With the possible exceptions of Pope Benedict XVI’S new appeal for peace in Gaza (CR, Jan. 8) and the rebuke of Israel over the conditions in Gaza by Cardinal Renato Martino, the head of the Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice, Catholic groups and organizations and their church leaders have been unbelievably subdued and disproportionately lacking in their response to the horrific conditions in Gaza. Religious leaders in the United States are more concerned with being politically correct and less concerned with Israel’s military attack on the United Nations school in Gaza where dozens of innocent civilians and children were killed. Does the biblical command: “Thou shall not kill” apply to this area?
Catholic leaders are morally correct to defend life and to be pro-life. But is God’s love for humanity exhausted by the abortion issue? Are the civilians on both sides of the Gaza conflict children of a lesser god? Where is the moral outrage?