Catholic fathers of the ongoing ‘defeat for humanity’ in Iraq

The neo-conservative vision of a permanent military presence in Iraq is crumbling under the weight of 3000 US military casualties and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths.  Those Catholics who helped enable the implementation of this vision, many through the misguided presumption that Republicans would do more to protect life before birth here at home, now bear some responsibility for the carnage that has resulted.

December 11 marked the six-year anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Bush v Gore that gave the office of president to George Bush and the Republicans.  As the US military death toll in Iraq hits 3000, it is worth remembering those people who played a significant part in enabling the bloodbath in Iraq that Pope John Paul II predicted would be “a defeat for humanity.”  It’s often said that ‘success has many fathers,’ but the four-year slaughter in Iraq is most certainly not an orphan.

Perhaps first among the conscienceless is Justice Clarence Thomas, who declined to recuse himself from the election proceedings despite having been appointed by Mr. Bush’s father and despite his wife’s being an employee of the Bush Campaign.  Justice Thomas bears partial responsibility for the hundreds of thousands of deaths in Iraq.

Equally culpable is Justice Antonin Scalia, who indicated his intent to put Mr. Bush in office even before oral arguments were heard by the Supreme Court.  Justice Scalia, a Catholic like Justice Thomas, now bears partial responsibility for the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Iraq.

Justices Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O’Connor and William Rehnquist rounded out the 5-4 majority that determined per curiam that all the recounts in Florida had to cease.  The subsequent recounts by news organizations demonstrated that a clear plurality of Florida voters had supported the Democratic candidate.  A Gore presidency never would have invaded Iraq, kidnapped its leader in violation of international law, and overseen a vast civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.  Justice Kennedy, also a Catholic and a continuing member of the Court, bears partial responsibility for the slaughter that has ensued in that forsaken country.

There are many other well-intentioned Catholics who played a role in keeping President Bush in office, with all the subsequent killing that resulted from their successful efforts.  Archbishop Raymond Burke in St. Louis and Archbishop Charles Chaput in Denver made public statements utilizing Holy Communion as a political weapon to support President Bush’s reelection.  The unintended consequence of their actions is the persistence of a recalcitrant Administration that will broach no possibility of bringing US troops home from the civil war they are inflaming. 

Fr. Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, played a significant role in providing moral cover for Mr. Bush among Catholics by promoting the Bush Presidency through both national elections, despite the virtual absence of any significant progress under this Administration toward dealing with continued high rates of abortion in America.  The unintended consequences of Fr. Pavone’s promoting a myth of moral virtue under this Administration is to hide their record of torture, unilateral war, and the further impoverishment of the least well-off in America. 

As the new year comes upon us, we Catholic Christians are called to remember that Jesus identified with the victims of the world and not with those who kill.  Our Christian faith dictates that the ends cannot justify the means.  No matter how well-meaning a Supreme Court justice or a Church leader may be, they should hold themselves to account for the destruction they have helped spread in our troubled world.