Is There Room At The Inn For The Prince Of Peace In A War Economy?

This entry is my reaction to an exceptional article written by Tony Magliano entitled "2 bishops dialog with Catholic peace activists" on page 20 in Catholic San Francisco.  "On the evening of Nov. 12, several blocks away from the Waterfront Marriott Hotel [in Baltimore, Maryland USA], where the [United States Catholic bishops] were meeting, Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis and Bishop John Michael Botean head of the Romanian Catholic eparchy (diocese) of St. George in Canton, Ohio, sat down with us to dialogue about war making, peacemaking, poverty and military chaplains in light of the teachings of the compassionate nonviolent Jesus." [1]

The quoted introductory words set the stage for this comment by Martha Hennessy, granddaughter of Dorothy Day:

"Based on my understanding of my grandmother's life, I would conclude that priests should not serve in the military, as one cannot serve Christ and the chain of command at the same time.  Part of a chaplain's job is to make soldiers feel OK about doing their job, which is to kill, which Christ said we can't do." [2]

Martha Hennessy's comment two-sentence comment packed so much power that it became a knockout punch for me.  When I done reading it I was in a daze, and wordless.  And wordless I remain. 

Tony Mogliano continued to write that "Hennessy added that Dorothy Day would not have approved of the earlier bishops' dinner hosted by the Archdiocese for the Military Services -- with military recruiters lobbying the bishops to send more chaplains." and that "[s]he thought her grandmother would have said the bishops are being complicit with the permanent war economy." [3]

Hennessy's words cannot be refuted.

Tony Mogliano then quoted Bishop Botean who during the Iraq war wrote "that the war was 'objectively grave evil, a matter of mortal sin,'" and who said that "unfortunately the culture has more of an influence on the church than the Gospel." [4]

In the end, when Archbishop Tobin and Bishop Botean were asked "why the bishops during their annual meetings were not praying and dialoguing about how faithful or unfaithful of a witness they were giving - in light of our highly militaristic and unjust economy [5] - to the nonviolent Jesus who always sided with the poor and oppressed." [6]

They did not have an answer.  They will never have an answer because the bishops want the freedom of religion which the "highly militaristic and unjust economy" gives them lest they are willing to die as martyrs under a different regime where religious are frequently persecuted.  I doubt anyone of them is willing to give up their well-fed, well-housed, well-clothed lifestyle that is well-served by the laborers they hire and be martyred.

I suppose that the Prince of Peace whose birthday Christians celebrate in the USA in about two days would have no room at the Waterfront Marriott Hotel (inn) in Baltimore, Maryland.



[1] http://www.catholic-sf.org/files/digital_paper_201312105925.pdf
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] A militaristic economy and an unjust economy are both sides of the same coin.  Imagine if all the money that is being spent annually by all the countries in the world on developing weapons, maintaining a military and engaging in wars of greed and ideology around the globe is used to aid the oppressed and bring comfort, joy and peace of mind to each and every family, then the Prince of Peace will have a place in every home.  He would have no need to go to an inn.
[6] http://www.catholic-sf.org/files/digital_paper_201312105925.pdf