Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell has condemned the “indiscriminate use of force against civilians”, saying that the binding moral and international legal standards of the Geneva Conventions are clearly being violated, over and over again.
In his homily at Mass for the Diplomatic Corps on World Day of Peace, at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Ballyroan, Dublin, he said, “We gather against a backdrop of unrelenting war, a backdrop that is even darker this year because of its most recent outbreak – the conflict in the land where Jesus was born.”
In other parts of the world, the many conflicts amount to what has been rightly described as a “piecemeal world war”, he added, referencing “the cynical Russian war against Ukraine, the dangerous local and regional conflicts in the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa”.
Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin at St Patrick’s cathedral regretted that the new year has opened to the ongoing bombing, death and destruction in Gaza and Ukraine.
“If ever we needed a reminder of the importance of hope, and of making resolutions to improve our world, we only have to read, watch or listen to any news report today,” he said. “International humanitarian law is clear that the use of lethal weapons in any war situation must not be disproportionate nor lead to the wholesale destruction of crucial infrastructure that is essential for the protection of human life and dignity.”
His message was echoed by the Association of Catholic Priests, which said, “We say as clearly and definitively as we can: war is evil; the agents of war are acting on behalf of evil. War does not solve problems, it only deepens hatred, division, enmity, and becomes the seedbed of future wars. The war in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, and the many wars around the world, must cease now.”
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