The statement in our 1st Reading today, (Zech 9:9-10) about God proclaiming peace for the nations, made me think about a book I’ve just read by the philosopher and ex-Catholic priest Anthony Kenny about why he left the Church. You can see and her me give this Homily on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RmhCqnRppU
He paints a vivid picture of life as a seminarian in 1950’s Rome. He explains how it took him time to discover that the presentation of the teaching of St Thomas Aquinas he was given there was very different from what that great theologian wrote. Kenny became more and more uncomfortable with the philosophy the Church uses and finally felt unable to continue as a priest. But apart from these philosophical matters, he gives us a whole chapter on how shocked he was by the lack of knowledge of the Church’s teaching on war by many Catholic priests and bishops who ought to have known better, so that he got told off for saying that nuclear warfare was a sin.
Of course, the Catechism of the Catholic Church that we have now, produced under the instruction of Pope St John Paul II in 1992, lays out the official teaching on war. But it didn’t exist back then. Now we have no excuse; for the Catechism says clearly
“All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war.” It then adds : However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed.” (Para 2308)
But it then goes on "Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation." (Para 2314) There can therefore be no justification for nuclear war and every nation has to challenge itself on how it conducts war if it decides to defend itself.
This is an extremely difficult area of Teaching for us to get our heads round. All of us want peace for everyone, but when a country or a people are attacked, as in the Ukraine at the moment, then however much we detest war we can see why such people as the Ukrainians have the right, the moral right, to defend themselves. The Catechism says as much “Public authorities … have the right and duty to impose on citizens the obligations necessary for national defence.” (Para 2310) We see too the horror of violence against people in other parts of the world, and cannot condemn their right to defend themselves. So we sit and watch the News of war and sigh, or maybe even weep, as we hear of so much destruction and killing on both sides; but have no easy solution to bring the peace that God wants for our poor world.
There is however one thing that we can do. We can avoid offensive or abusive behaviour against those we disagree with, for that is at the heart of many wars. It really does appal me to see Catholics online who disagree using offensive language against one another and against people in the world that we disagree with. If we cannot set an example to the world who can? Partly, it is because we do not take seriously the message of Jesus in our Gospel today. (Matt 11:25-30) We get so carried away by what we think is right and wrong that we forget to be like Jesus, “gentle and humble in heart.” We stress instead our own clever minds that we think have all the correct answers, forgetting the warning against “the learned and clever.” There are bound to be many people we disagree with, about politics, about moral behaviour, about the Church, and I know how easy it is to get angry with people who say or do things that we think are stupid, dangerous or plain wrong. Some even resort to shouting at other people online, and sometime even face to face. It’s not surprising therefore that the Catechism has its section on anger just before its section on war, so that we hear “Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred of the neighbour is a sin… "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." (Para 2303 quoting Matt 5:44-45)
Here again the solution is prayer. Praying for those we are opposed to does not mean praying that they will change their minds. Prayer is always about us opening up to God, not us telling God what we think should happen. God understands the person we oppose, or with whom we are angry, in a way that we never can, for God “knows the heart” (Acts 15:8. Luke 16:15) I am not saying that God excuses people, but he does understand them in a way that we cannot, and shouting at people is not the way to get people to change their minds. Indeed shouting, or using bad language and abuse, is usually a sign that there is something wrong with us, and we need to ask ourselves why we are so agitated. As we hear in the Letter to James (1:19-20) “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”
I was pleased that Anthony Kenny did not express anger towards the Church and the faith he has rejected, as some people do. He speaks of still being fond of us even though he cannot be one of us; perhaps because his mother and his uncle, both devout Catholics, continued to love and support him in his journey away from the Church. One thing he did point out, that I entirely agree with, is that some people take the illogical step of being furiously angry about abortion but in favour of war. Both are wrong, for both lead to innocent people being killed. In both cases I understand why people do these things. It always makes me sad, whether it is war or abortion; and I do all I can to show them a different way forward; but anger against such people is counter-productive. We may be angry about war or abortion, but attacking the people who are involved in such things does not bring peace, and it is peace that God wants.
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