Catholic Bishops sharply question morality of US foreign policy
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IANS photo.
Washington: Three top Catholic leaders in the United States issued a rare joint statement sharply questioning the moral foundations of current US foreign policy, invoking guidance from Pope Leo XIV and warning that a growing reliance on force risks plunging the world into deeper conflict, IANS reported.
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin said the United States was engaged in its most serious debate over the morality of its actions abroad since the end of the Cold War, citing recent developments in Venezuela, Ukraine, and Greenland as raising fundamental questions about war, peace, and national interest.
The statement, issued from Chicago, Washington, and Newark, measures American foreign policy against principles set out by Pope Leo XIV in his January 9 address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, describing that address as an “enduring ethical compass” for US policy in the years ahead.
“As pastors entrusted with the teaching of our people, we cannot stand by while decisions are made that condemn millions to lives trapped permanently at the edge of existence,” Cupich said. “Pope Leo has given us clear direction, and we must apply his teachings to the conduct of our nation and its leaders.”
McElroy said Catholic social teaching demanded more than a narrow reading of national interest. “Catholic social teaching testifies that when national interest narrowly conceived excludes the moral imperative of solidarity among nations and the dignity of the human person, it brings immense suffering to the world and a catastrophic assault on the just peace that benefits every nation and is the will of God,” he said.
He added that ignoring this reality in the current debate over US foreign policy came “at the cost of our country’s truest interests and the best traditions of this land that we love.”
Tobin pointed to recent discussions among church leaders in Rome as reinforcing the urgency of Pope Leo’s message.
“Recent events, including participation in last week’s consistory in Rome with Pope Leo and brother cardinals from across the world, convince me of the need to underscore the vision of Pope Leo for just and peaceful relations among nations,” he said, warning that “escalating threats and armed conflict risk destroying international relations and plunging the world into incalculable suffering.”
In the full text of their statement, titled Charting A Moral Vision of American Foreign Policy, the cardinals said multilateralism was weakening and being replaced by a diplomacy “based on force,” with “war back in vogue and a zeal for war spreading.”