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Southern
African Catholic Bishops' Conference
Press Statement
For Immediate Release
Pretoria
31 January 2003
"We express our grave concern about the military preparations
presently made by the USA and UK with a view to attacking on
Iraq. We strongly appeal to the president of the United States
George W. Bush and to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to refrain
from an armed offensive against the Iraqi people", says the
Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) in a
statement issued today, as the Bishops met in Plenary Session.
"All peaceful means of dialogue, negotiation, diplomatic pressure
and appropriate political initiatives must be pursued under the
leadership of the United Nations to bring about an effective but
just response to the threat posed by the Iraqi regime" - state the
Bishops.
"To wage war at this stage is immoral and illegal, and therefore
must be excluded" the Bishops declared in their statement,
echoing Pope John Paul II's recent pronouncement: "No to war!
War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity".
"An invasion of Iraq will worsen the plight of the people already
sorely tried by more than twelve years of embargo, it will increase
the risk of provoking a wider conflict, it will create a dangerous
religious polarisation between Christians and Muslims and more
than likely it will fuel a new spate of terrorism around the world".
"Our understanding, based on the social teaching of the Church, is
that only those who have been vested with for world security by
the nations of the world, viz. the United Nations Security Council
(UN Charter 1945), have the authority to initiate military action.
Consequently, the UN Charter excludes a pre-emptive war by one
state against another".
"The fight against terrorism cannot be achieved through a war that
will inevitably kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people, and
terrorise millions more. We strongly believe that one of the main
causes for terrorism is the disregard for justified claims of peoples
who feel socially, economically and politically excluded,
exploited and oppressed. The great majority of peace loving
people around the world want the problems of this world to be
resolved through peaceful means, not through war. They expect
the USA and the West to take the lead in this regard".
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