"The Catholic Voice In The Torture Debate," by John A. Coleman, S.J.

The Rack

An Inquisitorial Favorite

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Poll Results: Americans, especially Catholics, approve of torture
http://www.natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2006a/032406/032406h.htm

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Excerpt: "Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, “Veritatis Splendor,” included  “physical and mental torture” in his long list of social evils which are not only  shameful but also “ intrinsically evil.” In their 2007 document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops argued: “A prime example (of intrinsically evil actions) is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia. Direct threats to the sanctity and dignity of human life, such as human cloning and destructive research on human embryos are also intrinsically evil. Other direct assaults on innocent human life and violations of human dignity, such as genocide, torture, racism and the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror war, can never be justified” 

The Catholic voice in the torture debate

May 15th, 2011
By Father John A. Coleman, SJ

The killing of Osama bin Laden unleashed a new round in the torture debate. Some Bush administration figures argue that what they call “enhanced interrogation techniques” (read waterboarding, or torture, for this euphemism) led to essential information which pointed to bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan. To his credit, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who had been a prisoner of war in Vietnam, strongly countered that argument. He claimed that torture often leads to lies, misleading information and that the essential information about bin Laden’s courier was received through ordinary interrogation efforts. McCain also considers waterboarding a form of torture, as the U.S. had during World War II when it charged Japanese military figures with war crimes precisely for their use of the method.

At their May 5 debate in South Carolina, a majority of then-declared candidates for the Republican presidential nomination raised their hands to acquiesce when asked whether they supported waterboarding. One of those candidates, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a devout Catholic and staunch pro-life politician, also raised his hand in support of the technique. There is evidence that some senators have resolved to interrogate CIA Director-designate Gen. David Petraeus and Secretary of Defense-designate Leon Panetta, a Catholic, on this issue of torture and waterboarding when their respective nominations come up for confirmation.

There is ample evidence that Americans are, alas, divided on this use of torture. One Pew Research Center poll found that half of the respondents said torture was justified “often” or at least “sometimes.” The surveys show that more than half of American Catholics support the use of torture against terrorists. It seems timely to recall not a Catholic voice but the Catholic voice in the torture debate.

Most arguments in favor of the resort to torture are utilitarian, based on an argument from consequences. There are, to be sure, consequential arguments against torture as well: its role in recruiting new terrorists; the danger that our use of torture will encourage foreign entities to employ it on U.S. military personnel; the greater likelihood that torture yields lies, false and misleading information; the danger to the reputation of the U.S. when it flouts international law; what torture does to the torturer’s dignity.

But the Catholic voice on this renewed torture debate never relies on mere utilitarian arguments which can sacrifice the life or dignity of a human being to achieve some greater good.

Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, “Veritatis Splendor,” included  “physical and mental torture” in his long list of social evils which are not only  shameful but also “ intrinsically evil.” In their 2007 document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops argued: “A prime example (of intrinsically evil actions) is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia. Direct threats to the sanctity and dignity of human life, such as human cloning and destructive research on human embryos are also intrinsically evil. Other direct assaults on innocent human life and violations of human dignity, such as genocide, torture, racism and the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror war, can never be justified” ( italics mine).

“The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church” asserts that the “prohibition against torture” is a principle that “cannot be contravened under any circumstances” (No. 404). It quotes Pope John Paul II as saying:” Christ’s disciple refuses every recourse to such methods, which nothing can justify.” Pope Benedict XVI, in a 2007 talk to Catholic prison ministers, directly quoted the “Compendium.” He asserted: “Means of punishment or correction that either undermine or debase the dignity of prisoners” must be avoided.

The U.S. bishops commissioned, in 2008, a pastorally helpful document, “Torture is a Moral Issue: A Catholic Study Guide,” which insists that human dignity can never -- even in an enemy -- be violated by torture. They warn against allowing the end to justify the means or resorting to desperate measures in  desperate times. They urge us to listen to the voices of survivors of torture. They counsel against allowing euphemisms such as “enhanced interrogation methods” to paper over the resort to torture.

As the torture debate continues, we need to hear this Catholic voice loud and clear. We should call Catholic politicians to heed not only the church’s position that abortion is an intrinsically evil act but that, as a severe violation of human dignity, so too is torture intrinsically evil. As Jesuit Father Thomas Reese once put it: “It would be ironic and perverse for Christians who worship a man who was tortured and killed, to use torture themselves.”

The writer is associate pastor of St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco. He was the Charles Casassa Professor of Social Values at Loyola Marymount University In Los Angeles from 1997-2009. His most recent books include John Coleman and William Ryan, eds., "Globalization and Catholic Social Thought," (Orbis Press, 2005) and "Christian Political Ethics" (Princeton University Press, 2007).

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