You might think the threat of war is lower than ever. The opposite is true, writes Professor Joseph Camilleri.
Recent revelations of Australian arms exports to the Middle East have rightly provoked widespread consternation. But this is no sudden aberration. Nor is it a uniquely Australian phenomenon.
Ours is a world of expanding military budgets, soaring arms sales, deeply entrenched conflicts, and large-scale military interventions. The result: humanitarian disasters, record numbers of forced displacements, immense damage to the natural environment, and the use of a nuclear weapon now more likely than at any time since the worst days of the Cold War. (Read full article here)
"It should also be noted that the production, acquisition and transfer of arms represent a pernicious misallocation of human and financial resources, a profound disregard for the cries of the poor and the cries of the Earth."We do not just need to change the Government this year, we need to change the culture of militarism.
As a practical response to this issue I call on Archbishop Mark Coleridge and the Cathedral of St Stephen, Brisbane to ban the traditional armed catafalque party from the ANZAC Day Mass on 25th April. This will be a powerful symbolic gesture of endorsement of Catholic Social Teachings.
An ANZAC Hymn for the Cathedral of St Stephen
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