Jan. 19 (UPI) — The archbishops of Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Newark, N.J., on Monday issued a joint statement about U.S. foreign policy and how they compare to principles that have been set for by Pope Leo XIV.
Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, Washington Cardinal Robert McElroy and Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin issued the “strongly worded statement” a week and a half after the Pope shared thoughts on the topic with diplomats at the Vatican.
“As pastors entrusted with the teaching of our people, we cannot stand by while decisions are made that condemn millions to lives trapped permanently at the edge of existence,” Cupich said in a press release issued with the statement. “Pope Leo has given us clear direction and we must apply his teachings to the conduct or our nation and it’s leaders.”
The statement, titled “Charting a moral vision of American foreign policy” and signed by all three of the archbishops, raises concerns about the weakness of current international relations and that principles established after World War II to prevent another world war have “been completely undermined.”
The events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland, they wrote, raise questions about the use of military force, the meaning of peace and the role the United States plays in the world.
“The sovereign rights of nations to self-determination appear all too fragile in a world of ever greater conflagrations,” they wrote. “The balancing of national interest with the common good is being framed within starkly polarized terms. Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination.”
“And the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity’s well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies,” they wrote.
They continued that, in their official capacities, “we renounce war as an instrument for narrow national interests and proclaim that military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy.”
The archbishops noted that the debate on the moral foundation of U.S. policies “is beset by polarization, partisanship and narrow economic and social interests” and that U.S. foreign policy should be aimed at respecting and advancing the right to life and dignity.
Specifically, the archbishops called on economic assistance to become a more prominent tool in the country’s foreign policy.
The three archbishop’s statement echoed — and quoted — a speech given by Pope Leo, who is the first American-born pope, to an audience of diplomats at the Vatican, where he called into question U.S. foreign policy.
“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies,” the Pope told diplomats in early January. “War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading.”
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