In an interview with the Catholic News Agency (KNA), reported March 17 on Vatican news, German Archbishop Udo Markus Bentz of Paderborn opposed the war on Iran as “highly irresponsible.” He said that neither regime change nor peace in the region would result from the war—rather, the exact opposite.
Bentz heads the German Commission Justitia et Pax (Justice and Peace). He is also chairman of the Working Group on the Near and Middle East of the German Bishops’ Conference. Just a few days prior, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising and former head of the German Bishops’ Conference, also denounced the war in strong terms.
In the interview, Bentz called the targeted killing of Iranian leaders unjustifiable. He attacked the disregard for international law by the U.S. and Israel as “highly disturbing.” While characterizing Iran as one of “the most aggressive and dangerous regimes in the region,” he disputed any evidence that Iran was on the verge of acquiring the means for a devastating attack on Israel.
