Fr George Zabelka died on April 11 1992. He was chaplain at the air base on Tinian Island, the launching pad in August 1945 for the firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He came to believe he had failed in his deepest duty as a Catholic priest.
Conversation
During a retreat in 1973, after many years in parish ministry, he confronted Jesus' teachings on the love of enemies and decided he must either "accept what Christ said or deny him completely." From that point, his ministry was devoted to the message of nonviolence.
He saw his own acceptance of the Bomb as an extension of the church's long silence and acquiescence in the face of state violence: "heir to a Christianity that had for seventeen hundred years engaged in revenge, murder, torture, the pursuit of power, all in the name of our Lord."
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"Communion with Christ cannot be established on disobedience to his clearest teachings." His witness helped inspire the US bishops to undertake their pastoral letter, "The Challenge of Peace." #PaxChristi
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