Us Troops In Mortal Sin? Supporting Troops Also Sinful?

[ironmonk]

Came across this when looking for something else....


[b]Q: A person said to me, "Because John Paul II said the war in Iraq is immoral, all who die fighting in it are damned to hell." Is this true?[/b]

A: Despite a widespread misperception to the contrary, John Paul never actually said that the Iraq War was unjust. He did issue strong exhortations to find peaceful solutions and also cautioned against going to war apart from the conditions that render a war just. Whether those conditions were fulfilled or not in this case he did not say.

The Catechism indicates that whether a situation measures up to the conditions for a just war ultimately falls to the temporal leaders who have competence and responsibility in such matters. "The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good" (CCC 2309).

Catholics can be in favor of the war or against it without being condemned to hell for their stance on it.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) noted in a 2004 memorandum:

If a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty (Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion 3).

It is categorically false to say that soldiers commit mortal sin by fighting in Iraq or that they are going to hell.

[url="http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2005/0507qq.asp"]http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2005/0507qq.asp[/url]


God Bless,
ironmonk