"Pro-Life" Isn't "Pro-War"

As I’ve read the numerous accounts of the antiwar marches this weekend (including an attempt to propagate what is quite likely a lie that an Iraq war veteran was spat upon after speaking to a group opposing the war), one question comes up over and over for me.

Where on earth is the Roman Catholic Church?

I came across this link to a post by Sister Joan Chittister, OSB (I am unfamiliar with her denomination), in which she eloquently makes the case against the war that we have all been making for longer than I care to remember. Also, the Rev. Dr. Elaine McCoy speaks out here; I am unsure of her denomination also, since, as everyone knows, the Catholic Church does not ordain women as priests or sanction women in that role (which I think is ludicrous, but that’s the subject of a whole other post). That was all I could find.

So I tried to find out if there was any official statement from the church on the war protests, I navigated online to the websites of The Holy See as well as the websites of the Archdioceses of Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. I looked at the News and Events sections of the sites and any other links related to current events.

And I found absolutely nothing.

I suppose the extent of the “protest” on the part of the Catholic Church concerning the immoral (among other things) war in Iraq are oblique, vaguely worded statements from the pulpit during the offertory petitions prior to the Liturgy of the Eucharist praying for all victims of violence and the safe return of our service people. That is laudable, but it isn’t nearly enough.

Does living a life of apostolic faith extend only as far as hot-button issues deemed permissible by church hierarchy?

As recalled by columnist Blanche Murtagh here, there has always been friction between the church and individuals within the church protesting against this country. However, concerning the Vietnam War…

The anti-war movement gathered some unexpected allies, among which was the Catholic Church. Some clerics were aroused by the civil rights movement. Others had been in South America witnessing the poverty and injustice in the countries that were supported by the United States. Daniel Berrigan (pictured), a Jesuit priest, set fire to draft records. At that time, he wrote: "We say killing is disorder. Life and gentleness and community is the only order we recognize. For the sake of that order, we risk our liberty, our good name. The time is past when good men can remain silent, when obedience can segregate men from public risk, when the poor can die without defense."

So there is a precedent for peaceful protest on the part of the Catholic Church, though I do not advocate destruction of anything as part of that protest.

And it would be really nice if some of the hierarchy of what is perceived to be a group of nodding-off, out-of-touch old men would understand that preventing the shedding the blood for the sake of someone else’s profit is at least as important a cause as ensuring the rights of the unborn.

And speaking of Catholic protest, we lost a leading figure yesterday (and how convenient for Rome to tell priests to get out of politics, as if political involvement is reserved for the hierarchy only).