KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, JAN. 19, 2003 (Zenit.org).- The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei made an urgent appeal to avoid an attack on Iraq while also calling on Baghdad to help the situation.
In a statement sent to ZENIT, Archbishop Anthony Soter Fernandez of Kuala Lumpur, president of the episcopal conference, says that the bishops “agree, together with the Holy See, the bishops of the United States and the Middle East, in affirming that recourse to war against Iraq, under the present circumstances, would not respect the strict conditions that Catholic teaching imposes on the use of military force.”
“We also join others in requesting that Iraq comply fully with the latest resolutions of the United Nations Security Council,” the statement adds.
Bishop Fernandez also urged other episcopal conferences “to add their voices in solidarity and to all leaders to remember the principles of international law.”
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For a collection of statements by religious leaders visit http://www.betterworldlinks.org/book60a.htm and scroll down the various other group (laywers, historians, etc,) to the section on statements by relgious leaders including the Pope and other Bishops synods.
For more information on the breadth of those opposed to war at this time visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org
