CHURCH OF IRELAND VIEW: The Church of Ireland primate Archbishop Robin Eames has said the current war in Iraq "heralds a new world order in terms of power and influence". It also raised questions "about the exercise of power in a military sense", and about "the validity of world organisations" and "the nature of authority," he said.
In a speech to the Rotary International Conference in Bournemouth yesterday, he said the war also asked questions "about responsibility in a humanitarian sense. The rebuilding of Iraq will involve vast sums of international aid. This will be a consequence of war - it will be an indication of how humanitarian considerations are to be a part of a new world order," he said.
"Surely we are moving into an era when the new world order demands a new awareness of international responsibility for humanitarian relief and development, not just as a consequence of war - but before war becomes a reality," he said.
He commented that "if the vast sums involved in war had been equalled by amounts devoted to humanitarian issues apart from war, what a difference it would have made." The new world order would "lack moral integrity if it does not include a new willingness by nations to put humanitarian relief and world development high on its priorities. It is simply unacceptable in the new world order that government depends on voluntary organisations or appeals to provide the relief so desperately needed. The conscience of the world must be awakened to this new reality," he said.
Meanwhile in a joint statement, the two Church of Ireland Archbishops called for prayers for "all those whose lives are in danger in the Middle East". Archbishop Eames and the Archbishop of Dublin Most Rev John Neill urged all to remember "the innocent people of the whole region - Muslim, Christian and Jewish - whose lives are at such grave risk in the present conflict". They also called for prayers for "the leaders of nations, for the servicemen and women and their families at this time of deep concern".