Archbishop Burke on Prayer and Penance for Peace in Iraq

...Frequently, I am asked about the Church’s teaching on peace and war, and about our response as Catholics to the war in Iraq. I respond now to those questions, especially in the context of the strong grace of reconciliation, which God the Father gives us through our annual commemoration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time, I offer words of hope, securely rooted in Christ Who alone is our peace.
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Some of the faithful have asked me: Why have the Holy Father or I not declared the war in Iraq to be unjust? Neither the Holy Father nor I have made such a declaration because the Church’s teaching recognizes that it belongs to "those who have responsibility for the common good" to make the prudential judgment regarding the justice of going to war (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2309). Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have been tireless in indicating to the leaders of governments the requirements of a just war and the grave consequences of going to war. They have made clear the immorality of certain positions and practices, but they respect the office of those who govern to decide whether war is necessary to protect the common good. You and I may disagree with the prudential judgment of those who govern us, but we must respect the fact that it is a prudential judgment and that those who govern us have the responsibility to make the judgment.

Difficult it is to find more solid advice than what Archbishop Burke gives us this week, namely that:

Our first response is prayer and penance, and

Our second response is reflection

How many of us actually go before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and get down on our knees and pray and do penance for peace and the conversion of hearts? How many of us pray for the leaders of countries that they might seek peaceful means to resolve differences? When a prudential decision has been made that military action is necessary, how many of us offer aid and comfort to the enemies of our country? How many of us ask our Blessed Mother for her intercession to protect our soldiers and our country?

Since all things are possible for our Almighty Father, we should, as Archbishop Burke reminds us, "pray with all our might for an end to the war in Iraq and for peace throughout the world."