A Statement from the Old Catholic Churches International concerning recent events in Syria:
The images of the innocent Syrian men, women, and children killed and injured by their own government in a chemical attack rocked many of us to our core. We can all agree that such an attack is morally wrong and indefensible.
However, the choice to launch missiles to cause further death and damage is also morally wrong. It does nothing to solve the underlying issues and will only serve to further agitate and embolden an already unstable leader.
For far too long the church and society have remained silent about the civil war raging in Syria. While government officials around the world argued about what to do or what not to do, millions of people lost their lives, many more were injured and even more were displaced from their homes and separated from their families.
We as a church and as a society have a moral obligation to assist those fleeing this horrific civil war. We have an obligation to speak out against the creation of more refuges because of retaliatory missile strikes. We have an moral obligation to demand that rather than turn refuges away and send them back to their deaths, that they be welcomed into our countries, homes, and churches.
Right now, silence is not an option. We must raise our voices and demand that our government do more than drop bombs. Now is the time for action to help save the lives of the refuges who are in danger of being killed by their own government.