The Cross of War
Frank Denke
|
This article concerns the war in the Mideast. These thoughts are necessarily the personal thoughts of the author, Mr. Denke, and he doesn't intend, even remotely, to suggest that he leaves no room for disagreement. It is simply one attempt to discuss a sad and difficult and timely subject.
|
Wars, no matter how they come about, are ultimately God's response to man's injustice. That is why those fighting must seek to accomplish the justice of God and avoid the injustices of men.
War has both a spiritual and a physical dimension. Thus we will talk about it in both theological as well as political terms. Since man's first sin, God's gift to man of an ordered world (called paradise) was so shattered like Humpty Dumpty that not even a world war can ever put it together again. War has a different purpose. War is a cross.
Certainly war is biblical and, from the Bible, we see that God does take sides. In a sense one can also say that both sides in a conflict accomplish the will of God, although only one side "wins." The ultimate battle of any soldier necessarily concerns his soul which, within the earthly context of war, ultimately wins or loses heaven. The earthly result of any war for the living is the apportionment of crosses to both victor and vanquished.
War and the Defense of the Faith
Certainly wars that defended Christian civilization from destruction were just to the extent that they involved just means. But the days of warring against the Moors to defend the Christian civilization of an entire continent, as at Lepanto, are but a memory of events covered in the comfort of one's history class.
The last wars to preserve the Kingship of Christ within a single country were fought in Spain and Mexico during the 1930s. Since that time, to the best of my knowledge, no battlefield has heard "Viva Christo Rey" ("Long live Christ the King"), as young Catholics willingly fought and died that men might live under the Kingship of Christ. And with them passed the opportunity to join with others to fight for our Faith and for the Kingship of Christ in our century. The time to defend Christian civilization has given way to the need to restore it.
War Apart from the Defense of the Faith
Since the destruction of Christian civilization has been complete, only in the homes of the faithful and in the hearts of its members will we find today the Kingship of Christ. Sad, indeed, it is that young men are now called upon to shed their blood for "democracy" rather than Faith, and for a "New World Order," instead of the Kingship of Christ. But it does not mean that these young men, whose courage and generosity bring them to the front lines of any war they see as just, whether right or wrong, fail to bring with them Christ the King. It's what is in the heart of the soldier, not the war he's in, that unites him to God. It is for this reason that we can do no less than give such young men our prayers and support. We have no right to deny to our fighting men the prayers they need, and the support that will allow them to complete their task without delay. As one sign I saw read: "The time to choose between war and peace has passed. The only choices that remain are victory or defeat."
War and Catholic Teaching
What do Catholic moral theologians teach regarding war? In the book, Moral and Pastoral Theology, by Henry Davis, S.J., (Vol. II, pgs 120-121), we read:
Every war is defensive, being the defense of some invaded rights... no State has the right to punish another sovereign State, for this would imply superiority. War is permissible just as self-defense is permissible.
Soldiers who are conscripted, or those who joined before the war, may usually presume that their country is in the right: in doubt, they are bound to obey. If the war is manifestly unjust, a soldier may not lawfully inflict any damage upon the enemy, though he may, of course, defend his life if the enemy attack him. Soldiers who freely join up after the war has begun, must satisfy themselves that the cause is just.
The conditions given to define a just war are:
It must be declared by the State itself; it must be necessary in the last resort after diplomacy has failed; there must be a grave and just reason for it; the method of it must be just and in accordance with international law; an upright purpose must be intended; it may not be protracted after due satisfaction has been given or offered; the conditions of peace must be just, and may not be crushing, unless such severity is necessary for present self-defense.
Some additional quotes from Radio Replies, Volume II, follow:
Christ nowhere teaches that we must allow others to suffer unjustly... You will notice in the Gospels that Christ met several military men, yet never once did He condemn their occupation; nor did He ever condemn war... Thousands of Roman soldiers became Christians and remained Roman soldiers... individual citizens are free to volunteer or not according to their individual knowledge of the justice or injustice of the cause... If the men were misguided, and thought they were doing their duty, they were personally right with God as far as the war was concerned... Each will be judged according to his personal knowledge and responsibility.
Removing Iraq from Kuwait conforms to the above criteria. Desert Storm, by avoiding the intentional killing of innocent non-combatants, also conforms to the criteria of a just war. The fact that this is a war we can win, meets a third criteria. But experience has taught us that there is more to war than what happens on the battlefield.
The Aftermath of War
Looking back to each of the wars that have occurred in my lifetime, I see that each was begun for what our Nation believed was a righteous cause. In each war, our soldiers generally did their duty. And in each of these wars, to the extent they were allowed to fight, they won. But this was the century of the destruction of the Reign of Christ in nations, and each of these wars, in spite of the individual goodness of those who fought, played its part to diminish His Kingship. The politics of World War II led to the subjugation of nations, many of them Catholic, to the savagery of Communism. The same can be said of Korea and Viet Nam. Can we expect this current war to bring true peace where the others have failed? Many like myself naturally look beyond the just removal of Iraq from Kuwait and wonder...
We wonder because our Nation's wars are ultimately the extension of our politics, and our politics are an extension of the spiritual health of our Nation. The spiritual health of our Nation rests upon the strength of the Church... and we are concerned. It is time to understand that a nation's policies, divorced from the Kingship of Christ, can lead to war.
Pre-war Politics
For example, we have been told we are fighting this war to protect us from a "madman" who may use chemical and nuclear arms, yet it was our foreign policy that helped Hussein attain these capabilities. We allowed Saddam Hussein to use chemical warfare against Iran. We joined Iraq in drafting a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel for destroying Iraq's nuclear potential in 1981, and officially recognized Iraq's right to develop nuclear power. It was our Commerce Department that, in 1987, allowed American companies to sell bacteria and advanced missile computers to an Iraqi institution that specialized in germ and nuclear warfare research. When Iraq bombed the USS Stark in May 1987, killing 37 American sailors, Hussein called it an "accident." President Reagan accepted this excuse, and blamed Iran as the real culprit.
Prior to its invasion of Kuwait, did we give Iraq any reason to believe we would stop playing their game? Apparently not. Transcripts of last year's July 25th interview between Hussein and our Ambassador, April Glaspie, were released by Iraq. In this interview, Hussein was told, "...we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border dispute with Kuwait." On August 2nd, Iraq settled its "border dispute" by invading Kuwait. Only then it seems, did Iraq find we have an opinion.
To prepare us for war, we were told Hussein is a monster who personally killed at least 22 men, a disciple of Joseph Stalin (after whom he fashions his moustache), and a man who applies the death penalty to those who insult him in public—all of which is true. The instrument that brought us into war was a United Nations resolution. The constant references to a "new world order" made it apparent that there is more to this war than removing Iraq from Kuwait.
While we were traveling this path, Russia was also doing its part to help Iraq stock up on weapons and military equipment, both before and after its invasion of Kuwait. While we are busy pouring our military might upon the sands of Islam, the Soviets are using their weapons to crush Christian Lithuania. (Since the conversion of Russia has not yet occurred, could we expect anything less?) As in any war, many are those who look to war as a means to further selfish interests.
The Politics of War
The current situation now finds us allied with Syrian President Hafez Assad. Syria's Assad is Hussein's competitor for control of the Mideast and hopes to fill the power vacuum that will be created when Hussein falls. It was Assad's Syria that defeated the Christian forces of General Michel Aoun in Lebanon, committing atrocities (rape, pillage, summary execution, etc.) at the time, similar to those now attributed to Saddam Hussein. The spiritual and physical deserts of this battlefield are best symbolized by the order that prevents our soldiers from carrying with them into battle any visible symbol of Christ. And so we ask, as Catholics, what are we to expect from a war that allies us in a power struggle with and among those who officially deny the Kingship of Christ?
Our Soldiers and the Kingship of Christ
While the war has no visible relationship to the Kingship of Christ, can we say the same thing about our Catholic soldiers who fight in it? By doing their duty as soldiers, do they not draw His Kingship a little closer into their own lives and, for a time, upon the land they walk? We can also relate the current suffering of all our soldiers and their families to bringing about a true peace. Permit me one diversion on the way to explaining this.
After looking at Russia go through the appearances of becoming a "democracy" to make possible a "new world order," man's global plan for peace is clearly to establish a world of democracies under a single democratic rule. To accomplish this, those areas of the world not yet sufficiently democratic will be forced to become so. (The result of this war in the Gulf will be to make this area more democratic, hence the relationship of this war to the "new world order"). The reason this plan will fail is because it has nothing to do with the Kingship of Christ. Peace will only come to this earth through the hands and heart of Our Lady... after the world has suffered physically and spiritually enough to desire peace on God's terms.
Our nation has not yet sufficiently suffered to merit His Kingship. We know it is only by passing through the gates of suffering that we will see the conversion of Russia and know the triumph of peace that awaits us in Our Lady's Immaculate Heart. Each country must suffer for its own sins. Have you ever wondered who will offer their suffering for us and for the sins of our Nation to bring this about? At some point, it has to be us.
The Cross of War Comes Home
Some of the young in my own family, as in many of yours, are motivated by a desire to join with their countrymen who are suffering the trials of war. For them, the arguments concerning a just war seem less important than coming to the aid of others their own age. What is God asking of us... and of them? He simply asks that we do our daily duty, as we honestly see it in our lives.
No matter how you see this issue at this time, it is the soldiers who, for whatever reason, are part of Desert Storm that find themselves upon the cross of war. Pray for them and for their families who now stand, as did the Blessed Mother, at the foot of a cross longing for their son.
This prayer was found in the fiftieth year of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In 1505 it was sent from the Pope to Emperor Charles, when he was going into battle. Whoever shall read this prayer or hear it, or keep it about themselves, shall never die a sudden death or be drowned nor shall poison take effect on them: neither shall they fall into the hands of the enemy, or be burned in any fire or be overpowered in battle.
Current Issue
