The Catholic principles of the just war are as valid today as ever they were, so it was heartening that the pope has reiterated their importance. In a conversation with journalists following his trip to Kazakhstan, he declared that the purchase of weapons can be “morally acceptable if done under the conditions of morality”. Those conditions must be understood in the terms articulated by St Thomas Aquinas and expanded by others, namely, a war must be in a just cause, a last resort, declared by a proper authority, possessing right intention, having a reasonable chance of success and with the end being proportional to the means used.
But the pope went further when he declared that “the motivation is what in a great part qualifies the morality of that act. To defend oneself is not only licit, it is also an expression of love towards one’s homeland – whoever doesn’t defend something doesn’t love it.”
Plainly the war in Ukraine can be seen as defensive, notwithstanding the complexities of Russian-speaking areas in the east; it is a just cause. This assertion by the pope is welcome since previously he has pulled his punches in condemning the Russian invasion. If he did so, it was in the hope of being able to act as a mediator and out of a desire not to alienate the Russian Orthodox Church, but diplomacy has its limits.
As the pope says, it is more important “now more than ever to reflect on the concept of the just war”, for there are so many wars happening. War is always an evil, but as the pope says, it is the motivation that determines its character. By that reckoning, the Ukrainians are fighting the good fight. Still, let us pray for peace.
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