THE RECORD JANUARY 9, 2020 LOCAL / WORLD WWW.THERECORDNEWSPAPER.ORG A5
By DENNIS SADOWSKI
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON - The tweet early Jan. 3 from Bishop Richard F. Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, asked for prayers. It wasn't an unusual re- quest from a church leader. Still, its significance stems from its context and its tim- ing: a few hours after the overnight killing of Iran's top military leader, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. "Welcome to the new year!" Bishop Stika wrote. "Congress and the President are playing with the emo- tions of the people of this na- tion. A divisive election year. North Korea is watching all this and now the assassina- tion of the number 2 man in Iran. Prayers for the world during this time of unrest." Bishop Stika told Catho- lic News Service Jan. 6 that his tweet reflected a deep concern for uncertainty in today's world, especially as tensions rise between the U.S. and Iran. "It just seems it could spark something and that it could be very difficult to con- trol the aftermath," he said. "I think about all of the in- dividuals I have known who have been harshly affected by being in wars. The PTSD (post-traumatic stress disor- der), lost limbs, trauma," the bishop continued. "It concerns me it could be a dangerous thing. The uncertainty of this could blossom into something that could become horrific." Bishop Stika is not alone. Catholics working to shape public policy in fa- vor of peace, collaboration and nonviolent alternatives to war expressed concerns that the drone strike likely will fuel an escalating tit- for-tat series of responses that would engulf the Middle East in war. They instead called for a new round of diplomacy to re- solve the differences between the two nations and protect innocent civilians, particu- larly religious minorities. Among those calling for a diplomatic solution were the Sisters of Mercy of the Amer- icas, who Jan. 3 called on the U.S. government to "reject violence and militarism." "Our position would still be that international coop- eration is the only way to be in the world. Violence begets violence," said Jean Stokan, coordinator of nonviolence and immigration of the Sis- ters of Mercy's Institute Jus- tice Team. "The problem with these strikes is that drone strikes are expanding war, not limit- ing war," said Maryann Cusi- mano Love, associate profes- sor of international relations at The Catholic University of America. Drone attacks also can "lead to a very short-term mind frame, that you can try to target a particular person without taking those long- term considerations about how this is going to build a positive, sustainable peace and protect the most vulner- able people," she said. Johnny Zokovitch, execu- tive director of Pax Christi USA, said drone attacks offer "no accountability, no sense of responsibility" in viola- tion of church teaching on war and peace. He said the killing of Soleimani as ap- proved by President Donald Trump "further contributes to the cycle of revenge and innocent men, women and children will suffer." Under the Catholic Church's long-standing just war teaching, Love explained, an act of war "has to be the right intention, made by pub- lic authority, a positive in- tention to build a positive peace, that the harms from the action won't outweigh the harms that come from the ac- tion and there must be protec- tions for civilians." "All of that is called into question under drone war- fare," she said. At the same time, Love added, the immediacy of at- tacking a target by drones in warfare "takes away from civilians the only means of protection they have, which is running away." At the same time, she said, just peace is violated because using drones does not allow for the ability to involve the people most impacted in dia- logue, fails to build right re- lationships and does not lead to sustainable peace. Stephen Schneck, execu- tive director of the Francis- can Action Network, said he expects that violent re- taliation eventually will be carried out by "Iran and its allied groups against Ameri- cans and U.S. interests." "The danger is that So- leimani is, by all accounts, in essentially a Cabinet-lev- el position in the Iranian government," Schneck ex- plained. "His assassination would be akin to the Iranian government ordering an as- sassination on a U.S. Cabi- net member. What would we expect the U.S. response to be if in fact a U.S. Cabinet member was assassinated by a foreign government?" The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for more than a decade has raised questions about the moral- ity of drone warfare. In a pair of June 2018 presentations to the Interfaith Conference on Drone Warfare in Chicago, retired Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, cited numerous reasons for concern. Specifically, he pointed to the rapid growth in drone technology without adequate guidelines for their usage, the possibility of collateral damage, the disparity in the risk between the target and the remote operator and the possible lowering of the bar to use armed force. He said armed drones are "changing the nature of war- fare," requiring the bishops to raise moral concerns in order to protect human life. "We owe it to ourselves to keep asking the questions on the moral gravity involved in using drones for targeted killings. ... The use of at- tack drones in target killings should be inseparable from the question of whether it promotes peace and security around the world," he said. As for U.S. relations with Iran, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdio- cese of the Military Services, in June called on the Trump administration to seek "sus- tained dialogue" to resolve its differences with the Iranian government. In letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the arch- bishop, then the chairman of the bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, called for "a different approach" in order to head off war. The committee's new chairman, Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, cited Archbishop Broglio's letter in a brief statement Jan. 3 after Soleimani's kill- ing: "We raised our concern over the escalating tensions between the United States and Iran last summer which has only grown. Just passing the 53rd World Day of Peace, the church continues to pray for peace in our world, in- cluding a just and peaceful resolution to these growing hostilities between our two countries."
Morality of drone warfare weighed after U.S. attack on Iranian general
Bishops, religious orders, scholars consider the church's just war teachings
By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis led pilgrims in prayers for peace as tensions between the United States and Iran escalated following the assassination of a top Iranian general. Several days after Aya- tollah Ali Hosseini Khame- nei, Iran's supreme leader, warned of "harsh retaliation" for the Jan. 3 U.S. drone at- tack that killed General Qas- sem Soleimani, the pope said that "a terrible air of tension is felt in many parts of the world." "War only brings death and destruction. I call on all parties to keep alive the flame of dialogue and self- control and avoid the shad- ow of enmity," the pope said after praying the Angelus prayer with pilgrims gath- ered in St. Peter's Square Jan. 5. He then led the pilgrims in a moment of silent prayer so "that the Lord may give us the grace" of peace. The drone strike, which killed Soleimani and six oth- er people, including an Iraqi militia commander, caused a sharp escalation in already tense relations after Presi- dent Donald Trump pulled out of nuclear deal with Iran last year. In an interview with CNN, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended Trump's decision and said that Solei- mani "was actively plotting in the region to take actions, the big action as he described it, that would have put doz- ens if not hundreds of Ameri- can lives at risk. We know it was imminent." Shortly after the Iranian general's death, the United States deployed an addition- al 3,000 troops to the Middle East to stave off any retalia- tory attacks against forces in the region. However, the attack was seen by world leaders as an unnecessary provocation that could further destabilize the Middle East. Speaking to Vatican News Jan. 3, Archbishop Leo Boc- cardi, apostolic nuncio to Iran, said the assassination "creates apprehension and shows us how difficult it is to build and believe in peace." "The appeal is to lower tension, to call everyone to negotiation and to believe in dialogue knowing that, has history has always shown us, that war and weapons aren't the solution to the problems afflicting the world today," Archbishop Boccardi said.
Pope prays as U.S., Iran tensions mount
'I call on all parties to keep alive the flame of dialogue and self-control,' says Pope Francis
Archbishop Kurtz's schedule
Following is Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz's schedule for the coming weeks. Jan. 9 - Conclusion of Region 5 Bishops' Retreat, New Orleans. Jan. 10 - 8 a.m. Mass, Holy Family Church; 7 p.m. Confirmation for St. Agnes at Cathedral of the Assumption. Jan. 15 - Noon Kentucky Council of Churches Luncheon. Jan. 16 - Priests' Council Meeting, Pastoral Center. Jan. 17 - 8 a.m. Mass, Holy Family Church. Jan. 19 - 3 p.m. Pro-Life Mass, St. Martin of Tours Church. Jan. 20 - 10 a.m. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Service, Cathedral of the Assumption. Jan. 21 - 6 p.m. Confirmation for St. Charles Church in St. Mary, Ky., and St. Francis Xavier Church in Raywick, Ky., at St. Charles. Jan. 26 - 11 a.m. Confirmation, St. Augustine Church, Lebanon, Ky., and Holy Name of Mary Church, Calvary, Ky., at St. Augustine. Jan. 28 - 10 a.m. Catholic Schools Week Mass, St. Peter the Apostle Church; 6 p.m. Confirmation, St. Stephen Martyr Church.
Two priests receive new pastoral appointments
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz has made the follow- ing appointments: Father Michael O. Ajayi has been named pastor of Emmanuel Church in Alba- ny, Ky., and of Holy Cross Church in Burkesville, Ky, effective Jan. 7. Father Ajayi was born in Nigeria and studied at the University of Ibadan and at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Major Seminary in Ibadan, Nigeria. He was ordained in the Osogbo Diocese in Nigeria on Jan. 6, 1999. Father Ajayi served in five parishes in Osun State, Nigeria. He arrived in the Archdio- cese of Louisville in January of 2019. He resided at St. Joseph Church while doing a clinical pastoral educa- tion program and served as a chaplain at University of Louisville Hospital. Father Robert L. Stuempel was appointed administrator pro-tempore of St. Athanasius Church, effective Jan. 4. Father Stuempel has served as pastor of St. Law- rence Church, St. Michael Church in Fairfield, Ky., All Saints Church in Taylors- ville, Ky., and St. Bernard Church. Father Stuempel also served as associate pas- tor of St. Leonard, Holy Trin- ity, St. Edward, Holy Family, St. Pius X and St. Albert the Great churches. Father Stuempel was or- dained on May 24, 1975.
Official
Sister of Charity of Nazareth Mary Regina Atkins dies
Ursuline Sister Clara Reid, an educator, dies at 80 Sister Maureen Coughlin, an educator, dies at 92
Sister of Charity of Naza- reth Mary Regina Atkins, formerly Sister Mary Mark, died Dec. 30 at Nazareth Home. She was 86 and had been a Sister of Charity of Nazareth for 65 years. Sister Atkins, a native of Louisville, Ky., served in ed- ucation and social services in Kentucky and Ohio. In the Archdiocese of Lou- isville, Sister Atkins served as an elementary school teacher at St. Joseph School in Bardstown, Ky., at the old St. Cecilia School and St. Martha School in Louisville. She also served at Catholic Charities of Louisville's Of- fice of Migration and Refugee Services and in healthcare at Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital. Sister Atkins served her community in the office of mission advancement and in community service. She is survived by her sis- ter Catherine Bohn, mem- bers of her extended family and religious community. A Mass of Christian Buri- al was celebrated Jan. 3 in St. Vincent Church followed by burial in Nazareth Cem- etery. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the SCN Office of Mission Advance- ment, P.O. Box 9, Nazareth, Ky., 40048. Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph Clara Reid died Dec. 29. She was 80 and had been an Ursuline sister for 60 years. Sister Reid, a native of Holy Cross, Ky., served as an educator for 50 years, minis- tering in Albuquerque, N.M., and Grants, N.M., Owens- boro, Ky., and Mayfield, Ky. She is survived by her siblings Carolyn Downs of Louisville, Ky., Bernadette Bryan of New Haven, Ky., Marcella Bartley, Stanley Reid and Helman Reid of Loretto, Ky., nieces, nephews and members of her religious community. A funeral Mass was cele- brated Jan. 3 at Mount Saint Joseph. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Jo- seph, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, Ky., 42356. Sister of Charity of Naza- reth Maureen Coughlin (for- merly Sister Maureen Fran- cis) died at Nazareth Home on Dec. 27. She was 92 and had been a Sister of Charity of Nazareth for 69 years. Sister Coughlin, a native of Brockton, Mass., served as an educator in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio. In the Archdiocese of Louisville, she served in the education department at Spalding Uni- versity as director of student teaching from 1990 to 2007. She served as principal of Presentation Academy from 1979 to 1988. She also served as a teach- er at Most Blessed Sacra- ment School and St. Agnes School, where she also served as assistant principal and principal. She is survived by her brother William Francis Coughlin, her extended fam- ily and her religious com- munity. A Mass of Christian Buri- al was celebrated Dec. 31 in St. Vincent Church followed by burial in Nazareth Cem- etery. Memorial gifts may be sent to the SCN Office of Mission Advancement, P.O. Box 9, Nazareth, Ky, 40048.
Obituaries
Ed
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sisters call on Catholics to advocate for systemic immigration reform
To the Editor: Our Catholic social teach- ing compels us to speak out during National Migration Week (Jan. 5-11) for a more inclusive society that sup- ports and respects all its resi- dents. Despite the fact that Louisville has a rich heritage of welcoming newcomers, including immigrants, refu- gees, and newly naturalized citizens, we find our city is facing a real problem. That problem, in a nut- shell, is characterized by an increasing tendency that some may have to see new- comers as burdens rather than as people who are our sisters and brothers. In the spirit of the theme for this year's Migration Week, "Promoting a Church and a World for All," and, in remembrance of the Holy Family's flight to Egypt, we reject dismissing or isolating the stranger. Our current immigration system is morally broken, and so all of us need to advo- cate Congress for systemic immigration reform that honors the innate dignity of all human persons. Also, more individuals are needed to provide direct care to im- migrants right here in Lou- isville. We stand in prayerful soli- darity with all newcomers and realize that, not only as Christians do we have a duty to serve them, we also have much to learn from them. Sisters of Loretto and Loretto Co-members The Leadership of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth The Leadership of Ursuline Sisters and Associates of Louisville
DEC. 19, 2019 PUZZLE SOLVED
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