The injustice of war

The injustice of war

Pope Francis returns to a frequent theme of his: «War is the negation of all rights and a dramatic assault on the environment. […] We must work tirelessly to avoid war…» (FT, n. 256). It is not an original idea in papal teaching. However, Pope Francis concretises it with a particular assessment of current circumstances. He notes in paragraph 258 that «in recent decades, every single war has been ostensibly “justified”». He concludes that «it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of a “just war”». Does this imply a development of the just war theory, or is it an appeal to replace it with a moral principle?…(Continua a leggere)