No one will question that Pope John Paul II was a social conservative. The pontiff was, however, also greatly concerned about justice issues concerning war, economics, and the death penalty. Conservatives liked to ignore or even criticize the Pope for his opposition to war and economic injustice (FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly told viewers in 2003 that the Pope’s opposition to the Iraq invasion showed the pontiff was “naive and detached from reality”). As the Roman Catholics mourn today it is appropriate to lift up some of Pope John Paul II’s sayings on justice that some would rather we just forget.
"Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create." -- July 3, 1980
"This determination is based on the solid conviction that what is hindering full development is that desire for profit and that thirst for power already mentioned. These attitudes and 'structures of sin' are only conquered - presupposing the help of divine grace - by a diametrically opposed attitude: a commitment to the good of one's neighbor with the readiness, in the gospel sense, to 'lose oneself' for the sake of the other instead of exploiting him, and to 'serve him' instead of oppressing him for one's own advantage." -- Pope condemns excesses of capitalism, December 30, 1987
"We cannot pretend that the use of arms, and especially of today's highly sophisticated weaponry, would not give rise, in addition to suffering and destruction, to new and perhaps worse injustices." -- Pope opposes Gulf War, Message to George H.W. Bush, January 15, 1991
"A disconcerting conclusion about the most recent period should serve to enlighten us: side-by-side with the miseries of underdevelopment, themselves unacceptable, we find ourselves up against a form of superdevelopment, equally inadmissible. because like the former it is contrary to what is good and to true happiness. This superdevelopment, which consists in an excessive availability of every kind of material goods for the benefit of certain social groups, easily makes people slaves of 'possession' and of immediate gratification..." -- On the shortfalls of consumerism, March 13, 1998
"Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary." -- Pope speaks out against capital punishment, January 27, 1999
"The Holy See has always recognized that the Palestinian people have the natural right to a homeland, and the right to be able to live in peace and tranquility with the other peoples of this area." -- Pope calls for a Palestinian State, March 22, 2000
"NO TO WAR! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity." -- January 13, 2003
"When war threatens humanity's destiny, as it does today in Iraq, it is even more urgent for us to proclaim with a loud and decisive voice that peace is the only way to build a more just and caring society. Violence and arms can never solve human problems." -- Pope condemns Bush's invasion of Iraq, March 22, 2003
Thanks to MichaelMoore.com for putting this list together and to Danny Fisher for sending it my way.
