- Feb 5, 2002
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ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM BELGIUM (CNS) — Using disproportionate force after being attacked is immoral, Pope Francis said.
There are rules, even in war, that should be followed, he said. And when those rules are not adhered to you can see, “as we say in Argentina, the ‘bad blood'” or bad intentions behind the actions.
The U.S. reporter had prefaced the question by saying Israel, in its targeted strike assassinating Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had dropped tons of explosives on Lebanon, resulting in many casualties and displacing hundreds of people, which prompted the pope to put his hand to his face in a show of despair.
“Has Israel perhaps gone too far in Lebanon and Gaza?” the reporter asked.
The pope replied that he speaks every day by phone with the people who have been sheltering in Gaza’s Catholic church, “and they tell me about the things that are happening, even the cruelty that happens there.”
He said he was not sure about what really happened in Lebanon, but he said a nation’s “defense must always be proportionate to the attack.”
“When there is something disproportionate, one shows a tendency to dominate which goes beyond what is moral,” he said.
Defensive actions that are so “excessive,” he said, “are immoral actions.”
Continued below.
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There are rules, even in war, that should be followed, he said. And when those rules are not adhered to you can see, “as we say in Argentina, the ‘bad blood'” or bad intentions behind the actions.
Concerns over Israeli strikes
During a brief question-and-answer period with reporters on the papal plane returning to Rome from Belgium on Sept. 29, the pope was asked specifically whether he thought Israel had gone too far in its most recent strike on Lebanon.The U.S. reporter had prefaced the question by saying Israel, in its targeted strike assassinating Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had dropped tons of explosives on Lebanon, resulting in many casualties and displacing hundreds of people, which prompted the pope to put his hand to his face in a show of despair.
“Has Israel perhaps gone too far in Lebanon and Gaza?” the reporter asked.
The pope replied that he speaks every day by phone with the people who have been sheltering in Gaza’s Catholic church, “and they tell me about the things that are happening, even the cruelty that happens there.”
He said he was not sure about what really happened in Lebanon, but he said a nation’s “defense must always be proportionate to the attack.”
“When there is something disproportionate, one shows a tendency to dominate which goes beyond what is moral,” he said.
Defensive actions that are so “excessive,” he said, “are immoral actions.”
Continued below.
Excessive force, even after an attack, is immoral, pope says
Using disproportionate force after being attacked is immoral, Pope Francis said.There are rules, even in war, that should be followed, he said. And when those rules are not adhered to you can see, "as we say in Argentina, the 'bad blood'" or bad intentions behind the actions.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
