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Ryan Hammill: Could Pope Francis Be Ready to Throw Out Just War Theory?
Cardinal Turkson celebrates Mass at Just Peace conference in Rome, April 2016 (Pax Christi International) A shout out to Ryan Hammill who wrote a great post Could Pope Francis Be Ready to Throw Out Just War Theory? following up on the Catholics, Nonviolence, and Just Peace conference in Rome in April. Below are some of the quotes he included from me. Check here for more media round up on the conference.
But Rose Marie Berger, who wrote one of the background papers for the conference (and serves as an editor for Sojourners) remarked that the push to move past just war theory originated among people experiencing violence themselves.
“Too often the ‘just war theory’ has been used to endorse rather than prevent or limit war.”
“At our meeting in Rome in April we heard a clear call from Catholics in the majority world and in situations of extreme conflict that the Church’s teaching on war and peace was not only insufficient to the level of violence they are facing but it was, in some cases, contributing to that violence.”
She said she would welcome an encyclical on peace and nonviolence from Pope Francis.
“The church is thirsting for fresh teaching here and hungering for this conversation,” she said. An encyclical would not only “add to the church’s wisdom,” but also prompt a “world-wide conversation.”
“Pope Francis has made it clear that ‘peace’ is the third pillar of his legacy,” Berger said.
Read Ryan’s whole article.
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Laudato Z’ine Makes Debut at Vatican
Spotted in Rome at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. The Vati-Cats and Laudato Zi’ne debuted in Rome last week. (If you haven’t been keeping track of this popular “zine” version of Pope Francis’ teaching on climate change, then check out Laudato Z’ine and the Vati-Cats.)
Before I left from D.C., Heidi folded another 50 copies of Laudato Z’ine and I packed them in my suitcase. When I arrived in Rome for the conference on Catholics, Nonviolence, and Just Peace, I casually put a few out on the display table. Soon they were all gone. Then I gave a copy to some folks in particular. So now it should be tucked away in the carry-alls of a few bishops in Africa, professors in the Philippines, a nun in Iraq, and several others.
But its special debut was at the Pontifical Office on Justice and Peace (see photo above). We were there to do some more official business, but … well, what would Francis do? So I tucked a copy in the magazine rack outside Cardinal Turkson’s office. Who knows where it might end up!
Oh yes. And there were a LOT of cats in Rome.
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The Church Needs A New Approach to War
(Left to right) Rose Berger, Sr. Teresia Wamuyu Wachira, Elizabeth Kimau Kanini, Jasmin Galace. Some of you are tracking on the conference I attended in Rome last week on Catholics, Nonviolence, and Just Peace.
We heard an overwhelming response from representatives from the Majority World who are living in situations of extreme conflict (Congo, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan) that Just War theory and theology, as it is popularly understood, is killing them. We also heard an equally clear call for the church to overtly prioritize a theological, ethical, moral, practical, strategic, and pedagogical framework of Catholic peace, peacemaking, and strategic effective nonviolence as a tool for confronting evil.
This is not a new position or need on the part of the people of God. Every pope since Vatican II has called for Christians, especially Catholics, to actively turn away from war.
To be clear, at the Rome conference we did not call for the dismantling of international law that is based on just war principles. We did not call for abandoning the critical, ethical, strategic thinking that undergird how we limit violence, especially in war. We did, however, say that what the church teaches needs to be updated and that the world of war has changed so significantly, as it relates to both weaponry and civilians, that classic just war thinking has not adapted fast enough to deal with the suffering in the church at large.
Additionally, and more importantly, we said that we need the church as a global institution charged with the spiritual and moral development of humanity to apply its vast resources to comprehensive teaching on peace: from the parish to the pope. And that they church needs to educate and promote the vast new data on the objective effectiveness of strategic nonviolence as a means for confronting injustice and evil. (Maria Stephan and Erica Chenoweth’s work, Why Civil Resistance Works, is most significant on this–and Maria was at the conference.)
This is an unfolding conversation. It’s the start of a new way forward. But “start” in the Catholic sense, as in we’ve been beginning for the last 50 years. Now is time for the global church to pick up the call and start writing, acting, studying, praying, teaching, analyzing, negotiating, etc out of this framework to birth it into fullness of life.–Rose Marie Berger
Here are some of the key public documents from the conference:
1. Cardinal Turkson’s address3. Final statement from gathering: An Appeal to the Catholic Church to Re-Commit to the Centrality of Gospel Nonviolence
A round up of media coverage:
*Pax Christi has a list of international coverage available here.
*Joseph A. Komonchak on comparing the recent conference with the 1973 US Catholic bishops Lane and Dougherty committee meetings on Just War v Pacifism
*Terry Rynne on the shift of Christology as part of a needed reframing of a peace theology
*Former CIA senior leader Graham Fuller on welcoming an expansion beyond just war
*Damon Linker, senior correspondent at TheWeek.com, says “Participants in the Vatican conference are right to highlight this moral defect within the just war tradition, arguing in a statement that too often it “has been used to endorse rather than prevent or limit war.”
*David Swanson
*Tony Magliano on abandoning ‘just war’ language (The Saskatchewan Prairie Messenger)
*What Happens When You Replace a Just War With a Just Peace by Maria Stephan (Foreign Policy) -
Terry Rynne: Why is the Catholic Church moving away from just war theory?
Mural at Vatican Radio I got home a week ago from Rome and Assisi, returning from a stupendous global meeting on Christian nonviolence. On Thursday we delivered the final statement first to Pope Francis (via Cardinal Turkson) and then went on Friday to Assisi to deliver it to St. Francis, tucking it in to the grate next to his crypt. Our work is now in good hands for moving forward.
This gathering is one that I will be unpacking for some time. I was pleased to meet Terry Rynne, founder of the Marquette University Center for Peacemaking, at this meeting. Please read his essay below to get a more complete sense of the monumental nature of what this gathering has started.
Why is the Catholic Church moving away from just war theory? by Terrence Rynne:
The Catholic church’s ongoing move away from the just war theory as “settled teaching” to a more expansive call to proactive peacemaking has been made clear in a global conference scheduled for April 11-13 in Rome.
Sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Pax Christi International, the conference, “Nonviolence and Just Peace: Contributing to the Catholic Understanding of and Commitment to Nonviolence,” is gathering educators and activists from all over the world, particularly from the global South. The precise purpose of the conference is to more fully develop a vision of nonviolence and just peace for the Catholic church.
Five reasons underlie this pivot to a positive vision of peace and a point of view that goes well beyond the just war theory:
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Modern wars have made the just war theory obsolete;
The rise of a Christology “from below”;
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A clearer understanding of how the New Testament relates to contemporary problems;
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A renewed appreciation of the way the early church practiced Jesus’ teachings on peace;
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The compelling, thrilling saga of nonviolent action over the 60 years since Gandhi.
Read Rynne’s complete essay.
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Pope’s Gesture of Hospitality a ‘Drop of Water in the Sea’
Pope Francis transported on his personal plane three Syrian migrant families from Greece to Vatican City as a gesture of hospitality. During the flight, Pope Francis quoted Mother Teresa of Calcutta in describing the move. Teresa, he said, called her work like “a drop of water in the sea.” “But after this drop the sea will not be the same,” the pope quoted. -
Christoper Lamb: Pax Christi Calls on Vatican to Emphasize Just Peace
PAX CHRISTI PUTS PRESSURE ON VATICAN TO END ITS SUPPORT FOR ‘JUST WARS’
14 April 2016 | by Christopher Lamb in Rome
Catholic peace group says ‘dropping bombs’ doesn’t solve any problems and calls for emphasis on ‘just peace’
The Church should reject Just War theory and revaluate its teaching on conflict, according to a Vatican conference on non-violence.
A gathering organised by Pax Christi International with the backing of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said the teaching should now be replaced with a “Just Peace” approach.
“We believe that there is no ‘just war,’ ” a statement released at the end of the conference today said. “Too often the ‘just war theory’ has been used to endorse rather than prevent or limit war.”
The statement is backed by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the pontifical council, who has also agreed to present a letter to Pope Francis on the topic.
It went on: “We need a new framework that is consistent with Gospel nonviolence…We propose that the Catholic Church develop and consider shifting to a Just Peace approach. A Just Peace approach offers a vision and an ethic to build peace as well as to prevent, defuse, and to heal the damage of conflict.”
Just War theory, developed by St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas, puts forward a number of criteria permitting conflict, including that the war must bring peace, that it is the last resort and is not for self-gain.
Pope Francis has called for the “abolition of war” but has suggested, in the case of violence perpetrated on Islamic State (IS), war is permissible to stop the “unjust aggressor”. Last year the Vatican backed a United Nations resolution backing international force to stop IS.
But Marie Dennis, co-president of Pax Christi International, said at a press conference in the Vatican today said the answer was to stop such violence through non-violent means.
“As long as we say dropping bombs solve the problems, we won’t find other solutions,” she said.
Another of the participants Archbishop John Odama, chairman of the Ugandan Bishops’ Conference, said that the conditions for just war set out in the catechism means that “in reality” war should not take place.
“Violence is out of date for our world of today,” he said. “Some say just war can be promoted. Which war is this? There is no justice in destruction of human lives.”
Elsewhere, the statement calls on the Pope to write an encyclical on peace and non-violence and for Catholic institutions to no longer use or teach Just War theory.
It states: “Clearly, the Word of God, the witness of Jesus, should never be used to justify violence, injustice or war. We confess the people of God have betrayed this central message of the Gospel many times, participating in wars, persecution, oppression, exploitation, and discrimination.”[]
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Landmark Vatican conference rejects just war theory, asks for encyclical on nonviolence
I’m pleased to share news of our phenomenal gathering this week in Rome. Please read the article from the National Catholic Reporter (below). We have had a tremendous week. Today we were able to deliver the final document to the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace. Marie Dennis addressed an envelope to Papa Francesco containing the statement and a personal letter and it was placed on Cardinal Turkson’s desk for delivery.Tomorrow a few of us will take the train to Assisi to bring the fruits of this work for peace to the feet of Saints Francis and Clare.
Thank you to everyone who has been holding this gathering in prayer. Your prayers have been heard. More later.–Rose Berger
Landmark Vatican conference rejects just war theory, asks for encyclical on nonviolence
by Joshua J. McElweeThe participants of a first-of-its-kind Vatican conference have bluntly rejected the Catholic church’s long-held teachings on just war theory, saying they have too often been used to justify violent conflicts and the global church must reconsider Jesus’ teachings on nonviolence.
Members of a three-day event co-hosted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the international Catholic peace organization Pax Christi have also strongly called on Pope Francis to consider writing an encyclical letter, or some other “major teaching document,” reorienting the church’s teachings on violence.
“There is no ‘just war,’” the some 80 participants of the conference state in an appeal they released Thursday morning.
“Too often the ‘just war theory’ has been used to endorse rather than prevent or limit war,” they continue. “Suggesting that a ‘just war’ is possible also undermines the moral imperative to develop tools and capacities for nonviolent transformation of conflict.”
“We need a new framework that is consistent with Gospel nonviolence,” say the participants, noting that Francis and his four predecessors have all spoken out against war often. “We propose that the Catholic Church develop and consider shifting to a Just Peace approach based on Gospel nonviolence.”
Read the whole article here.
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A Parable of Power
I’m in Rome this week for the first Catholic conference on Nonviolence and Just Peace co-sponsored by the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace. Here’s a first installment about my adventures. (If you want to skip down to the bottom you’ll find links to the pope’s letter to the gathering and Cardinal Turkson’s address to the gathering.)Arrived in Rome on Sunday morning and to the Church Village center about 1p. Last night a few of us went to St. Peter’s for Mass. It was overwhelming to be there and see the stunning artwork inside, listen to the choir, hear the Mass in Italian, and give thanks with the homily that the great strength of the church is love. (Now, we just need to live that out!) Marie Dennis (co-president of Pax Christi International) and I walked through the Jubilee Doors opened by Pope Francis for this year of focusing on Mercy. Apparently, walking through this door also conveys “indulgences” (which I don’t think the Church believes in anymore). So whatever indulgences I gained (is there an app tracker for that?) I immediately spent in a small act of ecclesial disobedience. In attending communion I held out my hands to receive the host from the priest (as is the custom in the U.S. and accepted worldwide practice I believe for at least 40 years). He refused to offer me the host in my hands. After some “exchange” (ahem) that caused the usher to come forward and indicate I should hurry up, I accepted the host on the tongue. This seemed preferable to having the host become the object of a tug-of-war, especially since I’m here for a conference on nonviolence. However, the entire exchange serves as parable for me. At the Catholics highest point of sacrifice and peace, we are still fighting over rules and power. I’m as guilty of that as he is. After receiving the host, I said “peace be with you” to the priest. May God bless his soul. And mine too.–Rose Marie Berger
Pope Francis’ letter to Conference on Nonviolence and Just Peace:
The basic premise is that the ultimate and most deeply worthy goal of human beings and of the human community is the abolition of war.[6] In this vein, we recall that the only explicit condemnation issued by the Second Vatican Council was against war,[7] although the Council recognized that, since war has not been eradicated from the human condition, “governments cannot be denied the right to legitimate defence once every means of peaceful settlement has been exhausted.”[8]
Another cornerstone is to recognize that “conflict cannot be ignored or concealed. It has to be faced.”[9] Of course, the purpose is not to remain trapped within a framework of conflict, thus losing our overall perspective and our sense of the profound unity of reality.[10] Rather, we must accept and tackle conflict so as to resolve it and transform it into a link in that new process which “peacemakers” initiate.[11]
Cardinal Turkson’s opening address to Conference on Nonviolence and Just Peace:
Peace in society cannot be understood as pacification or the mere absence of violence resulting from the domination of one part of society over others. Nor does true peace act as a pretext for justifying a social structure which silences or appeases the poor, so that the more affluent can placidly support their lifestyle while others have to make do as they can. Demands involving the distribution of wealth, concern for the poor and human rights cannot be suppressed under the guise of creating a consensus on paper or a transient peace for a contented minority. The dignity of the human person and the common good rank higher than the comfort of those who refuse to renounce their privileges. When these values are threatened, a prophetic voice must be raised. (§218)
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Oklahoma Catholic Workers: Holding US Bishops Accountable for Supporting War
A big shout out and thanks to Bob Waldrop and the Catholic Worker Community at Romero House in Oklahoma City for producing a special issue of their Worker paper in honor of the meeting in Rome this coming week on Catholics and Just Peace.The US bishops’ attitude of moral relativism about the war – “we
think it’s wrong, but if you choose a different way, that’s fine with us”
– is not what they say about abortion. On that issue, they give clear
moral guidance. It is an objective evil. But so is direct involvement
with unjust war. Unjust war at all times and under all
circumstances is a moral evil on the part of the aggressor. Here is
how Bishop Botean constructed his argument on the moral equivalency
of involvement with the Iraq war and involvement with abortionRead the whole paper here.
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Just War, Just Peace, Just Catholic: A Gathering in Rome
Here’s the news. I’m headed to Rome (Italy, not Georgia) on Saturday, for a week to participate in the first-ever Vatican conference on Nonviolence and Just Peace: Contributing to the Catholic Understanding of and Commitment to Nonviolence, co-sponsored by Pax Christi International and the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace.I was asked to contribute a backgrounder paper titled “No Longer Legitimating War: Christians and Just Peace,” which (by the skin of my teeth and lots of help) I did.
I’ll be gathering with other Catholics, mostly from the majority world (and majority church), who live their Catholic faith and practice peace in the midst of civil war and extreme social violence.
Pope Francis has encouraged us to “put reality before ideas.” In the case of this conference, we’ll listen first to the lived experience of Catholics sorting out their salvation in midst of men with guns and then asking what scripture and church tradition has to offer to their experience. (more…)
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Rose Marie Berger 