Pastoral Letter, September 11, 2001

In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I wish to address you concerning the attacks of New York and our Nation's Capitol on September 11th. We all have been shocked by the demonic attack that has taken the lives of so many innocents and left untold numbers in grief and mourning. As well, we have been strengthened by the response of so many in the face of this darkness, their bravery and sacrifices, the outpouring of charity, and most importantly, the realization of the need to pray and trust in God.

Many have asked, "What now? What is our responsibility as Christians, and Anglicans, in the days ahead?" More pointedly, many have asked, "What do we do if we are called to engage in warfare?"

My fellow citizens in Christ, the right of war is the right of a sovereign state to wage a contention at arms against another. It is necessarily in the general moral power and right of our government to make use of physical force to conserve its rights inviolable. The limitations of this right are: that its exercise be necessary; and that damage be not inflicted beyond measure. Furthermore, the exercise of the right of war is restricted in civil communities to the public authority, for the reason that such restriction is a necessity of the common good.

Our Nation has, as part of its corporate rights and responsibilities; the duty to defend its citizens' rights; it consequently has the right of coercion in safeguarding its own and its citizens' rights in case of menace or violation from abroad as well as from at home, not only against foreign individuals, but also against foreign states. Otherwise the duties government would be impossible to fulfill; the corporate rights of our government would be a nullity, while the individual rights of citizens would be at the mercy of the outside world.

Catholic-Anglican philosophy, therefore, concedes to our Nation the full natural right of war, whether defensive, as in case of another's attack in force upon it; offensive, where it finds it necessary to take the initiative in the application of force; or punitive, in the infliction of punishment for evil done against itself or, in some determined cases, against others.

Last evening in the address to our Nation and the world, our President eloquently stated the case and call to action based upon the catholic-Anglican understanding of just warfare we explained. Our country must act within the full framework of those permissible applications of force to address the raw evil perpetrated on September 11, 2001 and to prevent its future recurrence. It must do so in measured response, and, I would admonish you only through the auspices of our civil government.

It is not a time for vigilantism, anger or expressions of personal vengeance. It is a moment for calm determination in the face of grave national danger -- a determination borne of Christian faith and prayer -- that has sustained the United States through many tumults, wars and times of strife. It is a determination that began to uphold us in the seconds following the first deadly strike.

Perhaps the Book of Common Prayer best sums up the duty of all Christian rulers in its call to them to act for the "punishment of wickedness and vice." Our President, leading our government and citizenry, has declared that he will fulfill that duty in what is essentially a conflict between good and fundamental evil in our world. As the President said, God is not neutral in this battle. I ask you sustain that effort through whatever means you are called to -- in civilian, military, or religious life.

Yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Robert Sherwood Morse