Given the Russian Federation's status as a Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council—with the accompanying veto—it will be fascinating to watch the U.N. function as the omnipotent world government & flawless arbiter of international justice Pope Francis seems to think it is.
When a city has a police force dedicated to public safety and the prosecution of crimes, it makes perfect sense to say that the everyone has a moral obligation to rely on them and not take justice into their own hands. However, if the police force was controlled and funded by the city's five biggest organized crime families, and was openly prohibited from investigating both the mafia itself and all the petty criminals who were under mafia protection, a priest or bishop who loudly insisted that people rely on the police and the courts for justice would come across as a little ridiculous.
It would be news to Augustine and Thomas Aquinas and indeed any citizen of the world from Roman times onwards that their “understanding of war … arose in a different era, when armies met for pitched battles in country fields, before the era of weapons of mass destruction, house-to-house urban combat, and the kind of “total war” which saw entire cities flattened during World War II.” War and violence was endemic throughout Augustine’s North Africa and through the Middle Ages largely involved siege warfare and raiding, not pitched battles which were rare and brief. Non-combatants suffered horribly and by design and, yes, sometimes whole cities were flattened (see, e.g., Carthage and Corinth, Kyev and many, many other examples). So this statement is just ahistorical nonsense and far below The Pillar’s usual high standard. How did it get past the editors?
My book on Catholic Social Teaching (Counsels of Imperfection, CUA Press 2020) has a chapter about the evolving papal teaching on war. I would (presumptuously) recommend it. There is a lot going on in this, including the change in the Church's status and role in the world, the development of weapons of mass destruction, and the disputed status (discussed above) of peace-keeping institutions. In war, we stand in a land where sin rules over virtue, but where virtue is never fully absent...
Given the Russian Federation's status as a Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council—with the accompanying veto—it will be fascinating to watch the U.N. function as the omnipotent world government & flawless arbiter of international justice Pope Francis seems to think it is.
based pacifist pope
also a reminder that a just defensive war requires serious prospects of success, according to the Catechism. does Ukraine really have that?
Given the Just War theory was formulated when armies battled with sticks, stones and swords an update surely is needed.
So is Pope Francis looking for a repeat of what happened with Korea, where the UN entered into a police action against the North Koreans, et al.?
When a city has a police force dedicated to public safety and the prosecution of crimes, it makes perfect sense to say that the everyone has a moral obligation to rely on them and not take justice into their own hands. However, if the police force was controlled and funded by the city's five biggest organized crime families, and was openly prohibited from investigating both the mafia itself and all the petty criminals who were under mafia protection, a priest or bishop who loudly insisted that people rely on the police and the courts for justice would come across as a little ridiculous.
It would be news to Augustine and Thomas Aquinas and indeed any citizen of the world from Roman times onwards that their “understanding of war … arose in a different era, when armies met for pitched battles in country fields, before the era of weapons of mass destruction, house-to-house urban combat, and the kind of “total war” which saw entire cities flattened during World War II.” War and violence was endemic throughout Augustine’s North Africa and through the Middle Ages largely involved siege warfare and raiding, not pitched battles which were rare and brief. Non-combatants suffered horribly and by design and, yes, sometimes whole cities were flattened (see, e.g., Carthage and Corinth, Kyev and many, many other examples). So this statement is just ahistorical nonsense and far below The Pillar’s usual high standard. How did it get past the editors?
My book on Catholic Social Teaching (Counsels of Imperfection, CUA Press 2020) has a chapter about the evolving papal teaching on war. I would (presumptuously) recommend it. There is a lot going on in this, including the change in the Church's status and role in the world, the development of weapons of mass destruction, and the disputed status (discussed above) of peace-keeping institutions. In war, we stand in a land where sin rules over virtue, but where virtue is never fully absent...
My hope is that God will for Ukraine what he so did for Israel. Bring victory for them over a much bigger and stronger foe.