Catholic Church: Responses to War and Peace - Essay Example

Catholic Church: Responses to War and Peace 2009 Catholic Church: Responses to War and Peace Historically, the Catholic religious tradition included two distinct views on the matters of ware and peace: the pacifist or non-violent view and the 'just war' theory. As its name suggests, the pacifist view advocates the maintenance of peace using solely peaceful methods that do not involve any violence. By contrast, the just-war theory justified violence under certain circumstances. These two perspectives on war and peace have a long and exceptionally complex history that covers the period from the Sermon on the Mount to the recent statements of Popes and bishops on the matters of war and peace. Therefore, it is very rare that one can find in the Catholic tradition a simple answer to complex issues related to war and violence (Gremillion 1976). The pacifist view relies on the values of Gospel and views war as intolerable act that can never be justified. The core of this view is the transcendence of God and the dignity of the human being which reflects the presence of God in the world. Consequently, the Church shall take efforts to protect dignity of each human being. Since life is the realm of God, life of every person is sacred and must be protected. In fact, this view is the founding principle of Christian religion that led its earliest followers to the pacifist stance and refection of violent behaviors under any circumstances and situations, including resolution of conflicts (Pastoral Constitution, 1966). Origins of the just-war theory can be traced back to the fourth century when the Christian faith had finally turned into the official religion of Rome. At that time, the Roman Empire faced massive challenge from the Vandals whose attacks grew increasingly aggressive and threatening. Since the pacifist non-violent nature of the Christianity barely justified involvement in the warfare, St. Augustine of Hippo made an attempt to provide theological justification for violence. Augustine's teaching became known as the just-war theory (Walzer, 1977). Another outstanding Christian thinker St. Thomas Aquinas further elaborated and refined the teaching of St. Augustine in the 13th century. Particularly he identified and justified the following principles that may be used to justify war: war must be declared by the authority of the state; there must be a just cause; the intention must be just; war must be the last resort; only right means may be' employed in the conduct of war; there must be a reasonable hope of victory; the good to be achieved must outweigh the evils of war (Shannon, 1983) Recently four more circumstances have been set forth in the Catechism of the Catholic Church to provide moral underpinning for a war, namely: the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective, that is, war must be waged as a last resort; there must be serious prospects of success; the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Art. 2302-2317). The example of how the just-war principles are applied in practice was provided by the Catholic Church over the last two decades. Thus, the Gulf War and a war in Iraq that was proclaimed morally justifiable by its proponents met strong opposition from the Vatican. In January 2003, Pope John Paul II stated in the Address to the Diplomatic Corps that "War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations.war cannot be decided upon . . . except as the very last option and in accordance with very strict conditions" (Owen, 2003). Pope Benedict XVI also supported this view claiming that "reasons sufficient for unleashing a war against Iraq did not exist [because] proportion between the possible positive consequences and the sure negative effect of the conflict was not guaranteed. On the contrary, it seems clear that the negative consequences will be greater than anything positive that might be obtained" (Ratzinger, 2003). Despite prudence of the conditions proposed by the advocates of just-war theory, the incompatibility of the pacifist and just-war views seems absolutely clear. However, the long history of their co-existence within the Catholic tradition suggests that there might be some areas of convergence between them, especially in the modern world. The most illustrative case of such convergence is the response to the most up-to-date forms of warfare such as nuclear and chemical weapons. In such situation certain form of dialogue and compromise between the two Catholic responses to the problem of war is inevitable because using such weapons for conflict resolution is too dangerous and destructive (Payne and Coleman, 1988). Therefore, it is essential to remember that the response of Catholicism to war evolves depending on the new threats and circumstances that continue appear in the modern world. At the same time, it must be remembered that based on the core principles of the Catholic tradition any kind of war either just or unjust is nothing but a moral failure because it results in failure of peace which is the heart of any Christian tradition, including Catholicism. Unfortunately, this highly important consideration remains unnoticed by many contemporary politicians who try to manipulate the just-war theory to justify use of arms in cases when this can not be morally justified from the Christian point of view. However, the most essential thing about the just-war perspective is that the Catholic tradition provides moral underpinning to any war that involves aggression. This means that no pre-emptive use of arms can fit the criteria of a just war (Walzer, 1977). Such interpretation is clearly beyond the framework of Catholicism. On the other hand, in some cases it can hardly be argued against that the protection of human dignity and common good makes the use of arms and violence justifiable. This moral dilemma is especially topical in the modern world where even existence of the whole human race can be threatened. Under such circumstances the pacifist perspective that is the heart of Christianity fails to be the adequate instrument to secure the protection, and may even result in more violence. This view is perfectly summarized in the following statement from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. However, 'as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Art. 2308). Even brief analysis of the answers provided in the scriptures to the issues of war and peace clearly demonstrates that they do not offer any adequate solution to deal with the specific problems of these days such as those posed by the presence of mass destruction weapons. At the same time, the scriptures show the general perspective from which morality of responses to war shall be analyzed. Works Cited Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997 Gremillion, Joseph, The Gospel of Peace and Justice: Catholic Social Teaching Since Pope John, Maryknoll, N.Y., 1976 Owen, Richard, "The Pope: Why I say no to war", The Times, February 12, 2003. Retrieved June 16, 2009 from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article873774.ece Payne, Keith B. and Jill E. Coleman, "Christian nuclear pacifism and just war theory: Are they compatible" Comparative Strategy, Volume 7, Issue 1 1988, pages 75 - 89 Pope Paul VI, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World: Gaudium et Spes, Pauline Books & Media, 1966 Ratzinger, Joseph [interview], "The catechism in a post-Christian world", 30Days, No. 4, 2003. Retrieved June 16, 2009 from http://www.30giorni.it/us/articolo.aspid=775 Shannon, Thomas A., What Are They Saying about Peace and War, Paulist Press, 1983 Walzer, Michael, Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations, 4th ed., New York: Basic Books, 1977 Read More