[Announce] Article about military archbishop

[Robert Waldrop]

Archbishop O'Brien, among other things, says that after the election, he hopes the criticism of the war will be less.  Memo to O'Brien:  some of us are just getting started.

Bob Waldrop, Romero House, Oklahoma City

MILITARY-OBRIEN Oct-26-2006 (760 words) With photo. xxxi

U.S. military archdiocese head: Modern war changes ethical challenges

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the nature of war and conflict changes, so do the ethical challenges faced by members of the military, said the head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.

Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, whose flock includes all U.S. Catholic military and their families, was one of the speakers at an Oct. 23-27 Vatican conference for military ordinaries, the bishops in charge of the spiritual care of their nations' armed forces.

While a Catholic military chaplain's ministry always will center on celebrating the sacraments -- in a base chapel or a field tent -- he also is called to be "an ethicist, helping form and guide" the approach of his unit and the concrete behavior of individuals, Archbishop O'Brien said.

Like other speakers at the Vatican conference, Archbishop O'Brien said modern shifts in when a nation feels called to deploy troops raise new ethical questions.

Ethical guidelines for a "just war" -- including the principles that actions are proportionate and civilians are not targeted -- were developed in the light of conventional wars between two countries or clearly identified groups.

Now, he said, ethicists are scrambling to deal with "asymmetrical war," a conflict such as terrorism where the two sides are not clearly identified, similar entities and where the battlefield can be anywhere.

Archbishop O'Brien said, "The Holy See is not happy with 'preventative war,'" the term the United States and its allies have used to describe their invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq to prevent what was seen as a growing threat, but the chaplains believe there still must be a discussion about ethical military action in such situations.

The challenge faced by chaplains trying to instill high ethical standards in their units is complicated by the modern cultural crisis of values, he said.

"If there is no absolute right and wrong, what do you do in war?" he said.

Archbishop O'Brien told Catholic News Service he also encouraged the military ordinaries and the Vatican to support a philosophical and ethical discussion about women in the military.

"We have lost 65 women in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said, even though U.S. law says that military women are not to be assigned combat roles.

While admitting the topic could set off a controversy and charges of chauvinism, Archbishop O'Brien said women in the U.S. military have proven their leadership skills and their ability to handle themselves and their weapons in tense situations. The questions, he said, are whether there are solid philosophical and theological reasons to bar women from direct combat and why do so many men in mixed units feel a special need to protect their female comrades.

The military ordinaries' conference also focused on the importance of specialized ministry to young adults, who make up the majority of members of the armed forces.

Archbishop Antonio Veglio, secretary of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, urged the ordinaries to do everything possible to ensure that the idealism and optimism of their young flock is not extinguished "by the negative experiences" of modern war and conflict.

Archbishop O'Brien said the way a soldier reacts in a situation of conflict depends a great deal on his or her motivation for entering the armed forces.

Prospects are good when the motivation "is service and self-giving. I can't tell you how many young people I met after 9/11," who entered the military to serve their country and protect innocent people from further terrorist attacks.


"They are there not to kill but to protect," he said.

"If they see a conflict between who they are as people of faith and carrying a weapon, there will be problems," the archbishop said. "They have to know the weapon is only for protection."

Archbishop O'Brien said that as U.S. public support for a military presence in Iraq wanes, morale among the troops declines, even though the majority of those stationed in Iraq still experience their role as being primarily one of reconstruction and not of combat.

"The news only shows cars being blown up," he said. "But the soldiers see hospitals being built and schools opening.

"Right now the sense is that they are doing good and necessary work," the archbishop said. "But at a certain point, they will throw up their hands, saying their work is inhibited by doubts at home."

He said perhaps the growing U.S. debate about the war is connected primarily to the November elections and the criticism will not be so loud once the elections are over.

END

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
 CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/announce/attachments/20061101/47d853d4/attachment-0001.html