Dr David Hope, the Archbishop of York, voices his hopes and fears for peace in this moving and exclusive message to Evening Press readers as the great war machine is cranked up in response to the terrorist atrocities in America.

FOR any Christian the resort to arms must always be the very last resort. It can only be after every other possible avenue has been explored - political, diplomatic, economic - that consideration be given to the use of armed force. War can never ever be the first option; it must always be the last.

No one can possibly argue in the wake of the terrible events of September 11 that the United States should not now be considering with urgency, yet with consultation and care, what its appropriate response should be.

The word "war" - "war on terrorism" - has been used almost from the beginning.

The build up of massed forces has already begun.

Yet, paradoxically, at the same time the talk is of a lengthy, more subtle and altogether less dramatic intervention than the huge build up of military might would suggest.

Already there seems to be emerging a new diplomatic world order.

This could indeed lead to greater understanding and co-operation in the future: Japan in support of America; Israelis sitting down with Palestinians; Iran pledging to work more closely with Britain; the comments of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has urged that not only should we continue talking peace, but that we should be forging real and lasting partnerships for peace.

Such diplomatic exchanges and contacts need to be sustained and further strengthened if we really are to tackle some of the underlying issues of global order.

"War as a method of solving international disputes is incompatible with the teaching and example of our Lord Jesus Christ" is a statement which has been endorsed by successive gatherings of Anglican bishops worldwide.

Nevertheless we have to face the fact that war, and conflict, does and will happen. So, when armed conflict breaks out the Christian Church has usually invoked what it describes as the "just war" criteria - a set of basic rules expounded in the Middle Ages and attributed to St Thomas Aquinas.

It recognises that in certain situations and circumstances, and as a very last resort, it is possible to speak of a just war. That does not mean that anything goes. For even in these days of highly sophisticated 'smart' weaponry - as we have already seen in Iraq and Bosnia - things can go horribly wrong and innocent civilians can be killed.

Everything possible should be done to ensure that intervention is strictly limited, proportionate, and that the effect of collateral damage either to people or property be minimised.

Again, the question needs to be asked about what the end, what the purpose of such intervention might be.

Are we truly persuaded that things will be better at the end than at the beginning; that the possibilities for eradicating terrorism and of a real lasting safety and peace for the world will be more achievable? Or will such intervention simply stoke up further resentments and hatreds, and unleash even more terrible acts of aggression and terrorism?

Careful and wise discernment in decision-making will be needed and is crucial if the last state is not to be worse than the first. Again, the use of words is hugely important in our discourse at this time.

What constitutes a terrorist?

What do we mean by terrorism?

Even when conflict has been joined there will be an even more overwhelming case for the enhanced pursuit of diplomatic and governmental consultation, not only to work towards a conclusion of any such conflict, but realistically to face the deeper issues and larger questions about the world order and what it is which gives rise to those pernicious hatreds which breed such festering evil in the hearts of those who perpetrate such acts.

Often the breeding ground is that of exclusion, of oppression, of poverty - a sense of voicelessness in the councils of the world and hopelessness for the future, fanned and exploited by the wilful misuse of religious faith and fervour.

Meanwhile, there are other measures which are already being put in place - early action in the freezing of the financial assets of terrorist groups and organisations; a greater degree of internal security which, if freedom truly is to flourish among us, may well exact some limitation on that freedom.

Above all, for the Christian there must be a continuing commitment to prayer and the practice of the civic virtues - not least in our multiracial society - a real respect for the dignity and wellbeing of every person, regardless of colour or creed.

"Seek peace and pursue it" is the message of the Bible. That must be our key endeavour, not only internationally and nationally but locally too, that we may live in peace and harmony in our towns and villages, in our neighbourhoods and communities.

That we are truly working for the common good - a good which really delivers the well-being and the flourishing of us all.

Evening Press

Updated: 11:30 Friday, September 28, 2001