An American general said, “War is Hell”. On the teevee programme M*A*S*H, the character Hawkeye, the point was made that war is much worse than Hell. Those in Hell deserve to be there. “There are no innocent bystanders in hell. But war is chock full of them...little kids, cripples, old ladies. Except for a few of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander” .
When there is an aggressor, to be neutral is to side with the aggressor. Yes, solidarity, unity is needed with the victims. As John Donne wrote, “No man is an island” . It is good that some of the Polish, and American faithful stand with Ukraine. Those who stand with, or praise, or equivocate in defense of the aggressor have the blood of the innocents dripping on their souls. When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya spoke directly to the Russian Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, “There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell, Ambassador” .
Our Holy Father Francis has repeatedly called for peace, real peace. When an aggressor calls for peace, he does not want peace, he wants an end to resistance. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Christians should want peace. In this war, the Patriarch of Moscow is fully behind the cause of war, and the man who orders, and guides that war. This war is war without mercy. There have always been religious hypocrites, and some with high clerical office and their obedient followers, who are against the Way of Jesus. Many Christians, and many supposedly Christian nations supposedly love Mary, the Mother of God. She is our Protectress. As Francis has pointed out Mariupol Ukraine is Mary's city, how could someone who acknowledges Mary attack her city? There is talk that Francis may visit Kyiv, the symbolic message of solidarity and support would be remarkable.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” – Desmond Tutu
Currently on the campus of St. Casimir the Prince Cleveland, there are signs where some of our faithful stand.
“What the world expects of Christians is that Christians should speak out, loud and clear, and that they should voice their condemnation in such a way that never a doubt, never the slightest doubt, could rise in the heart of the simplest man. That they should get away from the abstraction and confront the blood-stained face history has taken on today.” – Albert Camus
As a protest of the war, Russians outside of Russia (jail is no fun) identify themselves in protest with a white, blue, white flag. They have removed the red (blood). The original designer is Kai Katonina, who lives in Berlin. In Russia people with fully blank signs have been arrested, police recognise anti-authoritarian actions everywhere.
One of the canvasses on the St. Casimir fence
In this journal, many essays showed placards, and other items attached to the fence in front of St. Casimir church. There are again several, showing solidarity with Ukraine, and prayers on behalf of Ukraine.
Caption this
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