Letter on Iraq to President Bush February 19, 2003
From the General Secretary of the
Conference of European Churches

The President of the United States of America
Mr. George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, D.C.
United States of America

Geneva, 19 February 2003

Dear Mr President,

I have the honour to address you on behalf of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), which is a fellowship of 125 Christian Churches of the Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Old Catholic, Orthodox, Pentecostal and Reformed traditions throughout the continent of Europe and the British Isles.

At this critical period in world history, poised between peace and war in the Middle East, along with Churches and Christian organisations around the world we in CEC are united in earnest prayer that a solution may be found in Iraq which, within the framework of the United Nations and without the catastrophe of war, achieves disarmament, humanitarian relief and the promotion of human rights.

In this regard, we in CEC have been paying close attention to our partner Churches in the United States, especially the Protestant and Orthodox Churches in membership with the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCCCUSA) and the Bishops’ Conference of the Roman Catholic Church. These Churches share our hope and aim for a just solution in Iraq without recourse to war. In particular, we have been helping to facilitate visits, under NCCCUSA auspices, of small delegations of US Church leaders to a series of capital cities in Europe. These delegations have been meeting with Church leaders in the respective hosting countries, joining in public prayers for peace, holding press conferences - and meeting with representatives of government. Berlin, Paris and London have been visited, with forthcoming visits scheduled for Rome and Moscow. Each delegation has included at least one person who was a member of the US Church Leaders’ Delegation to Iraq during the New Year period this year.

It was my privilege to accompany the delegation which visited Berlin on 5 February, when we were received by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, and the delegation which visited London on 18 February which had a 50-minute meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair. The fact that these visitors are being received in such high places is an indication of how seriously their views are being listened to all across Europe, including those governments which are closest in position to the stated policy of the United States on Iraq.

This brings me, Mr President, to the burden of my letter: It is my understanding that several approaches have been made by the General Secretary of NCCCUSA, Dr Robert Edgar, and his colleagues, for a meeting with yourself similar to those which are being accorded by heads of government in Europe, but that so far no response has come from your office. To us in Europe, it would seem to be a paradox if those who are being granted hearings in the highest circles on our continent were not to be accorded a corresponding attention at home, and therefore in all sincerity I express the hope that their requests for a meeting with yourself be sympathetically considered and granted.

Two considerations, Mr President, make me especially hopeful of your sympathy here. The first is, that those who have been taking part in these delegations, far from giving an impression of being "unpatriotic" Americans who will protest for the sake of protest, have conveyed a sense of profound love of their country, of respect for its democratic and freedom-loving traditions, and desire for the advancement of its real and long-term interests in the world, interests which they seriously believe will be threatened by war.

Second, I write to you Mr President, knowing you to be a person of Christian faith. The United States, as the world knows to its credit, is a country rejoicing in religious freedom with many expressions of Christian faith and church life. The churches represented in NCCCUSA would not claim to be representative of the entire spectrum of Christianity in your country, but they do embody a very significant part of it. I do not doubt that there any many people who wish to advise and counsel you out of their particular religious perspective. All I would ask is that due respect and attention also be paid to the views of the member churches of NCCCUSA which merit communicating to you no less than those of others. As you know, the Biblical faith does not lead us to expect that Christians will always agree with one another, but rather enjoins us in all humility to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God" (I John 4.1).

May I then, Mr President, reaffirm my wish and hope that you will grant a hearing to our partners in the National Council of Churches, just as they have received here in Europe. This request is accompanied by our prayers in CEC, for God’s guidance and wisdom for yourself and all world leaders during these anxious days.

Accept, dear Mr President, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Rev. Dr Keith Clements, General Secretary