Source: The Washington Post
On April 2, 2003 The Washington Post reported that "the archbishop responsible for Roman Catholics in the U.S. military has assured them that they can serve 'in good conscience' despite opposition to the war in Iraq from Pope John Paul II, his cardinals and many U.S. bishops... The March 25 message to Catholics in uniform from Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, was prompted by a letter from the bishop of a tiny branch of the church who said fighting in Iraq is a mortal sin... The contradictory pronouncements are the latest sign of deep divisions among Catholics over the morality of the war. Vatican officials argue that the U.S. invasion does not meet the conditions for a just war elaborated by Catholic theologians since the 5th century. Catholics who support the war say that the church's job is to explain just-war theory, but that applying the theory is a matter of individual judgment."