Where do we stand on war with Iran? Should Catholics support it?

Iran is said to be in the process of acquiring nuclear weapons, although it denies it. Its leaders have declared that Israel should be wiped off the map. America is threatening to intervene militarily.

As a magazine of Catholic opinion, we begin by drawing upon the Catholic faith, seeking to obey Jesus, the Prince of Peace. He has given us the Church to guide us in our conduct of earthly affairs.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Safeguarding peace and avoiding war" comes under the Ten Commandments, #2302-2317, the fifth being: "You shall not kill." Under it, anger (or the desire for revenge) and deliberate hatred are designated as mortal sins (#2302).

"Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity [i.e., love of others] (#2304).

"All war is accompanied by evils and injustices; therefore, the Church prays that the divine goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war. However, there is a right to self-defence once peace efforts fail (#2307)."

Section 2309 discusses the morally legitimate defence by military force (the just war theory). It warns that "the strict conditions ... require rigorous consideration."

"At one and the same time:

* the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation ... must be lasting, grave and certain;

* all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;

* there must be serious prospects of success;

* the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

* the evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good;" and

"acts of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas ... are a crime against God and man (#2314)."

How do the above rules apply to the current situation?

Politically, Iran is a repressive state without freedom of speech (but with freedom of religion), ruled by religious Ayatollahs. It has modern weaponry, including missiles. It supports anti-Israel actions through the Islamic extremists of Hezbollah in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. In 2005, the mayor of Teheran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a former revolutionary, was elected President. He has called repeatedly for Israel to be "wiped off the map" (Oct. 2005), and has given full publicity to Iran's search for nuclear energy. He says it is for peaceful means; America and Israel say it is to acquire nuclear bombs. On April 11, 2006, he triumphantly announced that Iran had successfully "mastered nuclear technology." Declared the head of Iran's army, General Hassan Firouzabadi: "When a people master nuclear technology and nuclear fuel, nothing can be done against them." According to Mohamed ElBaradei , the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Iran does not yet have nuclear weapons.

On the other side are Israel and the United States. Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said, "Under no circumstances and at no time can Israel allow anyone with malicious designs against us to have control over weapons of destruction that threaten our existence" (Agence Presse, Nat. Post, Jan. 18, 2006).

President Bush has declared that the U.S. reserves the right to a pre-emptive strike, including the use of nuclear weapons. He has also stated: "The Iranians should not have a nuclear weapon, the capacity to make a nuclear weapon, or the knowledge as to how to make a nuclear weapon." Both Israel and the United States are said to be preparing to bypass the Security Council and United Nations if these remain divided.

Would war with Iran be justified? Not under Catholic principles. Pre-emptive strikes are signs of aggression, not defence. Elimination of Iran's nuclear facilities would require attacks on many dispersed facilities leading to massive casualties, including those from nuclear radiation fallout. The attack would destabilize the entire Middle East and perhaps the world.

Above all, the United States does not have a moral right to "straighten out" other nations. This can only be done through dialogue, friendship and negotiation, not through war.

As for Israel, its 50-year-long unjust treatment of the Palestinians is the very source of the Middle East tensions. Let it eliminate that, instead of somebody else's energy plants. As for the existence of an "Islamic bomb," there already is one, in Pakistan.

FATHER ALPHONSE DE VALK, C.S.B.

EDITOR