USA: Catholic peace campaigners lobby Pentagon

Catholic peace protestors lobbied the Pentagon in Washington DC last week to condemn its war budget and on-going preparations for war. They included Irish Columban Father Pat Cunningham who is a missionary in South Korea, along with representatives of the Catholic Workers.

On 8 April, Fr Cunningham and other Columban missionaries joined a peacebus trip to Seongju in South Korea, the location of the US THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence) missile system. They participated in a day of solidarity with around 5,000 local villagers and members of the Won Buddhist community, who are actively resisting the deployment of the US missile defence system in their locality. They believe it damages peace prospects in the Korean Peninsula, as well as the region and the world. Thousands of people, including members of civil society, unions and church groups gathered from around the country for a mass demonstration which heard speakers pose a major question of the acting government: why is it expediting the request of the US government to deploy THAAD as quickly as possible without the consent of the local community?

Apart from the proven ineffectiveness of THAAD ‘MD’ in intercepting missiles launched from North Korea, there are huge environmental impact and health concerns that could result from the X Band radar emissions. South Korea’s neighbour China and largest trading partner has voiced its opposition to the deployment and engaged in economic retaliatory measures against the South Korean government.

"Peace will never be achieved by force of arms; it can be done with mutual trust and dialogue," said Ahn Chungsuk, advisor for the Catholic Priests Association for Justice, a religious group of Catholic priests. Participants held candles and raised their voices, saying that THAAD is unnecessary and threatens peace in the Korean peninsula. Meanwhile, Priests' Solidarity for the Common Good of Suwon Diocese criticized THAAD in a statement. "We should find other ways to promote peace in the Korean peninsula and the world," the statement said. The Jesuit Social Apostolate of the Korea Province issued a statement in mid-March saying that, "the deployment of THAAD will drive the Korean peninsula into war.... the deployment of the defense system was decided by ousted former President Park Geun-hye’s government and should not be forced on people".

Aboard the papal flight from Cairo on Saturday Pope Francis told the United States and North Korea to de-escalate their nuclear tensions, saying their ongoing dispute over weapons testing has become "too hot" and suggested they might ask a third country to intervene and act as a mediator.