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The heavy toll of war

01 Nov 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday's reading from the Book of Revelation speaks of "the ones who have survived the time of great distress." The longstanding wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as their impact on Pakistan, the United States, and Western allies, have brought great distress in their wake. This past week has been exceptionally violent, with massive suicide bombings in Iraq and Pakistan and high U.S. and United Nations casualties in Afghanistan. On Sunday a pair of suicide car bombings devastated the heart of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, killing at least 147 people in the country's deadliest attack in more than two years. The bombs targeted two government buildings and called into question Iraq's ability to protect its people as U.S. forces withdraw. Two helicopter crashes in Afghanistan killed 14 Americans on Monday, the bloodiest single day for U.S. casualties in more than four years. And Tuesday, October became the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the eight-year-old Afghan war when two bombs killed eight soldiers and an interpreter in separate attacks. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned as "despicable and brutal" an attack on a U.N. guest house in the Afghan capital of Kabul by Taliban militants wearing suicide vests and police uniforms. The attack killed 11 people, including five U.N. staff. It was the biggest in a series of attacks in the capital Wednesday intended to undermine next month's presidential runoff election. The attack on the guesthouse was the worst on the U.N. in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime. The chief of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said the attack "will not deter the U.N. from continuing all its work" in the country. One of the dead was an American, the U.S. embassy said. Also on Wednesday a car bomb struck a busy market in the city of Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 100 people--mostly women and children. The Pakistani government blamed militants seeking to avenge an army offensive launched this month against al-Qaida and the Taliban in their stronghold close to the Afghan border. Source: Articles by Riaz Khan, Rahim Faiez, and Amir Shah for the Associated Press, Joshua Partlow for the Washington Post, BBC News, and CBS News

iraq war peshawar kabul bombings kai eide baghdad united nations ban ki-moon afghanistan war pakistan
Old wounds bring new pain in Northern Ireland

29 Aug 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“The just rejoice and exult before God,” we hear in this Sunday’s psalm. There is little rejoicing in Great Britain this week on news of what appears to have been a grave injustice during the height of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. A Northern Ireland police ombudsman’s report revealed there had been collusion between the Catholic Church and the government to prevent the questioning of a priest who was a prime suspect in a series of bombings in Northern Ireland nearly 40 years ago. Nine people, including three children, died in those explosions in the village of Claudy in July, 1972. The report determined that Father James Chesney was a prime suspect in a blasts in Claudy, just outside of Londonderry, but that the police chose not to pursue him even though a bomb-sniffing dog at one point detected explosives in the priest’s car. Instead, the report reveals, then-secretary of state for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw met in private with the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal William Conway, and talked about the possibility of transferring Chesney to the Irish Republic, thus shielding him from further investigation or questioning. Authorities apparently feared that arresting a priest over the bombing would only further inflame sectarian division in the region. After the meeting, Chesney was quietly transferred to the Irish Republic and never questioned. Current Cardinal Sean Brady of Ireland said this week that he regretted that the bombing had not been fully investigated at the time but asked that his predecessor’s actions be seen in the context of the summer of 1972. “Cardinal Conway did what he believed to be right in the situation,” said Brady. “He was faced with an impossible situation, but his primary consideration would be the prevention of any further acts of violence.” The Catholic Church in Ireland has denied engaging in a cover-up of Chesney's alleged involvement. All the key figures involved at the time are now dead. The attack was never solved and no one was ever charged. With release of the report, family members of the victims expressed deep disappointment at what was done and called for a wider inquiry. Source: Articles by Eric Westervelt for NPR and the Associated Press

sean brady bombings northern ireland claudy james chesney william conway
Cargo shipments latest terrorist target

07 Nov 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s second reading promises that the Lord will “guard you from the evil one.” It appears that a Yemen-based plot to bomb U.S.-bound cargo planes was disrupted at the last moment by an al Qaeda defector who was once a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. He alerted Saudi officials to the plot to bomb planes headed to Chicago, and intelligence agencies managed to find bombs hidden in planes in Dubai and London before they took off. Informant Jabr al-Faifi is reportedly one of several former detainees at Guantanamo Bay who were returned to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation in December, 2006. After the rehabilitation program he rejoined al-Qaeda in Yemen before deciding he wanted to go home to Saudi Arabia for good. He turned himself in to Saudi authorities several weeks ago and apparently brought with him news of the bomb plot underway. The foiling of the plot was a sobering reminder to officials around the world that quick response to timely intelligence rules the day. Despite the billions of dollars governments have spent on elaborate airport technology to guard against terrorism threats, the packages would probably have been loaded onto the planes had it not been for the intelligence tip. “We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you are doing and will continue to do,” says the author of 2 Thessalonians. That has not been the case with regard to 2007 legislation that mandated all air cargo to be inspected before it is loaded onto passenger planes. As of the August, 2010 deadline for compliance, only about 65 percent of the cargo headed to the United States on passenger planes from abroad is inspected--and a far smaller proportion coming to the U.S. on all cargo flights is physically checked, because these planes are not subject to the mandate. Even when the cargo is checked, air carriers in certain countries use equipment like X-ray detection devices or a visual check by an airport worker that often cannot identify packages with bombs because the small amount of explosive material needed can be carefully hidden inside a routine electronic device like a computer printer. Both bombs used in the latest plot were hidden inside printer toner cartridges and contained the powerful plastic explosive PETN, which is difficult to detect. Source: Articles by Kim Ghattas for BBC News and Mark Mazzetti, Robert F. Worth, and Eric Lipton for the New York Times

terrorism al qaeda bombings cargo planes yemen jabr al-faifi
The two Koreas study war some more

28 Nov 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

At the advent of a new church year this Sunday we are treated to the prophet Isaiah’s poetic and inspiring promise of a world one day at peace: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” Events on the Korean peninsula this week suggest that long-awaited day has not yet arrived. South Korea Tuesday threatened to retaliate for North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean island military installation, while U.S. officials scrambled to avert any catastrophic escalation of hostilities after one of the most serious confrontations on the Korean peninsula in decades. The North’s surprise bombing of the instillation, which killed two soldiers, burned homes, and injured 19 people, sent South Koreans fleeing the west-coast island of Yeonpyeong as their government put the air force on high alert and declared that North Korea would face massive retaliation if it launched further attacks. President Obama and South Korea’s president agreed Tuesday night to hold joint military exercises as a first response to the shelling, as both countries struggled for the second time this year to keep a North Korean provocation from escalating into war. U.S. officials and allies also began trying to round up support for a United Nations Security Council statement that would condemn Pyongyang's action, diplomats said. Analysts see the North’s attack in part as the lashing out of an increasingly isolated and impoverished nation demanding to be taken seriously on the world stage. “The regime wants respect,” says analyst Jean H. Lee, adding that the decision to show off a new uranium enrichment plant to a U.S. scientist recently was a clear ploy to pressure Washington and Seoul and remind the allies that the North expects to be taken seriously. Source: Articles by Paul Richter and John M. Glionna for the Los Angeles Times, Jean H. Lee for the Associated Press, Hack Kim and Lee Jae-won for Reuters, Sunny Yang, Mimi Hall, and Tom Vanden Brook for USA TODAY, and David E. Sanger and Mark McDonald for the New York Times

north korea south korea yeonpyeong jean h lee bombing
Iranian uranium leads to highly charged relations

15 Jan 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday’s gospel Jesus asks a pointed question of the disciples of John the Baptist who are following him: "What are you looking for?" Diplomatic observers are worriedly asking the same of Iran as the country continues to challenge the West. Iran sentenced a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen to death Monday, allegedly for spying for the CIA. When Western governments announced tighter sanctions on the import of Iranian oil in response to that country’s continued development of nuclear enrichment materials, Iran responded by threatening to close the straits of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil shipping route. Further escalating tensions, an Iranian nuclear scientist was killed Wednesday by a car bomb, likely part of a covert war against Iran’s nuclear program. The sentence against the American, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, 28, a former U.S. Marine, became a new point of contention and possible bargaining leverage in Iran’s struggle against the West over it nuclear development. A tightening vise of sanctions, which threaten vital oil sales and with them the nation’s economy, has left Tehran feeling besieged and has plunged relations with the United States and its allies to their lowest levels since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. “This whole case is very politically motivated,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, an advocacy group based in New York City that has been monitoring Hekmati’s case. “There’s absolutely no evidence against him.” Iranian officials accused the U.S. and Israel of being behind the car bomb that killed 32-year-old chemical engineer Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan. The fifth daylight attack on technical experts in two years, the magnetic bomb delivered a targeted blast to the door of Ahmadi-Roshan's car during Wednesday's morning rush-hour. His driver also died, Iranian media said, and a passerby was slightly hurt. The assassination comes a day after the head of Israel's military told parliament that 2012 "will be a critical year in the connection between Iran gaining nuclear power, changes in leadership, continuing pressure from the international community, and events that happen unnaturally." It follows other similarly cagey comments from top Israeli officials in recent months as well as remarks from former officials who said foreign intelligence agencies are responsible for the deadly attacks. "There are countries who impose economic sanctions and there are countries who act in other ways," Israel's Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor said late last year. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his country's nuclear program as he began a four-nation tour of Latin America this week, joining his ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in accusing the U.S. and its allies of using the dispute to unjustly threaten Iran. Sources: Articles by Ian James for the Associated Press, Rick Gladstoneand Harvey Morris for the New York Times, and Alexander Marquardt for ABC News

nuclear power mostafa ahmadi-roshan hadi ghaemi amir mirzaei hekmati mahmoud ahmadinejad assassination bombings iran united states dan meridor
Clinton makes historic visit to long-suffering Laos

15 Jul 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist promises this Sunday that the time will come when “justice and peace shall kiss.” The people of Laos, a nation that suffered greatly when caught in the superpower crossfire of the Vietnam War, hope that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit this week—the first by a top U.S. official since 1955—signals a new era of peaceful cooperation.The U.S., looking for closer ties with Laos, may need to ask for some “forgiveness of transgressions,” in the words of the second reading. The U.S. dropped more than 2 million tons of bombs on this tiny and impoverished country between 1964 and 1973—about a ton of explosives for each Laotian man, woman, and child, and more bombs per capita than any population in history has had to endure.Four decades later American weapons are still claiming lives. More than 20,000 people have been killed by unexploded ordnance in post-war Laos, according to its government, with many thousands more maimed, and contamination throughout the country is a major barrier to agricultural development. Sources: Articles by USA TODAY and the Associated Press

vietnam war bombing hillary rodham clinton laos ordnance
Shock and grief in wake of Boston bombings

21 Apr 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me,” says Jesus in the “Good Shepherd” Sunday gospel, while "Exploring the Word" author Alice Camille reminds readers that “The shepherd calls you.” In the frantic aftermath of the deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon on Monday, so many people tried to call loved ones at the same time that cell phone towers in the area were overwhelmed and many calls were blocked.The twin bombs that were detonated at the finish line of the iconic marathon killed three people and wounded more than 170. Of those who “survived the time of great distress,” in the words of the second reading, many of the injured lost limbs as a result of the shrapnel-packed bombs.In the ensuing panic a large number of people were not able to get through to their family and friends on cell phones. Sprint spokesman Mark Elliott said thousands of calls made at the same time overwhelmed cell towers in the area. “There’s no way the network can handle that kind of traffic.” It took many tense hours for service to begin to rebound.As the whirlwind investigation into the deadly bombings continued midweek, reports emerged that investigators had located key video images of an unidentified man or men leaving a large black bag on the ground near the site of the second of two explosions at the race. Efforts were underway to identify and locate suspects.President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to an interfaith memorial ceremony in Boston on Thursday. “The way that the people of Boston and the city of Boston responded reminds us—and reminds the world—of just who we are as a people,” spokesman Jay Carney said leading up to the presidential visit.Homily hint: When terror and tragedy strike, people pull together and communities of faith are front and center in providing support, care, and compassion to victims. This week’s events will be on the hearts and minds of your congregation this weekend. Invite creative responses that express your support and solidarity. Sources: Articles by Michael B. Farrell and Erin Ailworth for the Boston Globe,Howard LaFranchi for the Christian Science Monitor, and the Associated Press

cell phones bombings boston marathon mark elliott sprint
To forgive or not to forgive?

28 Apr 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Jesus is simple and direct in giving a new commandment to his disciples in this week’s gospel: “Love one another.” Religious perspectives on love, forgiveness, and punishment are one of the themes playing out in the aftermath of last week’s acts of terror in Boston. In a memorial Mass, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston called on worshippers to “build a civilization of love” through forgiveness. Rabbi David Wolpe, on the other hand, wrote an editorial piece saying that “forgiveness is immoral if it in any way mitigates the punishment due.”In his homily last Sunday at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, O’Malley said it was difficult to understand “what demons were operative” in the minds of brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev or in their politics “or the perversion of their religion.” “It was amazing to witness, however, how much goodness and generosity were evidenced in our community as a result of this tragedy,” he said.After reflecting on aspects of the lives of the Tsarnaev brothers that have been reported, O’Malley said that the “individualism and alienation of our age [have] spawned a culture of death.”He decried actions that “have coarsened us and made us more insensitive to the pain and suffering of others” and chastised the U.S. Congress for its inability to pass stricter gun control laws, calling it “emblematic of the pathology of our violent culture. It is only a culture of life and an ethic of love that can rescue us from the senseless violence that inflicts so much suffering on society,” he said.O’Malley also told those in attendance that they should be people “of reconciliation, not revenge” and that the Tsarnaevs' alleged crimes should not be justification for prejudice against Muslims and immigrants. “Forgiveness does not mean that we do not realize the heinousness of the crime. But in our own hearts when we are unable to forgive we make ourselves a victim of our own hatred,” he said. “Obviously as a Catholic I oppose the death penalty, which I think is one further manifestation of the culture of death in our midst.” Wolpe, rabbi of Sinai temple in Los Angeles and a popular author, wrote that “forgiveness is immoral if it in any way mitigates the punishment due to the brother who remains, and any who may have helped him.” “To the perpetrators all we can say is that their task is to spend whatever time they have left in this world to work toward a forgiveness they can never earn and will never deserve. That is the honor we pay to pain and the dignified response we offer to evil. Seek to understand; help those who are wounded to heal; but do not cheapen the horror with easy words of forgiveness. The beginning of sanity is the recognition that some acts are unforgivable,” Wolpe wrote.Homily hint: The views expressed by Cardinal O’Malley and Rabbi Wolpe provide a good point-counterpoint on the question of how to respond to evil acts. Are some acts truly unforgivable? Are any but those directly affected by an evil act in a position to judge? What does God call us to do in such situations? These are hard questions, perhaps impossible to answer fully, but nonetheless important to ask as people of faith.Editorial note: From a Christian point of view, Rabbi Wolpe's words are troubling. Can forgiveness ever be "immoral"? Can a follower of Christ—who forgave his killers—really believe that "some acts are truly unforgivable"? Do Rabbi Wolpe's words in fact "cheapen" the power of forgiveness for both perpetrators and victims? Can any of us ever "earn" or "deserve" forgiveness, which is actually a gift? —Joel Schorn, Managing Editor Sources: Articles by Michael A. Memoli for the Los AngelesTimes and Rabbi David Wolpe for the Washington Post

Forgiveness sean omalley bombings david wolpe boston
Quote of the week

16 Oct 2016 - Preaching the News for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

“The principle that hospitals and army medical personnel are not a legitimate target in war . . . is in ruins . . . with the bombing of hospitals by the Russians in Syria, the Saudis in Yemen, and the Americans in Afghanistan.” —Paul Mason, “If we don't act now, all future wars may be as horrific as Aleppo”

bombing of hospitals
Fact of the week

16 Oct 2016 - Preaching the News for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

So far this year, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), 21 of their supported medical facilities in Yemen and Syria have been attacked. The Guardian

bombing of hospitals