Just War

Unless a person has been living underground the past several weeks, you would not have missed the verbal exchange between President Trump and Pope Leo XIV regarding the US-Israel War with Iran. Much of the discussion has focused on what is and is not a "Just War." More importantly, there is the question of who makes the call on whether or not a war is just.

The Just War theory has been around for a great deal of time. In the western tradition, Cicero, was one of the first to note that war should have some legal basis. He of the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire would know a great deal about war, assassinations and power grabs. However, it was left to St Augustine, in the fifth century, to set forth the basic principles of what is known as the Just War Theory (it really should be a paradigm). Augustine noted the following are required for a a just war: a legitimate authority; just cause; right intention; and an ultimate goal to establish peace. This was later expanded upon by a few different persons, most notably St Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas reiterated many of Augustine's points, but also further developed the paradigm. For example, he noted that violence was to be the last resort and he began to develop the concept of what we know today as proportionality. Other Catholic thinkers, such Erasmus were critical of the Just War Theory, noting that a disadvantaged peace is better than a just war. Thinking about war is not new to the world, and it is rather odd that policy makers go back to a paradigm established in the fifth century. 

St Augustine (US Catholic)

Hence, in the western world, it can be said that the Just War paradigm arises from, and has been developed by and through Catholic theology. In fact, the idea of a just war is still under going revision in Catholic Church teaching. Pope Francis, in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti (3 Oct 2020) (see linked document starting at paragraph 255), stated: "We can no longer think of war as a solution, because its risks will probably always be greater than its supposed benefits. In view of this, it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a “just war”. Never again war!" (Francis provided a footnote, number 242 which is provided in a note, below.) Francis and other pontiffs have come to this conclusion mainly based on technology and weaponry now available, and its impact on innocent persons. On the one hand there exists more precision in killing devices, but on the other they are much more destructive.

Pope Leo XIV (AP)

For the current Iran war, and proving Francis' point, Pope Leo has received a letter of from parents who lost their children to a US bomb in Minab, Iran. The letter expresses appreciation for Leo speaking out on the war and asking that he continue to be a voice for the voiceless. Leo also carries a photo of a young Muslim boy in Lebanon welcoming him to that country. Leo noted that the boy was killed by an Israeli strike in Lebanon. Leo further went on to say, on his way back from Africa, that "as a pastor I cannot support war." On 26 April he described those who wage wars as thieves who rob the earth of a peaceful future.

Iranian Parent letter to Pope Leo (Catholic connect)

Many consider the approach by Francis and Leo as Pollyannish, not rooted in reality. Dialogue, per the two popes, is the key to understanding and meaningful exchange. Peace negotiation is not like doing a real estate transaction. Leo is upset that peace talks are once again off. To this end, he has faced criticism for his calls for an end to the Iran war and the parties to engage in dialogue. If there is one person who is the competent authority on the Just War Theory it is the Pope, since the paradigm is rooted in Catholic theology. However, as pointed out with Pope Francis' Fratelli Tutti encyclical it still developing. Francis says that that risks of war seem to outweigh any benefits. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement in response to criticisms Leo has received in speaking against the war: 

For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught just war theory and it is that long tradition the Holy Father carefully references in his comments on war. A constant tenet of that thousand-year tradition is a nation can only legitimately take up the sword ‘in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2308). That is, to be a just war it must be a defense against another who actively wages war, which is what the Holy Father actually said: ‘He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.’

Thomas Aquinas (Catholic Social Thought)

With the USCCB having weighed in, one would think the whole hierarchy in the US Church would align. But, that is too much to ask of Bishop Robert Barron. He of the "Word on Fire" media empire, and a member of President Trump's Religious Liberty Commission. Barron pointed to the last sentence of section 2309 of the Catholic Catechism which reads: "The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good."  This led Barron to conclude on 20 April the following: 

The role of the Church, therefore, is to call for peace and to urge that any conflict be strictly circumscribed by the moral constraints of the just war criteria. But it is not the role of the Church to evaluate whether a particular war is just or unjust. That appraisal belongs to the civil authorities, who, one presumes, have requisite knowledge of conditions on the ground.

Pope Francis (silsilahdialogue.com)

If what Barron says is true, that would then hold to other judgements made by civil authorities on moral teachings. But, I think Barron is wrong. The statement in the Catechism "...belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good." (bold by author) does not necessarily put the full onus on civil authorities as he states. Given the UN Charter, it could apply to that body. If it was meant to apply to civic government I think the Catechism would have used the term "public authorities" which is used in two subsequent paragraphs in the Catechism:

2310 Public authorities,(bold by author)  in this case, have the right and duty to impose on citizens the obligations necessary for national defense.
2311 Public authorities (bold by author) should make equitable provision for those who for reasons of conscience refuse to bear arms; these are nonetheless obliged to serve the human community in some other way. 108

Instead, in 2309 it is the broad in those who have "responsibility for the common good." If the church were to cede authority for what is the common good, than it may as well not speak on anything, because almost all issues are political. I may not know much about theology, but I had written ordinances, rules, policies and regulations for over thirty years, so I know something about construction of regulations and guidance documents. If the church meant for civil authorities to have the final say in what is a just war, as claimed by Barron, then it would simply have used: "...belongs to the prudential judgment of the responsible public authorities."  Clearly, as used in 2310 and 2311 public authorities relates to civil authorities. 

Hence, I think Barron is wrong on a few counts. First, ceding judgement to only a civil authority makes it their decision. This gets to Pope Francis' point, that today any war can be justified. By Barron's logic, the issues of policy would be left only to the judgement of the respective government. Second, Barron's discourse fails when the whole section on avoiding war in the Catechism is read. The judgement is left to those with responsibility for the common good, which is not just public authorities. If Joseph Ratzinger, when writing the Catechism, wanted the common good to be civil government he would have used the term he began the two subsequent sections with, Public authorities, but he did not. 

What is interesting is that neither the USCCB, or Barron made any mention of Fratelli Tutti. I realize that many in the US hierarchy did not like Pope Francis, but they should give his due for his encyclicals as much as they do those of popes they may like. One could say they are cafeteria Catholics the way they pick and choose. This is a good thing to know, since the term Cafeteria Catholic has been normally applied to less traditional members of the church by more conservative and traditional members. It is those latter members who are today's Cafeteria Catholics.

Barron and Leo (greydanus.substack)

Leo has been criticized by some who say he is too much a pacifist and ignores the Just War Theory, and hence needs to go back to Sunday school (Washington Post opinion column). But, as seen, the idea of war being just is becoming more restrictive in Catholic teaching; Fratelli Tutti reviews old and provided new thinking on war.  I suspect Leo is following in the views of modern time prior holders of the office from John XXIII to Francis. What they are saying is that there is another way, and that way is the Gospel. Leo, a son of Augustine, understands what he says. He understands that, as America Magazine put it, pacifism is not incidental but essential to St Augustine's Just War Theory.*

Many people who belong to an organization will have issues with some of the positions taken by that organization, which does not mean that one ridicules but that there should be sincere efforts at understanding. We are in a multifaceted world, where secular authorities and other faith traditions need not follow Christian, much less, Catholic teaching on war or any other matter. However, when it comes to the Just War Theory, which arises in the west out of Catholic theology more than any other philosophy, the pope is the most competent authority to speak. 

NOTE:  Footnote 242 of Fratelli Tutti reads: "Saint Augustine, who forged a concept of “just war” that we no longer uphold in our own day, also said that “it is a higher glory still to stay war itself with a word, than to slay men with the sword, and to procure or maintain peace by peace, not by war”  (Epistola 229, 2: PL 33, 1020)."

Fr Edward Sweeney (augustinian.org)

*Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV is an Augustinian priest who was born and raised in the Chicago area. My first cousin once removed--Edward Sweeney, OSA, (1911-1984) was an Augustinian also from Chicago. Fr Edward, my mom's firsts cousin, served in schools and parishes in Chicago and Michigan. He developed Parkinson's disease and retired from service in 1979. I wondered on May 8, 2025, the day Robert Prevost was elected, whether Fr. Edward Sweeney ever crossed paths with the young Robert Prevost.