Gay Marriage

[vianney]

please be quiet. jk

[Guest Aluigi]

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (The Holy Office) issued a document which which officially and definitively shows that the Pope used no binding force upon Catholics in saying that the Iraqi war was unjust. Therefore his position against the war was a political one. The King of Spain can oppose a war without telling his people they must not agree with it. The head of the Vatican City State can oppose a war without telling his people they must not agree with it.

[quote]3. Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, 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, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.[/quote] -Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who in another time would be known as the Grand Inquisitor but is now the Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

I applaud the Holy Father's political ambitions to make the world more in line with Catholic morality by making them think about the Just War Doctrine of the Catholic Church. However, I do not believe the Iraqi war was unjust and have not been instructed by my Church to believe differently.