HAS THE CHURCH HAS LOST ITS MORAL DIRECTION BY
APPOINTING WAR PROMOTER GENERAL PETER COSGROVE AS CHANCELLOR OF ACU?

Demonstration at St Mary’s Cathedral Sydney 2.30pm Sunday November 28
Inauguration ceremony for General Cosgrove’s Appointment at 3pm

"The works of mercy are the opposite of the works of war, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, nursing the sick, visiting the prisoner. But we are destroying crops, setting fire to entire villages and to the people in them. We are not performing the works of mercy but the works of war." – Dorothy Day

We are members of the Catholic Worker Movement. We were greatly disturbed when we read this week that it was announced that Iraq war promoter General Peter Cosgrove has been appointed the new chancellor of Australian Catholic University.
 http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=24281#hys



This is of great concern considering that Cosgrove, former head of the ADF during the Howard era, would have been well aware of warnings of a humanitarian disaster and the non-existence of Iraq's link to terrorism or any arsenal of WMDs by experts like Britain's Dr David Kelly, UN arms inspector Scott Ritter and Australia's own intelligence expert, Andrew Wilkie.

 http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/s804540.htm

Cosgrove, a Catholic, would also have been aware of warnings by Pope John Paul II that war with Iraq was "a defeat for humanity which could not be morally or legally justified."
 http://www.cjd.org/paper/jp2war.html

The pope said the U.N. charter and international law "remind us war cannot be decided upon, even when it is a matter of ensuring the common good, except as the last option and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military options."
 http://www.americancatholic.org/news/JustWar/iraq/papalstatement.asp

Yet, Cosgrove ignored the leaders of his own Church and chose to follow the leaders of the western military-industrial complex into a war which ignored international law and turned Iraq into a humanitarian disaster which would only serve to promote anti-western hatred and terrorism. Why then has Cardinal George Pell and the ACU turned a blind eye to someone who has so blatantly acted against the morality of the Church and decided to appoint Cosgrove to such a prestigious position in the Australian Catholic Church?

Peter Cosgrove might be viewed as "an outstanding Australian and an eminent Australian Catholic" by ACU's Vice Chancellor, Prof. Greg Craven, but the fact is that Cosgrove turned his back on Pope John Paul II and the Church by leading Australia into the war in Iraq. He would have known that this was done under the false pretext of eliminating Weapons Of Mass Destruction. He has the blood of thousands of innocent Iraqis on his hands and was a participant in the destruction of an entire nation's civil infrastructure and shares responsibility for the subsequent civil war. He did nothing to stop the torture and abuse of Abu Graib, the holocaust of Falluja, the horror of cluster bombs or the decimation of the Iraqi Catholic (Chaldean) community.

"Philosopy and Key Values" of ACU, found on the university web site:

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ACU is founded on "a long history of commitment to truth, in a spirit of freedom and service ... It prizes such key values as:

* following the way of Christ and commitment to Christian values;
* participating in the community and mission of the Church;
* a continuing dialogue between faith and reason - represented, for example, by the dialogue between philosophy and science;
* respect for truth in all its forms and collaboration in seeking it through all the disciplines;
* promotion of the common good, and the dignity of the human person;
* collaboration of all our staff and students, whatever their beliefs, in the interests of a more decent and humane society;
* the promotion of teaching and research in ways that most serve the mission of the University;
* respect for academic freedom."

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It would appear that at least four of the key values (in bold) should exclude a person like Peter Cosgrove from the position that he now holds.

Hundreds of thousands of Australians took to the streets in 2003 in the largest anti-war marches in Australian history to show their opposition to Australia's involvement in Iraq. Peter Cosgrove is not "an outstanding Australian" to these good people. Cosgrove knew well that the position of the Church and the Pope was this was clearly not a “Just War”. His appointment brings ACU and the Catholic Church in Australia into blood-soaked disrepute.