What is the Archdiocese for the Military Services? The archdiocese for the military services is a separate diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. Archbishop O'Brien, who has recently been reassigned Archbishop of Baltimore, has been the shepherd of over 1000 priests in the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. Altogether, these priests serve about 1.4 million Catholics in the military, veteran hospitals and overseas government operations.

Why are we here today? We are here today as people of faith who believe that Jesus teaches us to be nonviolent, to love our enemies, to love one another. We believe that the nonviolent Jesus would never want us to kill others; not on the streets of Washington or Baltimore nor on the streets of Iraq or Afghanistan . We are here to urge the Archbishop and the chaplains to counsel US soldiers to refuse to fight, refuse to kill, and leave the military immediately. We are here to urge the military chaplains to oppose the war and resign their commissions.

The war against Iraq is criminal, immoral and has been declared illegal by the United Nations. This war has continued for 16 years and has resulted in the deaths of over two million Iraqi people. The architects of this war have used brutal methods of torture, which have now become justified as a method of war. The US has used munitions made with depleted uranium which is a radioactive and chemical poison, causing cancers and birth defects to all who are exposed to it, including US soldiers. This radioactive poison will continue to kill for generations to come.

What does one military chaplain say about serving in uniform :

Father George Zabelka, a Catholic chaplain with the U.S. Air Force, served as a priest for the airmen who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. “Now, brothers and sisters, on the anniversary of this terrible atrocity carried out by Christians, I must be the first to say that I made a terrible mistake. I was had by the father of lies.
“All I can say today is that I was wrong. Christ would not be the instrument to unleash such horror on his people. Therefore no follower of Christ can legitimately unleash the horror of war on God's people.”

What does Bishop John Michael Botean say about the current war in Iraq?

“…any direct participation and support of this war against the people of Iraq is objectively grave evil, a matter of mortal sin. Beyond a reasonable doubt this war is morally incompatible with the Person and Way of Jesus Christ.” ( Bishop Botean is with the Romanian Catholic Diocese )

What did Pope John Paul II say about this war the US is waging in Iraq ?
"No, never again war, which destroys the lives of innocent people, teaches how to kill, throws into upheaval even the lives of those who do the killing and leaves behind a trail of resentment and hatred, thus making it all the more difficult to find a just solution of the very problems which provoked the war." (1991 encyclical letter Centesimus annus)

What can we do?

1. We can begin to teach nonviolence as a way of life in all Catholic parishes.
2. We can orient our church to become a peace church, agreeing never to kill.
3. We can ask that chaplains and priests who serve the military not be part of the military
4. We can urge chaplains to teach the tenets of our faith: No, never again war! Love your enemies! Love one another!