Catholic group praises bishop's Greenpeace stand

CoNTROYERSIAL FORMER Bishop Jacques Gaillot of Evreux, who was aboard the Greenpeace ship stormed by French commandos in a dramatic raid this week, has been applauded for his "important witness" by Pax Christi. "Bishop Gaillot has offered the people of France and the people of the Paeific a great sign of solidarity", Pat Gaffney, British General Secretary of the interna
tional Catholic movement for peace told the Catholic Herald.
"The bishop's stand actually echoed the words of the Vatican representative at the conference on Nuclear NonProliferation held last May," she said, "which emphasised that nuclear deterrence is not a way forward." French marine commandos boarded and captured the Greenpeace protest vessel, Rainbow Warrior II
as it approached the Polynesian atoll where France was to resume nuclear testing. The Rainbow Warrior aimed to stop the resumption of nuclear testing announced by President Jacques C.Itirac. When seized by the commandos, the ship was inside the exclusion zone and within seven miles of the atoll's lagoon. Speaking to the Italian daily, Il Corriere della Sera,
the former bishop defended his stand: "The tests basically are a cause of poverty and misery. Governments build arms, which cost billions, and forget their citizens,"he said prior to his departure.
Greenpeace members aboard the ship said the commandos fired tear gas at the people of the ship. About 10 of the 31 people aboard the ship were being held for questioning. The eight underground nuclear tests are due to start in September and continue till May. Bishop Gaillot said more Churchmen should be actively involved in protesting the nuclear tests, and said a protest by Pope John Paul II also is needed, as it would have "great strength on a moral plane". Bishop Gaillot said he was profoundly "disillusioned" with his country's plans to continue nuclear testing. Earlier this year, the Vatican had removed Bishop Gaillot as head of the Evreux Diocese in France, because of his controversial stand on a number of issues including Church teaching on birth control, homosexuality, and priestly celibacy. Pax Christi will hold a rally in Trafalgar Square on 16 July to mark the first anniversary of the atomic explosion in 1945.