‘Ends never justify means’ says forces bishop after US strikes in Caribbean

‘No one can ever be ordered to commit an immoral act, and even those suspected of committing a crime are entitled to due process under the law,’ said Archbishop Timothy Broglio.

The Archbishop for the US Military Services demanded respect for human life and the rule of law amid growing concerns about the legality of attacks on boats in the Caribbean.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio issued a statement on 3 December condemning the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats which it claims come from Venezuela and Colombia.  

“In the fight against drugs, the end never justifies the means, which must be moral, in accord with the principles of the just war theory, and always respectful of the dignity of each human person,” he said, after US forces attacked one boat twice, killing survivors.

“As the moral principle forbidding the intentional killing of noncombatants is inviolable, it would be an illegal and immoral order to kill deliberately survivors on a vessel who pose no immediate lethal threat to our armed forces.”

He acknowledged that “dismantling the powerful criminal networks responsible for the flow of illegal substances into our nation is a necessary and laudable task”, but insisted that “no one can ever be ordered to commit an immoral act, and even those suspected of committing a crime are entitled to due process under the law”.

“We do not know if every sailor on a vessel presumed to be carrying illegal drugs knows the nature of the cargo,” Broglio said. “We do know that there is a legal way to intercept a suspicious vessel, board it, and have members of the Coast Guard on hand who have the authority to make arrests.”

This rare intervention from Broglio came amid several rebukes of the Trump administration by different bishops. On 5 December, the chair of the US bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation criticised “dehumanising language” after President Trump called Somali immigrants “garbage” during a cabinet meeting at the White House on 2 December,

Bishop Daniel Garcia of Austin, Texas said: “I call on all – public officials, community leaders and individuals – to refrain from denigrating and dehumanising language. May we recognise the rich gifts that neighbours from diverse cultures bring to our communities … I pray that together, we can be people of welcome, respect, and understanding.”

In Louisiana, Bishop Michael Duca of Baton Rouge lifted the Sunday obligation for those fearing deportation. The dispensation, announced on 4 December, remains “valid until the individual Catholic determines it is safe to attend Mass again or this dispensation is revoked or amended”. He said that “those who choose to stay at home should gather as a family and spend time in prayer to keep the Lord’s Day holy”.

In Dedham, Massachusetts, St Susanna Parish presented a Nativity scene without Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but with a sign saying “ICE was here” in the manger and a contact number for a group monitoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Fr Stephen Josoma said it was a parish tradition to use the Nativity scene to “hold the mirror up to what’s happening, and this year, my God, it seemed to be right there in front of us”. Annually, the parish’s Peace and Justice group highlights national and global issues, including gun violence and climate change.

Josoma described ICE deportation raids, especially ahead of Christmas, as “a cruel policy, and we can do a lot better as a country dealing with the many issues that face us”. He said members of the congregation have worked on resettling immigrants and migrants, including some they have welcomed to the parish.

The Archdiocese of Boston rebuked the parish in a statement, saying it had not received permission to “place a politically divisive display outside the church”, directing that it “be removed, and the manger restored to its proper sacred purpose”.

“The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship – not divisive political messaging,” it said. “The Church’s norms prohibit the use of sacred objects for any purpose other than the devotion of God’s people. This includes images of the Christ Child in the manger, which are to be used solely to foster faith and devotion.”

More than one third of the roughly 222,000 people ICE agents arrested in the first nine months of the Trump administration had no criminal history, according to data from the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley.

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