Alone Among the Pro-Peace Crowd
Falling on the pro-peace side of the current debate, things can be a little lonely at times given that overall, I think George W. Bush is a good President. (I’m particularly happy about his support for a ban on partial-birth abortion.) That being said, I will continue to stand with the Holy Father on the issue of the potential war with Iraq. I don’t think we’ve exhausted all peacefull options when it comes to disarming Iraq, and I think we also need the support the United Nations (or given the current French threat to use a veto, at least the moral victory that would come from a clear majority within the Security Council).
Nevertheless, over the last couple of weeks I have seen some silly arguments and ploys arise on both sides of the debate. Since you’re already familiar with those on the pro-peace side, allow me to address a couple on the pro-war side. The first is the attempted change in name from “French Fries” and “French Toast” to “Freedom Fries” and “Freedom Toast”. Besides the fact that French Fries actually come from Belgium, I just don’t see what this accomplishes. If we are to be consistent here, should we also not change the name of one of our favorite saints in America to “St. Freedom of Assisi”? After all, his father chose the name “Francis” in honor of the French.
Secondly, some are suggesting that the Holy Father considers this potential war moral because he has not excommunicated or threatened with excommunication those who partake in the war. The argument goes that if the Church considered the actions of the US and the UK to be immoral, the Church would be obliged to excommunicate all those who partake in it. This shows a poor grasp of the canonical concept of excommunication, which should only be used in the rarest of circumstances. This is why, in the last Century or two, while addressing the political leaders, Rome has seldom excommunicated the troops in the field. Very often, these folks just get dragged into things.
That being said, there are two obvious answers to the Pope-hasn’t-excommunicated-the-coalition-of-the-willing argument. First, there are a number of Chaldean Catholics in Saddam’s army, who will likely be fighting for Saddam. The Chaldean Catholic Church is in full communion with Rome. Given that the Holy Father has not excommunicated or threatened to excommunicate those Chaldean Catholics among Saddam’s ranks, does this mean that the Church also supports Iraq’s actions as just? Secondly, Cardinal Ratzinger, despite his strong personal distaste for Hitler and the Nazi regime, served in the German Army during World War II. I don’t recall ever coming across anything that suggests that young Josef Ratzinger was excommunicated during this time. Therefore, does this mean that recent criticism of the Church’s handling of World War II are correct and Pope Pius XII really did side with the Nazis? If not, then why didn’t he excommunicate those young German Catholics like Ratzinger who fought on Germany’s side?