National Council of Churches
statement on Iraq War
Originally issued on 21 March 2003 on behalf
of the Member Churches of the National Council of Churches in
Australia.
26 March 2003
The leaders of the member churches of the National
Council of Churches in Australia express deep grief and sorrow at what
is now unfolding in Iraq.
Jesus urged his followers to be peacemakers. He spoke in
favour of love, justice and hope for the world. The Christian gospel
counsels us to pursue human reconciliation and peace, and, as far as
possible, to avoid violence as a means of settling disputes.
The commencement of war is an admission of failure. Yet
another new century begins with bloodshed and destruction as a means of
solving our problems.
War will always be problematic for Christian people. We
confess as members of the Australian community that we have not
sufficiently addressed matters that have led to the present situation.
We now appreciate the folly of the supply of weapons and technology by
many countries to dictators, and the inadequacy of United Nations action
in the 1990s; the UN sanctions have not been appropriately controlled,
and this has resulted in serious harm to the Iraqi people.
We pray that this war may end with minimal bloodshed. We
pray for the people of Iraq, and for all who are caught up in this
conflict. We wish to assure Australia's Defence Force personnel in Iraq
and their families at home of our prayers and our wholehearted support
in this time of great fear and tension. We recognise that many in our
community are troubled, and reaffirm the hope God gives us in the face
of human fear.
Australia and the world must learn a lesson from this
situation.
The Iraqi people have lived under injustice and
brutality for the past 30 years. We pray that they may experience
justice and peace in the near future, and be able to contribute to the
work for justice and peace of the world community.
We call upon Christians, Muslims and all people of
goodwill in Australia to support the joint appeal of our own Christian
World Service and the Muslim Aid that will be given directly as aid to
the Iraqi people of all faiths. We reaffirm that this is not to be seen
as a war between Christianity and Islam and must not be exploited as
such. We are all children of God and our joint vocation now is to work
for the good of all humanity. There is no place for religious hate or
discrimination.
Given the Prime Minister's statement that the present
war is only a first step towards the restoration of justice, peace and
human dignity in Iraq, we now call upon the Australian government to
invest in peace and to provide humanitarian aid to assist in the
rebuilding of Iraq of at least twice the cost of the Australian
involvement in the war.
We hope all Christian people will attend church next
Sunday to pray for justice and peace.
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The National Council of Churches in
Australia: |
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Head Office: Level 6,
379 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Postal Address:-
Locked Bag 199,
Sydney NSW 1230
Phone: +61 2 9299 2215
Fax: +61 2 9262 4514 |
Anglican Church of Australia
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
Assyrian Church of the East
Churches of Christ
Congregational Federation of Australia
Coptic Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church
Lutheran Church of Australia
Religious Society of Friends
Roman Catholic Church
Romanian Orthodox Church
Syrian Orthodox Church
The Salvation Army
Uniting Church in Australia |
For more information, please contact:
The Revd John Henderson
General Secretary - National Council of Churches in Australia
Phone: (02) 9299 2215
Mobile: 0419 224 935
John Dalziel, Communications Director
The Salvation Army
Phone: (03) 9896 6007
Mobile: 0417 537 950
Email: |
