Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

War and Peace

ART OF THE MYSTERY OF CANDLEMAS - the celebration of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple - is the message of Simeon to Mary: 'a sword will pierce through your own soul also' (Luke 2:35). We celebrate the Christ Child - the light of the Gentiles and the glory of Israel - but we remember too the tragedy of a Mother who is cut to the quick by the death of her Son. At Candlemas (2nd February) we cease for a time to look back to Bethlehem and we begin to look forward to Calvary.

War once again is casting its shadow over us. The bishops - Anglican and Roman Catholic - have argued forcefully against war. Bishops, indeed Christians everywhere, must always pray and work for peace. When war looms, peace is the answer. When war is waging, peace is the answer. When war is over, peace is the answer. Peace, in short, is always the answer, for Christ was born at Bethlehem and died on the Cross as the Prince of Peace.

Yet there is a difference between peace - making and pacifism. Most Christians believe that some armed - struggle is necessary. The example usually given is the Second World War when, broadly speaking, the fight was on between Good and Evil. (I write on National Holocaust Day). As for the rights and wrongs of fighting against Iraq, the Church has played an important part in the debate about war with Iraq but, in the end, it does not fall to the Church to make military and political decisions. Once the fighting has started, we have a duty not only to those civilians caught up in the terror of war but also to those whose mandate is to fight 'on our behalf' and, of course, to the chaplains who minister to them.

As if all that was not complicated enough, many of the Ebbsfleet parishes are in multi-ethnic areas. Most Muslims in this country are peace-loving and loyal subjects of the Queen and yet many cannot help wondering, surely, if the so-called Christian West has been spoiling for a war with Islam. The last thing the world wants or needs is an international version of the Irish troubles, with 'Catholic' and 'Protestant' replaced by 'Christian' and 'Muslim'.

Finally, as we continue to pray and work for peace and justice in the world, and for peace and good neighbourliness in our inner city areas, let us not forget to pray too for the tiny Christian Church in Iraq, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

May God grant peace to our world, peace to our country, peace to our church and peace to our homes.

+ Andrew Ebbsfleet

The Bishop of Ebbsfleet
Bishop's House, Dry Sandford, Abingdon, OXON OX13 6JP
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 390746

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