23 February 2003

NEWS

CHRISTIANITY AGAINST THE WAR
Blessed the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God

The Holy Synod's Plea for Peace
see http://www.ecclesia.gr/English/EnHolySynod/messages/iraq.html

Church Leaders United Against War
Church leaders of Europe, the USA and the Middle East agreed upon the following declaration concerning a pending war against Iraq on Feb. 5 at an urgent meeting in Berlin.
1. As European church leaders, in consultation with councils of churches in the USA and the Middle East, we remain extremely concerned with the continued calls for military action against Iraq by the US and some European governments. As people of faith, our love of neighbour compels us to oppose war and to seek peaceful resolution of conflicts. As churches we pray for peace and freedom, justice and safety for the people of Iraq and in the Middle East as a whole. Such prayer obliges us to be instruments of peace.

2. We deplore the fact that the most powerful nations of this world again regard war as an acceptable instrument of foreign policy. This creates an international culture of fear, threat and insecurity.

3. We cannot accept the stated objectives of a war against Iraq, as laid out by these governments, in particular the US. Pre-emptive military strike and war as a means to change the regime of a sovereign state are immoral and in violation of the UN Charter. We appeal to the Security Council to uphold the principles of the UN Charter, which strictly limit the legitimate use of military force, and to refrain from creating negative precedence and lowering the threshold for using violent means to solve international conflicts.

4. We believe that military force is an inappropriate means to achieve disarmament of any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. We insist that the carefully designed mechanisms of the UN weapons inspections be given the time needed to complete their work.

5. All UN member states have to comply with binding UN resolutions and resolve conflicts by peaceful means. Iraq can be no exception. We call on the Government of Iraq to destroy any weapons of mass destruction and related research and production facilities. Iraq must cooperate fully with UN weapons inspectors, and guarantee full respect of the civil and political, economic, social and cultural human rights for all its citizens. The people in Iraq must be given hope that there are alternatives to both dictatorship and war.

6. A war would have unacceptable humanitarian consequences, including large-scale displacement of people, the breakdown of state functions, the possibility of civil war and major unrest in the whole region. The plight of Iraqi children and the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis over the past 12 years of sanctions regime weigh heavily on our hearts. In the present situation, we strongly affirm long-standing humanitarian principles of unconditional access to people in need.

7. We further caution against the potential social, cultural, and religious as well as diplomatic long-term consequences of such a war. Further fueling the fires of violence that are already consuming the region will only exacerbate intense hatred strengthening extremist ideologies and breeding further global instability and insecurity. As church leaders in Europe we have a moral and pastoral responsibility to challenge xenophobia in our own countries as well as allay the fears of many in the Muslim world that the so-called Western Christianity is against their culture, religion and values. We should seek co-operation for peace, justice and human dignity.

8. All governments, in particular the members of the Security Council have the responsibility to consider the whole complexity of this issue. All peaceful and diplomatic means to compel Iraq to comply with UN Security Council resolutions have not been exhausted.

9. For us it is a spiritual obligation, grounded in God's love for all humanity, to speak out against war in Iraq. Through this message we send a strong sign of solidarity and support, to churches in Iraq, the Middle East and in the USA. We pray that God will guide those responsible to take decisions based on careful reflections, moral principles and high legal standards. We invite all churches to join us in this act of witness and to pray for and encourage participation of all people in the struggle for a peaceful resolution of this conflict.

Statement from European church leaders, meeting in Berlin, February 5, 2003, convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in consultation with the Conference of European Churches (CEC), the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCCCUSA) and the Middle East Council of Churches, hosted by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).
Participants of the meeting:

Prases Manfred Kock, Ratsvorsitzender der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (EKD), in der 24 lutherische, reformierte und unierte Gliedkirchen zusammen geschlossen sind. Als oberster Reprasentant vertritt der Ratsvorsitzende rund 26 Millionen evangelischer Christen in Deutschland.

Bischof Dr. Rolf Koppe, Leiter der Hauptabteilung Ausland und Okumene im Kirchenamt der EKD
Dr. Konrad Raiser, Generalsekretar des Okumenischen Rates der Kirchen, ORK
Dr. Keith Clements, Generalsekretar der Konferenz Europaischer Kirchen, KEK
Bischof Dr. Walter Klaiber, Vorsitzender der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen in Deutschland (ACK), Bischof und damit oberster Geistlicher der Evangelisch-Methodistischen Kirche (Deutschland)
Prasident Jean-Arnold de Clermont, Prasident der Federation Protestante de France, die 16 Gliedkirchen, 60 Gemeinschaften und 500 Institutionen, Organisationen und Bewegungen vertritt, mit rund 1.100.000 Mitgliedern.
Bischof Mag. Herwig Sturm, Evangelische Kirche Augsburger Bekenntnisses (A. B.) in Osterreich, oberster Reprasentant der rund 350.000 evangelisch-lutherischen Christen Osterreichs.
Prasident Thomas Wipf, Vorstands-Prasident des Schweizerischen Evangelischen Kirchenbundes (SEK), in dem 26 Gliedkirchen vertreten sind. SEK ist das Schweizer Pendant zur EKD, Wipf ist dem EKD-Ratsvorsitzenden zu vergleichen
Bischof Jonas Jonsson, Bischof der rund 7,4 Millionen Mitglieder umfassenden Schwedischen Kirche (Svenska kyrkan). Bischof Jonsson wird begleitet von Pastor Kjell Jonasson, der im vergangenen Dezember den Irak besucht hat
Probst Trond Bakkevig, Norwegische Kirche. Bakkevig ist Mitglied des Zentralkomitees des Okumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ORK) und norwegischer Kandidat fur das Amt des ORK-Generalsekretars. Die Norwegische Kirche (Norske Kirke) hat rund 4,5 Millionen Mitglieder, das sind 86,5 Prozent aller Norweger
Erzbischof Jukka Parma, Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Finnlands, oberster Reprasentant seiner Kirche (Suomen Evankelis-Luterilainen Kirkko), die 4,5 Millionen Mitglieder hat (84,8 Prozent aller Einwohner Finnlands)
Bischof Karsten Nissen, Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Danemark (Evangelisk-Lutherske Folkekirke in Danmark, 5,1 Millionen Mitglieder, entspricht 87,7 Prozent aller Danen), Bischof von Viborg, Vorsitzender des Programmausschusses des Lutherischen Weltbundes
Dr. Alison Elliot, Kirche von Schottland (Church of Scotland), Co-Direktor des Zentrums fur Theologie und Offentliche Angelegenheiten der Universitat Edinburgh und Mitbegrunder der Aktion "Churches Together in Scotland" (ACTS)
Pfarrer Arie W. van der Plas, Vorsitzender der Generalsynode der Niederlandische Reformierte Kirche und Vorsitzender des Moderamen der Protestantische Kirche in der Niederlande (www.unitingprotestantchurches.nl)
Erzbischof Feofan, Russisch-Orthodoxe Kirche, ist Erzbischof von Berlin und Deutschland
Bischof Athanasius von Achaja, Kirche von Griechenland (Church of Greece)
Rev. Dr. Nuhad Daoud Tomeh, Sonderbeauftragter des Generalsekretariats des Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), Pastor der Presbyterian Church of Syria and Lebanon
Dr. Bob Edgar, Generalsekretar des National Council of Churches (NCCC), USA James Winkler, Generalsekretar des General Board of Church and Society der United Methodist Church, USA
Dr. Rebecca Larson, Executive Director der Division for Church and Society der Evangelical-Lutheran Church in America, USA
Mister Thor Arne Prois (Director of ACT/Action of Churches Together, Genf)

World Council of Churches calls Iraq war 'immoral and unwise'
Christian leaders Friday condemned a possible war against Iraq as "immoral and
unwise" and praised U.S. and British churches for standing up to politicians in their countries. The WCC represents 350 to 450 million Protestant, Orthodox and other non-Roman Catholic churches in more than 100 countries.
In a statement, the executive committee of the World Council of Churches said it "strongly deplores the fact that the most powerful nations of this world again regard war as an acceptable instrument of foreign policy." An attack on Iraq at this stage would "lower the threshold" for using violent means to solve international conflicts. "War against Iraq would be immoral, unwise, and in breach of the principles of the United Nations Charter," the executive committee said.
It called for a day of prayer for peace in Iraq at the beginning of Lent - March 5 in most Protestant churches and March 9 in the Orthodox tradition.
The committee said it is equally concerned about Iraqi violations of human rights and it called on Iraq to comply with U.S. Security Council resolutions.

Christianity Against the War
See Orthodox voices against the war

Churches around the world, and especially in the United States and its allies, have called on the U.S. government to pull back from war in Iraq.
The National Council of Churches in the United States has requested a meeting with President George W. Bush and a delegation from the U.S. council met earlier this week with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The WCC executive praised the churches for their "courageous stance" in standing up to the political leaders in their countries.

Pope Appeals to Blair Against Iraq War
The 83-year-old Holy Father told Mr Blair - accompanied at the private, 30-minute audience in the Vatican by Catholic wife Cherie - that innocent Iraqis would be killed and that war was "still avoidable".
And to underline the message, the Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls later issued a statement which said: "The Holy Father hoped that in solving the grave situation in Iraq every effort would be made to avoid new divisions in the world."
It was a personal blow for Mr Blair, an Anglican rumoured to want to convert to Catholicism after he leaves office.
"The Holy Father expressed hope that, in solving the grave situation in Iraq, every effort is made to avoid new divisions in the world," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a statement.
Vatican officials stressed the need to resolve the crisis through the United Nations, and "to avert the tragedy of a war that is judged to be still avoidable by more sides," the statement said. "Special consideration was given to the humanitarian situation of the Iraqi people, already tried greatly by long years of embargo," the Vatican said.
John Paul has strongly argued that military action would be a "defeat for humanity," and he has spoken out against economic embargoes.
The Vatican has said there is no moral justification for a pre-emptive strikes and has raised concerns that Muslims would see the war as a crusade against them by Christians.

Terror and war in the name of God are blasphemy
say the EKD. Here are some extracts from the official statement of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany:
"Very probably the forces behind the attacks say that they are conducting a holy war in the name of their religion. However we must withstand all attempts to make Islam as a world religion responsible for these terrorist attacks. We must make stronger endeavours with our information, so that prejudice against Muslim citizens does not grow in our country. The inter-faith dialogue with Muslims from various cultures must be strengthened and deepened. The Muslim communities in every single country, as well as the Islamic nations, must be won over to the common aim of defeating international terrorism.
We in the Church are also of different views about political and military assessments. Despite all the differences in our views and all the discord that is associated with our assessment, it remains indisputable: the EKD has with reference to the confession of faith in Jesus Christ subordinated every military operation to the requirement of peace and the rules of moderation and wherever possible, defined non-violence as always the preferred option for Christians. If only because of that: the ultima ratio of military actions must remain ultima ratio.
In view of our own and the general lack of public knowledge, whether the prerequisites for military action - even when it is part of an international punishment and enforcement action - are really fulfilled and whether the ethical conditions for peace have been considered, we ask the members of the German Federal Parliament and the members of the German Federal Government to use the above criteria as a basis for their decisions, to observe the freedom of conscience for every individual and to give the general public - as far as is possible - information about the prerequisites, type, extent and targets of the announced measures.
In this matter, the necessary decision of conscience cannot be taken away from anyone. The freedom to arrive at this decision must be safeguarded for the individual. However the individual decides, deeply burdening questions will remain unanswered. In prayers for a just peace, we bring them to God. In prayers, we intercede for the victims of terrorism and war, the soldiers and their families as well as the politicians burdened with the decisions.

No war can be holy warns the archbishop of Canterbury
On Thursday, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, warned Tony Blair and President Bush to tone down their moral rhetoric in the drive to war with Iraq.
The archbishop, who this week issued a joint statement with Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor doubting the moral basis for a war, told his first press conference at Lambeth Palace that the leaders should lay off "heavy artillery of a religious kind" in their speeches.
Both President Bush with his "axis of evil" soundbites and the prime minister in his recent campaign to provide a moral justification for the conflict have become increasingly messianic in tone as they strive to persuade sceptical electorates, he said."There is no war that is holy and good in itself and to bring the heavy artillery of a religious kind, to say that is the only way of resisting evil, is something that has to be watched out for."
Dr Williams insisted that other alternatives to war, including the maintenance of a UN presence in Iraq, had to be explored before military intervention. He refused to commit himself to supporting a war even with a second resolution.
"I think Christians generally would hold that unless other means of resolution had been exhausted, it would be hard to justify any pre-emptive [military] action. It does not look as if we have exhausted all the possibilities yet," he said.