Sept 17, 2023 English

We are often prone to draw distinctions and demarcations with a trench mentality. That is why tribalism, ethnocentrism, nationalism, religious and cultural conflicts are filled with a fear of the unknown, ignorance, inward and isolated mentality, and, of course, exclusive self-interests. But the truth is that we have far more commonalities than differences as members of the one human family. Plus, we have a solemn duty to love one another as Jesus commands us: “Love on another as I love you.”

We need more sane and prophetic voices like that of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who says: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly" (“Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963).

This year marks the twenty second anniversary of 9/11, which has profoundly changed the whole world. So many lives were lost on that day. We have seen so many tears and heard heart-breaking stories. We see natural disasters more frequently recently, most likely due to the climate change caused by pollution. It is usually those economically downtrodden people who face the negative consequences of the environmental havoc. The primary victims of wars, especially in Ukraine, are helpless civilians, and it is hard to see little children suffering. These sufferings remind me of Pieta of Michelangelo! A mother holding his dead son!  Inconsolable, yet consoled.  The consolation is not from humans but from God.

When we entered a new millennium, there was a certain guarded optimism and even euphoria of a new peaceful future for humanity, after having passed the bloodiest century with world wars. Unfortunately, the 9/11 calamity happened right away, we are facing potential wars and conflicts around the world.

Right after 9/11, I remember the intense debate about the nation’s basic direction: Should we take revenge against those who committed this horrific crime against innocent people?  Is it right to go to war over this matter or not? We as a nation chose to take the course of war. Ever since, we have been in a perpetual state of war. So many of our young lives perished and so many families lost their sons and daughters.
 
Within the Catholic Church there have been various approaches in her attempt to preserve a just social order, which is the foundation for true peace. The Church teaches that peace is “an enterprise of justice” and “the fruit of love” (GS 78). The social order that peace embodies is achieved when life is well ordered and oriented to the dignity of persons and the common good of all.

Having been mired into the fog of war for so long, it is important for us to remember the fundamental moral criteria about wars. Before and during a war, the following criteria need to be considered. The jus ad bellum criteria governing why and when it is permissible to go to war are (1) just cause, (2) competent authority, (3) comparative justice, (4) right intention, (5) last resort, (6) probability of success, (7) proportionality (U.S. Catholic bishops, The Challenge of Peace [1983], 85–99). The jus in bello criteria of how war ought to be waged are (1) proportionality and (2) discrimination (CP 101–110). We need also to remember that the underlying rationale for the just war principle is charity.

“Vengeance is mine” (cf. Deut 32:35); “Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good” (Rom 12:21; see also 1 Pet 3:9).  To recycle violence through revenge OR to reverse the vicious cycle by forgiveness and compassion, that is the question. And that is a matter of choice made possible for us through Jesus who presents us with an ultimate challenge to forgive those who are indebted to us: “Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?... So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."

Fr. Paul D. Lee