==================================================

DAILY NEWS BRIEF FROM CATHOLIC WORLD NEWS
Copyright 2001 Domus Enterprises

 

Cardinal Rejects "Holy" War, Questions "Just" War

VATICAN, Nov 7, 01 (CWNews.com) - In an article published in the Italian magazine Famiglia Cristiana, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray insists that there cannot be a "holy" war, and questions whether even a "just" war is possible. Cardinal Etchegaray, the former president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, writes that war must never be waged "in the name of God," and emphasizes the duty of religious leaders to promote peace. The French-born cardinal condemned the characterization of warfare as "divine, holy, or simply just." He pointed out that Nazi soldiers in World War II wore the inscription, "Gott mit uns"-- "God with us." Cardinal Etchegaray did not directly address the traditional Catholic teaching on justice in warfare-- which indicates that under some circumstances, the use of force in defense of innocent lives might be a moral obligation for a state.