The leaders of the member churches of the National Council of Churches in Australia today expressed deep grief and sorrow at what is now unfolding in Iraq.
Jesus urged his followers to be peacemakers. He spoke in favour of love, justice and hope for the world. The Christian gospel counsels us to pursue human reconciliation and peace, and, as far as possible, to avoid violence as a means of settling disputes.
The commencement of war is an admission of failure. Yet another new century begins with bloodshed and destruction as a means of solving our problems.
War will always be problematic for Christian people. We confess as members of the Australian community that we have not sufficiently addressed matters that have led to the present situation. We now appreciate the folly of the supply of weapons and technology by many countries to dictators, and the inadequacy of United Nations action in the 1990s; the UN sanctions have not been appropriately controlled, and this has resulted in serious harm to the Iraqi people.
We pray that this war may end with minimal bloodshed. We pray for the people of Iraq, and for all who are caught up in this conflict. We wish to assure Australia's Defence Force personnel in Iraq and their families at home of our prayers and our wholehearted support in this time of great fear and tension. We recognise that many in our community are troubled, and reaffirm the hope God gives us in the face of human fear.
Australia and the world must learn a lesson from this situation.
The Iraqi people have lived under injustice and brutality for the past 30 years. We pray that they may experience justice and peace in the near future, and be able to contribute to the work for justice and peace of the world community.
We call upon Christians, Muslims and all people of goodwill in Australia to support the joint appeal of our own Christian World Service and the Muslim Aid that will be given directly as aid to the Iraqi people of all faiths. We reaffirm that this is not to be seen as a war between Christianity and Islam and must not be exploited as such. We are all children of God and our joint vocation now is to work for the good of all humanity. There is no place for religious hate or discrimination.
Given the Prime Minister's statement that the present war is only a first step towards the restoration of justice, peace and human dignity in Iraq, we now call upon the Australian government to invest in peace and to provide humanitarian aid to assist in the rebuilding of Iraq of at least twice the cost of the Australian involvement in the war.
We hope all Christian people will attend church next Sunday to pray for justice and peace.
Issued on 21 March 2003 on behalf of the Member Churches of the National Council of Churches in Australia.
For further information:
Contact the Revd John Henderson:
General Secretary - National Council of Churches in Australia
Tel: (02) 9299 2215 Mob: 0419 224 935
