as if you were participating in an abortion. The authority upon which he states this is beyond his scope as a bishop. This bishop states, “I hereby authoritatively state that such direct participation (in this war) is intrinsically and gravely evil and therefore absolutely forbidden.” He is not stating his opinion or even using this as public opportunity to challenge or educate. On the contrary he says he is not speaking “as a theologian or as a private Christian voicing his opinion, nor by any means am I speaking to you as a political partisan. I am speaking to you solely as your bishop with the authority and responsibility I… have been given as a successor to the apostles on your behalf.”
Like many of you this statement frustrated me, so I contacted the diocese directly. Their response was polite and respectful but they did not offer a clarification and would not consider a retraction. So I pursued a clarification from Archbishop O’Brien of the Military Ordinariate. More quickly then I expected I received a fax from the diocesan offices of the Military Ordinariate. Archbishop O’Brien is a great and worthy bishop who used his experience, knowledge and faithfulness to help bring clarity to Bishop Botean’s statement.
In response to my inquiry, Archbishop O’Brien reaffirmed that the position of the bishops and the Church is not and has not been that this war is evil or unjust. He took exception to Bishop Botean’s statements regarding this war and clarified that soldiers can in good conscience serve their Commander in Chief in this war. He also made the point that Catholics in good conscience can disagree about the conclusion in using the just war doctrine.