Pope Francis holds his crosier as he leads a Lenten penance service in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 25, 2022. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Vatican City, Mar 27, 2022 / 10:36 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has again lamented the war in Ukraine and appealed for peace more than a month after Russia’s invasion.
“Enough. Stop it. Silence the weapons. Move seriously toward peace,” Pope Francis said again in remarks after the Sunday Angelus March 27.
Speaking to a crowd of some 30,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, the pope said more than a month had passed since “the beginning of this cruel and senseless war that, like every war, represents a defeat for everyone, for every one of us.”
“We need to reject war, a place of death where fathers and mothers bury their children, where men kill their brothers and sisters without even having seen them, where the powerful decide and the poor die,” he said.
The pope noted reports that half of all children in Ukraine have been displaced due to the invasion.
“This means destroying the future, causing dramatic trauma in the smallest and most innocent among us,” he said. “This is the bestiality of war – a barbarous and sacrilegious act!”
“War should not be something that is inevitable. We should not accustom ourselves to war,” the pontiff said. “Instead, we need to convert today’s anger into a commitment for tomorrow, because if, after what is happening, we remain like we were before, we will all be guilty in some way. Before the danger of self-destruction, may humanity understand that the moment has come to abolish war, to erase it from human history before it erases human history.”
“I beg every political leader to reflect on this, to dedicate themselves to this! And, looking on battered Ukraine to understand how each day of war worsens the situation for everyone,” said the pope.
“Let us continue to pray untiringly to the Queen of Peace,” he said, noting that he had consecrated humanity and especially Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25.
That prayer of consecration was joined by scores of bishops, priests and lay faithful from around the world. Pope Francis thanked everyone for “such a huge and intense participation.”
The pope also took his plea to social media, using his English-language Twitter account to post his comments in English, Russian and Ukrainian to his nearly 19 million followers there.
The war in Ukraine has displaced some ten million people from their homes, 3.6 million of whom have left for neighboring countries, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has said.
As of March 23 the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded 977 civilian deaths and nearly 1,600 injuries in Ukraine, but considers these figures to be incomplete and far fewer than the final casualty counts, the Washington Post reports.
Thousands of soldiers on both the Ukrainian and Russian sides are believed to have been killed in the fighting, though estimates vary significantly and cannot yet be confirmed.
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Fresco by Giotto of St. Francis of Assisi embracing the Child Jesus at Christmas Mass in Greccio in 1223, located in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy. / Public domain
Rome Newsroom, Dec 23, 2022 / 08:00 am (CNA).
It’s a we… […]
A memorial Mass for the late Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell was held at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights, California, on March 1, 2023. / Credit: YouTube/St. John Vianney Hacienda Heights
Boston, Mass., Mar 2, 2023 / 13:27 pm (CNA).
As three days of memorial services began Wednesday for the late Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, who was murdered in his Hacienda Heights home on Feb. 18, Pope Francis and President Joe Biden commended the man known as a “peacemaker.”
News of O’Connell’s murder and the subsequent arrest of his housekeeper’s husband in connection with the killing came as a shock to Catholics across the nation. Among those mourning the late bishop was Pope Francis, whose message was read at Wednesday’s memorial Mass at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights, California.
Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez was the main celebrant of a 7 p.m. memorial Mass in which O’Connell’s younger brother attended and shared memories of growing up together in Ireland.
Pope Francis: O’Connell had ‘profound concern for the poor’
In a message from Pope Francis read aloud at the beginning of Mass by Gomez, the Holy Father commended O’Connell, 69, for his efforts to uphold the sanctity of life and his profound concern for the poor.
The pope sent his “heartfelt condolences and the assurance of his spiritual closeness” to all the clergy, religious, and lay faithful of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles after the bishop’s “untimely and tragic death.”
Pope Francis remembered the bishop for his “profound concern for the poor, immigrants, and those in need; his efforts to uphold the sanctity and dignity of God’s gift of life; and his zeal for fostering solidarity, cooperation, and peace within the local community.”
“In commending the late bishop’s soul to the love and mercy of Christ the Good Shepherd, His Holiness prays that all who honor his memory will be confirmed in the resolve to reject the ways of violence and overcome evil with good,” said the message, which was signed by Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
“To those gathered for the Mass of Christian burial and to all who mourn Bishop O’Connell’s loss in the sure hope of the resurrection, the Holy Father cordially imparts his blessing as a pledge of peace and consolation in the Lord.”
‘Dave got us through tough times’
O’Connell’s younger brother, Kieran O’Connell, thanked the local Catholic community for the outpouring of support and said that his brother had a strong belief in the power of prayer.
“I know he has been a source of solace for myself and my family as well,” he said.
“As my older brother, he was an immense support to me during the passing of our parents and also my brothers and sister. Dave got us through these tough times. He always said it was God’s plan and thanked God for their wonderful lives,” O’Connell said.
Reflecting on his brother’s ordination, O’Connell said: “It was the proudest moment for our family and for the whole community when he said his first Mass in our local parish church.”
O’Connell noted the many “great memories” he had of visiting his brother in Los Angeles and the active role that the bishop played in the raising of his children.
“He was present at every milestone in our lives, baptism, holy Communion, graduation, weddings,” he said. “We forever cherish those memories.”
“Just thank you most sincerely for taking care of Dave for these 45 years and know that he was happiest here among his people,” he said, fighting back tears.
Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell’s brother, Kieran O’Connell, speaks at the bishop’s memorial Mass on March 1, 2023. Credit: YouTube/St. John Vianney Hacienda Heights
‘Christ was looking Dave right in the eyes’
Monsignor Timothy Dyer, pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Los Angeles, gave the homily and opened his remarks by recalling Archbishop Gomez’s presence at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Feb. 22 press conference following the arrest of O’Connell’s alleged murderer, Carlos Medina.
The archbishop had fought back tears as he struggled to get through his brief comments during that press conference.
“Before we begin to reflect on the Scripture readings I would like think that I represent each of you when I say to the archbishop that on the day he spoke in the news conference with the officials from the city and the state and the county around him, his inability to put into words his feelings, was the best way to speak for all of us,” Dyer said.
Dyer said that the Catholic community has been “overwhelmed” at the “pouring out of praise and gratitude” and sympathy from both the Catholic community and the secular community for O’Connell.
“If ever there was a man of prayer that I’ve known it was Dave,” he said. O’Connell would often begin meetings with the prayer method of lectio divina, he said, joking that “and he didn’t worry about how much time it took.”
O’Connell was passionate about standing up for immigrants, standing against racism, and standing up for the unborn and women, Dyer said.
“You could not pigeonhole him. If you wanted to put him up on your banner and let him be your patron for your particular cause, you could only do it if you embraced all of the things that he embraced, and all of the places he fished because it was an ethic of life from beginning to end,” he said.
Dyer’s recommendation that “it would be wise” for the seminary to hold an annual seminar to study O’Connell’s spirituality and ministry, was received with applause from those gathered at the church.
Dyer said that O’Connell had a “great devotion to Mary” that was “reflected in his respect and his admiration for women in religious life.”
Speaking briefly abuse the clergy sex abuse crisis, Dyer said that O’Connell would say to his fellow priests: “Wear it like a hairshirt. Let it irritate you so that it will never happen again.”
For O’Connell, becoming a bishop was a cross rather than a promotion, Dyer said, adding that “it almost broke his heart.”
O’Connell did not want to leave the flock that he pastored, Dyer said. “We need to take care of our bishops. It is not an easy life,” he said.
Fighting back tears, Dyer reflected on the last moments of O’Connell’s life.
“When the bullets were being fired, Christ was looking Dave right in the eyes, and he said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You may lay down the nets now Dave. I’ve prepared a place for you in the Father’s house,’” he said.
Dyer continued: “And there’s someone there who’s waiting too, the one you’ve always called the Blessed Mother, as well as your own mother, waiting to fold you in her arms. And Dave, you don’t have to be a bishop anymore. But in front of your dwelling place, there’s a great big lake. And we have a lot of fishing to do on behalf of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles still,” he said.
Biden White House statement
In response to a question from EWTN White House Correspondent Owen Jensen, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said March 1 that “the president and the first lady join Archbishop Gomez, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and the entire Catholic community in the mourning of Bishop David O’Connell.”
“We also express our sympathy and prayers for the family and friends of the bishop, who will certainly remember his legacy of service to those on the margins of society. And so, again, we offer up our condolences to the community.”
The White House responds to the murder of Bishop David O’Connell from Los Angeles and to the leaked FBI document comparing Catholics to violent extremists.
— EWTN News Nightly (@EWTNNewsNightly) March 1, 2023
There will be a public viewing on Thursday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. The viewing will take place from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
A vigil Mass will be held following the public viewing at 7 p.m. and will be livestreamed both here and here.
O’Connell’s funeral Mass will be held on Friday, March 3, at the same Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels at 11 a.m. local time. The funeral Mass will be livestreamed both here and here.
Pope Francis will not say this because of political reasons, but I will: this war along with its sufferings is caused by the unjust desires of only one human being, Vladimir Putin.
Certainly the recent aggression rests with Mr. Putin but what interests set up the scenario in the first place & put the Ukraine in harm’s way? The Western nations haven’t been doing the Ukraine any favors by offering them false hopes.
The Ukrainians don’t appear to have a single ally which is truly sad.
Perhaps someone should suggest that while everyone has the right to choose personal non-violent surrender, those responsible for the Common Good and the welfare of others have no right, for example, to sacrifice the necks of the wives and children to the knife of an assailant.
On May 3, 1983 the (United States) National Conference of Catholic Bishops published the pastoral letter: “The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response.” In this document, the pacifist ideology of unilateral disarmament (Pax Christi) was replaced. Pope John Paul II had placed Cardinal O’Connor in a review position and required the document to be submitted to Rome two or three times for clarity on moral principles (apart from ideology) and actual prudential judgment, e.g., “…Equally important in the age of modern warfare is the recognition that the justifiable [!] reasons for using force have been restricted to instances of self-defense or defense of others under attack” (n. 214).
Also in 1983 the German and French bishops’ conferences published pastoral letters (German: “Out of Justice, Peace;” and French: “Winning the Peace”), printed together by Ignatius Press in 1984 under the editorship of James V. Schall, S.J.). The three pastorals stressed, alternatively, the danger of nuclear holocaust and the place for deterrence, the danger of Soviet weapons superiority along the then Iron Curtain, and the danger of state-sponsored Marxism. But none was pacifist.
In the interests of synodality (!) perhaps these sober assessments by bishops’ conferences should influence papal one-liners tending to criminalize self-defense (somewhere: “all wars are unjust”).
Yet, there is also the point to be made, with needed force and precision, that the lucrative arms trade does tilt toward easy escalation (anywhere) almost inevitably toward global disaster. But it is precisely at such times that one hopes for, and has a right to look forward to, from the perennial Catholic Church, very measured application of moral theology to increasingly complex, concrete circumstances. Is Putin listening? North Korea? Iran?
In the circumstances of Gethsemani, Peter was instructed not to use his sword, but was he told to never own it?
Let me be partially sarcastic – how long will it be until the Pope says something to which the powers-that-be at twitter take offense and cancel him, or whatever it’s called.
FYI – I have NO social media accounts, or whatever they’re called, and have no intention of changing that. If that puts me out of touch, so be it. I confine my ruminations(?) to CWR.
You’re so right. The propaganda media love Bergoglio. In 10 years I have never read so much as a word of criticism of him. Thank you for pointing this out.
I usually read these four Catholic sites: CWR, NCRegister, wherepeteris, and Vatican news. Which ones do you consider to, be liberal? Oh, and I read mercatornet, which is not strictly a religious site, but it is more Catholic than most Catholic sites.
It’s complex! The common adage when caught between seeming offsetting principles. One humorous anecdote was the advertisement of a hapless [former] roommate standing by a pile of belongings being thrown out the apartment window by a visibly impervious woman. A passerby stops and looks at him quizzically, he responds, “It’s complicated!”.
Where do we find justice? For heroic Ukraine, as well as land grubber, cowardly giant Russia [how the entire media, US generals, both political parties view the matter for once all are unanimous]. How simple! Would that it and other issues were so easy to judge. Although Russia is [presumably by natural law itself] a perennial demon. That makes unanimity on Russia easy. How can any just claim for security from Nato [let’s not forget Nato is as a dangerous to Russia as it is to Papua New Guinea, perhaps even Pago Pago].
Now the war cry is, let’s destroy Russian ambition by destroying it’s army in Ukraine. War criminal Vladimir Putin [or is it Rasputin?] has cast his evil spell on the Russian people. Unfortunately, his policy of devastation of Ukraine by bombardment when land forces fail fulfills the prophetic vision of credentialed pundit and armchair world strategist. So the arms continue to pour into Ukraine, perhaps far more lethal in the making, the killing and misery continues on increasing scale, the war cries reaching ‘fever pitch’.
Maybe, perhaps maybe, in this one instance, Pope Francis is correct in calling war, all war bad. After all, it’s against the odds that he’s always wrong.
One wonders just who Pontiff Francis thinks he’s talking to.
Q1 – Is he suggesting that Ukrainians are immoral for fighting against a foreign army that invaded their country?
Q2 – Is he preaching to the choir so that he can say he said something about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but has carefully calibrated the statement to be sure it is without any meaning?
Chris, although I agree Pope Francis is generally ambivalent, as he seems here, he did, for example, say to the media earlier in reference to Ukraine, “That when a country is attacked it defends itself, everyone, including civilians”. He added that Russia’s attack was a massacre. His fear of a nuclear confrontation [even a tactical nuclear exchange would be devastating for Europe and the US] has justification with an escalating proxy war. Biden is making wild comments that could cause an apparent paranoid Putin to respond.
Pope Francis has been denouncing this war right from the beginning of this invasion. He is not preaching to the choir but to the world. He is, and has always been, against war.
So, yes, Pope Francis broadly denounces war; yet, the earlier non-position implied that both parties are equally guilty–that self-defense is immoral.
Pope Benedict XV likewise denounced World War I, but at least he had a plan rather than a platitude (“To the Belligerent Peoples,” August 1, 1917).
Summarizing, his propositions for that war were the need to assert moral force over material force, simultaneous disarmament, arbitration in place of conscription, free movement of people and commerce especially at sea, restitution of territories seized during the War (!), and harmony among national aspirations and with the common good (!). Dismissed at the time, parts later reappeared (without attribution) in President Wilson’s Fourteen Points of Peace (Jan. 8, 1918), one of which became the right to national self-determination.
Unlike the AT & T smartphone advertisement, it is complicated.
Upon reflection, I find that my use of the word “platitude” is inaccurate and probably unjust….Without knowing the right word, my meaning goes something like this…
First, the hair-trigger nature of modern technology with its catastrophic potential does raise novelties not in play when Augustine defined the just war.
Second, if it is true (?) that papal advisors are thinking about an exhortation amending just war theory, I would hope such a statement does not displace concrete prudential judgment with undefined “fraternity.”
Third, instead, on the application of moral theology (Catholic Social Teaching) to very convoluted circumstances on steroids, did Catholic academia abdicate its potential contributions the moment it claimed the total autonomy of the Land O’ Lakes Declaration (1967)? Overwhelmed now by administrative hyper-compartmentalization, plus the trendy ideologies of identity politics and intersectionality and STEM—who is left to help an overtaxed Pope Francis answer such modernday conundrums as subsidiarity and solidarity, both together, and the (forgotten) Common Good?
How, too, to clearly articulate both the nature and backstory of global flash points, while also affirming with courage that there is no peace without justice, and no justice without truth?
What is truth? Other than mislabeled “platitudes,” what is the knitty-gritty right word (in addition to the Word) for all of the above? What is our protection from too-simply airbrushing that all war is immoral—even measured self-defense, or deterrence against rogue-state nuclear blackmail?
One can denounce the war in different ways. Pope Francis, who condemns war in his writings, played an active role behind the scenes which only his stance allowed him to do. But since that was to no avail, he took a tougher stance. The correct strategy I thought.
Given Pope Francis’s inability exercise restraint on what he says and does in public, and repeated contradiction of existing, unchangeable Church doctrine, not only on Just War Teaching, but also other issues (such as support for homosexual unions, and his averment that Apostates “remain part of the Church”), I think it would be fair to ask about his mental state and whether he still healthy enough to hold office. Many experts have, after all, questioned the mental health of President Biden and former President Trump for the same or similar reasons.
If he is losing it, then his handlers are guilty of elder abuse by parading him around and allowing him to humiliate himself.
Pope Francis will not say this because of political reasons, but I will: this war along with its sufferings is caused by the unjust desires of only one human being, Vladimir Putin.
Certainly the recent aggression rests with Mr. Putin but what interests set up the scenario in the first place & put the Ukraine in harm’s way? The Western nations haven’t been doing the Ukraine any favors by offering them false hopes.
The Ukrainians don’t appear to have a single ally which is truly sad.
The following article of March 28 by Sandro Magister is the sober and necessary antidote to this article: http://magister.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/2022/03/28/ukraine-is-fighting-but-for-francis-no-war-is-just/
Perhaps someone should suggest that while everyone has the right to choose personal non-violent surrender, those responsible for the Common Good and the welfare of others have no right, for example, to sacrifice the necks of the wives and children to the knife of an assailant.
On May 3, 1983 the (United States) National Conference of Catholic Bishops published the pastoral letter: “The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response.” In this document, the pacifist ideology of unilateral disarmament (Pax Christi) was replaced. Pope John Paul II had placed Cardinal O’Connor in a review position and required the document to be submitted to Rome two or three times for clarity on moral principles (apart from ideology) and actual prudential judgment, e.g., “…Equally important in the age of modern warfare is the recognition that the justifiable [!] reasons for using force have been restricted to instances of self-defense or defense of others under attack” (n. 214).
Also in 1983 the German and French bishops’ conferences published pastoral letters (German: “Out of Justice, Peace;” and French: “Winning the Peace”), printed together by Ignatius Press in 1984 under the editorship of James V. Schall, S.J.). The three pastorals stressed, alternatively, the danger of nuclear holocaust and the place for deterrence, the danger of Soviet weapons superiority along the then Iron Curtain, and the danger of state-sponsored Marxism. But none was pacifist.
In the interests of synodality (!) perhaps these sober assessments by bishops’ conferences should influence papal one-liners tending to criminalize self-defense (somewhere: “all wars are unjust”).
Yet, there is also the point to be made, with needed force and precision, that the lucrative arms trade does tilt toward easy escalation (anywhere) almost inevitably toward global disaster. But it is precisely at such times that one hopes for, and has a right to look forward to, from the perennial Catholic Church, very measured application of moral theology to increasingly complex, concrete circumstances. Is Putin listening? North Korea? Iran?
In the circumstances of Gethsemani, Peter was instructed not to use his sword, but was he told to never own it?
Agreed
If only more Pto-Life Christians , Catholic Christians, gather in Earnest with Discernment?
Was not evangelism of Billy Graham , Johnathan Edwards, Saint Paul, put to shame and guilt?
Wether in 1949? Or 1743? There was need!
When a man, a woman, can stay in need of redemption but not a distinguishing mark of wanting treat change
“PICK UP YOUR MAT AND WALK”, “YOUR SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN”. “Now, Go and SIN no more”
Words of such force and magnitude.
What is the difference in your life? What is the difference in my life?
Let me be partially sarcastic – how long will it be until the Pope says something to which the powers-that-be at twitter take offense and cancel him, or whatever it’s called.
FYI – I have NO social media accounts, or whatever they’re called, and have no intention of changing that. If that puts me out of touch, so be it. I confine my ruminations(?) to CWR.
You’re so right. The propaganda media love Bergoglio. In 10 years I have never read so much as a word of criticism of him. Thank you for pointing this out.
Obviously you do not read widely. Sandro Magister and some rad trad anti-Pope Francis sites seem to be your sources.
As usual, your ignorance and malice are on full display. I explicitly referred to the liberal propaganda media of which you are a feckless myrmidon.
I usually read these four Catholic sites: CWR, NCRegister, wherepeteris, and Vatican news. Which ones do you consider to, be liberal? Oh, and I read mercatornet, which is not strictly a religious site, but it is more Catholic than most Catholic sites.
It’s complex! The common adage when caught between seeming offsetting principles. One humorous anecdote was the advertisement of a hapless [former] roommate standing by a pile of belongings being thrown out the apartment window by a visibly impervious woman. A passerby stops and looks at him quizzically, he responds, “It’s complicated!”.
Where do we find justice? For heroic Ukraine, as well as land grubber, cowardly giant Russia [how the entire media, US generals, both political parties view the matter for once all are unanimous]. How simple! Would that it and other issues were so easy to judge. Although Russia is [presumably by natural law itself] a perennial demon. That makes unanimity on Russia easy. How can any just claim for security from Nato [let’s not forget Nato is as a dangerous to Russia as it is to Papua New Guinea, perhaps even Pago Pago].
Now the war cry is, let’s destroy Russian ambition by destroying it’s army in Ukraine. War criminal Vladimir Putin [or is it Rasputin?] has cast his evil spell on the Russian people. Unfortunately, his policy of devastation of Ukraine by bombardment when land forces fail fulfills the prophetic vision of credentialed pundit and armchair world strategist. So the arms continue to pour into Ukraine, perhaps far more lethal in the making, the killing and misery continues on increasing scale, the war cries reaching ‘fever pitch’.
Maybe, perhaps maybe, in this one instance, Pope Francis is correct in calling war, all war bad. After all, it’s against the odds that he’s always wrong.
One wonders just who Pontiff Francis thinks he’s talking to.
Q1 – Is he suggesting that Ukrainians are immoral for fighting against a foreign army that invaded their country?
Q2 – Is he preaching to the choir so that he can say he said something about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but has carefully calibrated the statement to be sure it is without any meaning?
Chris, although I agree Pope Francis is generally ambivalent, as he seems here, he did, for example, say to the media earlier in reference to Ukraine, “That when a country is attacked it defends itself, everyone, including civilians”. He added that Russia’s attack was a massacre. His fear of a nuclear confrontation [even a tactical nuclear exchange would be devastating for Europe and the US] has justification with an escalating proxy war. Biden is making wild comments that could cause an apparent paranoid Putin to respond.
Pope Francis has been denouncing this war right from the beginning of this invasion. He is not preaching to the choir but to the world. He is, and has always been, against war.
Malware alert! Yes and no…
Pope Francis first denounced only the “conflict”, which is different from later publicly recognizing this “invasion” (your word) as an act of “war” (your word). His earlier comments were received by many as meaning “neutrality” in the face of overt aggression (https://www.wsj.com/articles/pope-francis-laments-war-in-ukraine-without-taking-sides-11648226928).
So, yes, Pope Francis broadly denounces war; yet, the earlier non-position implied that both parties are equally guilty–that self-defense is immoral.
Pope Benedict XV likewise denounced World War I, but at least he had a plan rather than a platitude (“To the Belligerent Peoples,” August 1, 1917).
Summarizing, his propositions for that war were the need to assert moral force over material force, simultaneous disarmament, arbitration in place of conscription, free movement of people and commerce especially at sea, restitution of territories seized during the War (!), and harmony among national aspirations and with the common good (!). Dismissed at the time, parts later reappeared (without attribution) in President Wilson’s Fourteen Points of Peace (Jan. 8, 1918), one of which became the right to national self-determination.
Unlike the AT & T smartphone advertisement, it is complicated.
Upon reflection, I find that my use of the word “platitude” is inaccurate and probably unjust….Without knowing the right word, my meaning goes something like this…
First, the hair-trigger nature of modern technology with its catastrophic potential does raise novelties not in play when Augustine defined the just war.
Second, if it is true (?) that papal advisors are thinking about an exhortation amending just war theory, I would hope such a statement does not displace concrete prudential judgment with undefined “fraternity.”
Third, instead, on the application of moral theology (Catholic Social Teaching) to very convoluted circumstances on steroids, did Catholic academia abdicate its potential contributions the moment it claimed the total autonomy of the Land O’ Lakes Declaration (1967)? Overwhelmed now by administrative hyper-compartmentalization, plus the trendy ideologies of identity politics and intersectionality and STEM—who is left to help an overtaxed Pope Francis answer such modernday conundrums as subsidiarity and solidarity, both together, and the (forgotten) Common Good?
How, too, to clearly articulate both the nature and backstory of global flash points, while also affirming with courage that there is no peace without justice, and no justice without truth?
What is truth? Other than mislabeled “platitudes,” what is the knitty-gritty right word (in addition to the Word) for all of the above? What is our protection from too-simply airbrushing that all war is immoral—even measured self-defense, or deterrence against rogue-state nuclear blackmail?
One can denounce the war in different ways. Pope Francis, who condemns war in his writings, played an active role behind the scenes which only his stance allowed him to do. But since that was to no avail, he took a tougher stance. The correct strategy I thought.
Given Pope Francis’s inability exercise restraint on what he says and does in public, and repeated contradiction of existing, unchangeable Church doctrine, not only on Just War Teaching, but also other issues (such as support for homosexual unions, and his averment that Apostates “remain part of the Church”), I think it would be fair to ask about his mental state and whether he still healthy enough to hold office. Many experts have, after all, questioned the mental health of President Biden and former President Trump for the same or similar reasons.
If he is losing it, then his handlers are guilty of elder abuse by parading him around and allowing him to humiliate himself.