Is peace possible?Vatican City--The Catholic Church has always taught and continues to teach that peace is possible. So said John Paul II John Paul II, 1920–2005, pope (1978–2005), a Pole (b. Wadowice) named Karol Józef Wojtyła; successor of John Paul I. He was the first non-Italian pope elected since the Dutch Adrian VI (1522–23) and the first Polish and Slavic pope. in his World Day of Peace message of January 1, 2004. In fact, the Pope reiterated that, not only is peace possible--it is a duty, built on the four pillars Four Pillars may refer to:
John XXIII, 1881–1963, pope (1958–63), an Italian (b. Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo) named Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; successor of Pius XII. He was of peasant stock. in his encyclical encyclical, originally, a pastoral letter sent out by a bishop, now a solemn papal letter, meant to inform the whole church on some particular matter of importance. Benedict XIV circulated the first known encyclical in 1740. , Pacem in Terris Pacem in Terris, or in English (full title) On Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty was a papal encyclical issued by Pope John XXIII on 11 April 1963. . But how can peace be established in a world of global terrorist activity, suicide bombings and weapons of mass destruction Weapons that are capable of a high order of destruction and/or of being used in such a manner as to destroy large numbers of people. Weapons of mass destruction can be high explosives or nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons, but exclude the means of transporting or ? The United Nations cannot agree among its members on tactics to suppress or eliminate such terrorist threats; indeed, some of its members even harbour known terrorists. The Pope believes that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was not a just war because it did not have the support of the United Nations and the UN Security Council. This is not to label the Pope a pacifist, as U.S. Catholic thinkers George Weigel and Michael Novak suggest. Weigel questions whether the Vatican promotes a "functional pacifism pacifism, advocacy of opposition to war through individual or collective action against militarism. Although complete, enduring peace is the goal of all pacifism, the methods of achieving it differ. which retains the intellectual apparatus of the just war tradition of moral reasoning but always comes down, at the bottom line, in opposition to the use of armed force" (Gregorian University Conference on Catholic thought and world politics, April 29, 2004). One should remember that the Vatican appealed for some military action before the genocides in Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia, and it did not disagree when the U.S. military intervened in Afghanistan. Legionary of Christ Fr. Thomas Williams, dean of theology at Rome's Regina Apostolorum Institute, places the anti-war bias of recent magisterial mag·is·te·ri·al adj. 1. a. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a master or teacher; authoritative: a magisterial account of the history of the English language. b. teaching in historical context. He says that much of the prejudice against war from modern popes took shape against the backdrop of the threat of a nuclear holocaust. In the post-Cold War world, "the use of military force no longer automatically risks a global nuclear conflagration." Added to this, modern weapons of warfare can make discriminate strikes on strategic military targets with fewer civilian casualties and less destruction of property. As to the contention that the United Nations should be the final arbiter of war action, there are times when individual states may need to take action to defend themselves when UN options are either not available or not preferred. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger believes that the time has come to update the just-war doctrine in the face of current world tensions (Zenit, May 2004). Also see Note "Humanitarian Intervention Principle" under United Nations. |
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