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Nothing justifies a war against Iraq, say Eastern Catholic
patriarchs
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BEIRUT,
November 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Patriarchs of the eastern
Catholic churches came out Friday, November 1, against a war on Iraq,
and attacked derogatory remarks against Islam by leaders of the U.S.
Christian conservative right.
"Nothing
justifies a war against Iraq, whatever the pretexts and reasons
invoked," said the heads of the Maronite, Melchite, Coptic,
Chaldean, Latin, Syriac and Armenian churches after a five-day conclave
at Raboueh, near Beirut, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"There
can be no just war because men have the choice: negotiating and arriving
at peaceful solutions or unleashing wholesale destruction," they
said in a statement.
The
patriarchs also condemned the "double standards" surrounding
the implementation of United Nations resolution.
"Equity
requires the countries of the region to be treated according to the same
criteria.
"If
we want to finish with weapons of mass destruction, the whole of the
countries of the region must be disarmed, including Israel," they
said.
The
statement slammed "remarks by the American Christian extreme
right", calling them "dangerous and insulting with regard to
Islam, Muslims and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
In
the latest of such comments, television evangelist Jerry Falwell caused
a storm on October 6 by calling Prophet Muhammad a
"terrorist", before apologizing several days later.
The
patriarchs called for "constructive dialogue between religions,
peoples, western and eastern cultures, Christianity and Islam."
They
called for an end to violence in the Palestinian territories, which they
blamed on the Israeli occupation.
Their
opposition to a war against Iraq, threatened by the United States to
eliminate Baghdad's alleged weapons of mass destruction and topple
President Saddam Hussein, reflects the stance of other Christian
leaders, notably Catholic.
On
September 5, Britain's Catholic leader Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
said a war against Iraq could set the Arab world against the West, and
undermine efforts to secure peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
The
head of Italy's Catholic bishops, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, said on
September 16 a war led by the United States against Iraq would have
"unacceptable" human consequences and destabilize the Middle
East.
On
September 18, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed strong
opposition to unilateral U.S. military action against Iraq in a letter
to President George W. Bush.
On
September 12, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy
II, said he was totally opposed to any attack by the U.S. on Iraq,
warning of a "bloodbath" if military action went ahead.
The
London Times also reported that George Carey, the since retired
archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans,
had raised his concerns about Iraq in a private letter to British Prime
Minister Tony Blair.
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