Letters to the Editor
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‘A Bishop’s Voice’
In his column “A Bishop’s Voice,” [Opinion, July 21, 2006] Seth Gitell criticizes Bishop Shaw’s participation in a vigil protesting Israel’s strikes on infrastructure facilities that provide utilities and water to average Palestinians, including the destruction of a power plant for a sister Anglican hospital in Gaza which is days short of running out of electricity.
Bishop Shaw’s concern about the health and safety of civilian Palestinians mirrors a general consensus quickly building in the worldwide community that Israel’s military actions should not disproportionately harm innocent populations. In a July 21 letter to President Bush, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Frank Griswold, and 17 members of Churches for Middle East Peace wrote, “This violent conflict has created a grave humanitarian crisis, and no hoped for benefit should outweigh the cause of saving innocent lives.”
Mr. Gitell mentions a campaign aimed at “retaking the center of the Roman Catholic Church” but last week, the American Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on International Policy spoke clearly in its statement, saying: ” … Punishment of an entire population for the indefensible acts of extreme armed factions is wrong and causes unjustified harm to noncombatants. Such actions are also counterproductive because they deepen hostilities and widen the circle of violence … “
It is a fundamental principle of The Episcopal Church to welcome a diversity of opinion both within its own body and among the larger faith community. It is in that spirit of openness that the General Convention in June heard testimony from clergy, lay people and people of other denominations in legislative hearings on resolutions concerning the Middle East. The Convention did not “shelve” any of them but rather passed one and referred the remaining two to the Executive Council, the church’s governing body between General Conventions, which may take them up at its next meeting in November.
MARIA PLATI
Communications Director Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
Boston, MA
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