US: A Catholic Church document published yesterday has restated its position that preventive wars are permissible only with "clear proof" of an imminent attack, writes Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Under a heading Legitimate Defence it stated that "engaging in a preventive war without clear proof that an attack is imminent cannot fail to raise serious moral and juridical questions". It also referred to abortion as a "horrendous crime".
The document, titled "Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church", was presented by Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
At a press conference to launch it, a Vatican spokesman side-stepped a question as to whether Catholics could vote for a politician supporting legalised abortion. US presidential candidate Senator John Kerry has in the past voted for abortion legislation, while saying he privately opposed abortion. Some Catholic bishops in the US have said Communion should be refused to Catholic politicians who vote for abortion legislation.
Yesterday Vatican spokesman Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls deflected the question, saying the "Holy See never gets involved" in an election campaign. Questions on whether the war in Iraq was illegal, were also deflected.
The document is a collection of Catholic teaching on social issues ranging from war, to the death penalty, globalisation, the free market and workers' rights. Drawn from decades of teaching by Pope John Paul and some predecessors, it appeared to break no new ground. It was described at the press conference as a handbook that could be useful for business leaders, politicians and other agenda-setting figures.
A chapter titled The Promotion of Peace, though making no specific reference to Iraq, defended the Charter of the United Nations which prohibits a recourse to conflict to resolve disputes except in cases of legitimate defence and when backed by the UN Security Council.
"Therefore, engaging in a preventive war without clear proof that an attack is imminent cannot fail to raise serious moral and juridical questions," it said.
The Vatican strongly opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq and the Pope sent cardinals to President Bush and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to try to avert it. Cardinal Pio Laghi, sent to Washington before the invasion, said after meeting President Bush that war without UN backing would be "illegal".
The document has called terrorism "one of the most brutal forms of violence traumatising the international community today" and said people and countries have a legitimate right to defend themselves from it. "However, this right cannot be exercised in the absence of moral and legal norms, because the struggle against terrorists must be carried out with respect for human rights . . .," it said. This has been interpreted as criticism of US treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and in Iraq.