The Church and the “Just War” Theory

Dear CIOT Participants,

The votes are in, and fortunately without any issues of hanging chads or automated phone calls. Here are our next 8 topics (with votes received in parentheses):

02-05  The Church and the “Just War” Theory (12)
03-05  The Church and Evolution (9)
04-02  The New Cosmology & World View (12)
05-07  Catholics and Islam (14)
09-10  The rise of Protestant Evangelical Churches in America (10)—2nd Monday of Sept.!
10-01  Vatican Politics and Catholic Ideals (9)
11-05  Interpretation of the Scriptures in History and Currently (9)
12-03  The Church and Gays & Lesbians (9)

For our Next Meeting (February 5)...

What has been—and is—the Church’s teaching on the possibility of a “just war”? A doctrine emerged during the patristic period and was refined in the Middle Ages. Since then it has undergone clarification and, some would say, it has reached a point where it is in need of revision in order to accommodate the horrors of warfare in the 21st century.

The readings offered below are intended to do several things, based on the fact that no current discussions of “just war” among Catholics occur in a vacuum: the question of Iraq looms large. I have intended to organize the material into three main areas: one treating the history of Church doctrine that provides access to relevant documents; one treating various Catholic responses to current affairs measured according to Church doctrine; and finally one that provides you with links to other websites at which you’ll find many excellent materials.

Please note the following sections below:

• As Painless as Possible: The Church and the Just-War for Dummies
• Offical Documents and Pronouncements” (General and Specific to Current Events)
• Traditional Just-War Theory: The View in 1913 (i.e., before “modern” warfare)
• Is Just-War Theory in Need of Revision?
• What about the Vatican—White House Split Over the Invasion of Iraq?
• Just War among Catholics Who Support Current U.S. Foreign Policy
• Decidedly Critical Catholics of U.S. Policy w/ Reference to Just War Ideas
• Web Sites Addressing this Issue Specifically

It goes without saying that there is much more here than one will read for our meeting, but I hope that it is organized in such a way as to give you access to the basics and to allow you to pick and choose from there. I’m looking forward to our discussion!

Yours in Christ,
John

As Painless as Possible: The Church and the Just-War for Dummies

Okay, these links are not really for dummies but rather a selection of the fastest, easiest, least painful explanations of the basics that I have found. You may find one of them useful.

When is War Justified? - a quick summary of doctrine.

Colin B. Donovan’s Paraphrase of the Catechism’s Teaching (Catechism text is linked below, under Official Documents).

Just-War Doctrine at the Catholic Answers website (slightly longer but more informative than the two links above).

From Catholic Social Teaching, 1891-Present, by Charles E. Curran (Georgtown UP, 2002), cap. 5 (The Political Order), the section Peace and War . Excellent summary.

Official Documents and Pronouncements

General:

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section II: The Ten Commandments, cap. 2, art. 5 (The 5th Commandment: Thou shalt not kill), III: Safegarding Peace, §§ 2302-2317.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (2004), Part II, cap. 11: The Promotion of Peace, §§ 488-520.

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response (1983). A crucial document, but not available online. However this is a very good summary.

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace (Nov. 17, 1993)—provides a summary of Church teaching on the issues of war, peace, and the just war. A summary of this document is also available.

With Reference to Current Events:

U.S. Bishops Letter to President Bush (Jan. 12, 2007).

Bishop Thomas J. Wenski (Orlando), Toward a Responsible Transition in Iraq (Jan. 12, 2006)

Traditional Just-War Theory: The View in 1913

It may be useful to ask how the Church defined this issue prior to an era in which war meant millions of young men as fodder for machine guns, massive collateral damage, the spectre of nuclear destruction, and terrorism as we now conceive of it. Here’s the article on “War” from the old Catholic Encyclopedia (1913). What it calls “right of war” is what we today mean by “just-war theory” in Catholic teaching. It attempts to explain notions of “natural law” in terms of “international law,” concepts vital to our tradition.

Is Just-War Theory in Need of Revision?

In Our Sunday Visitor, Emily Stimpson (Jan. 3, 2007) summarizes the work of a new study group debating whether or not just-war theory is just or, rather, whether it meets the realities of 21st-century warfar. The publications of the study group are not yet available, but a summary of their work is worth taking a look at.

What about the Vatican-White House Split Over the Invasion of Iraq?

Douglas Todd, in Christian Century (2004), wrote an article on the split between the GOP and the Vatican over the Iraq war. This is epecially useful because it includes a summary of John Allen’s relevant chapter in his All the Pople’s Men, in which among other things one learns that Vatican leaders fear Americans are becoming total Calvinists (even Catholic Americans).

“Just War” among Catholics Who Support Current U.S. Foreign Policy

Note: in addition to these few, you’ll find many, many more at the website described below (JustWar? The Catholic Just War Tradition and the Iraq War).

There is a long article by one of the modern experts on the issue. At the same time, not all of its points have been endorsed by the Vatican. However, it does present a thorough history of the “just war” theory from the early Church to the present, and is certainly worth reading. You’ll know infinitely more about Catholic teaching then and now on this issue after getting through this article.

James Turner Johnson, Just War, As it Was and Is, First Things 149 (Jan. 2005), 14-24.

Richard J. Neuhas (like Turner Johnson) is one of prominent Catholic intellectuals who opposed the Vatican on the “just war” and Iraq issue. This first piece was written right as the invasion was beginning, and must be read in that light—it does a very good job speaking out for Catholics who felt that they could support the invasion. The second piece contains two items: it reprints an interview Neuhaus gave to ZENIT (a rome-based news service) in March 2003 (i.e., right after the his “Sounds of Religion” piece and just before the invasion of Iraq) and, perhaps of more interest, it follows the interview with Neuhaus’ reflections on all of this some 2.5 years later.

Richard J. Neuhaus, Sounds of Religion in Time of War, First Things 133 (May 2003), 76-92.

Richard J. Neuhaus, Iraq and the Moral Judgement, First Things (Oct. 2005).

Decidedly Critical Catholics of U.S. Policy w/ Reference to “Just War” Ideas

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton (Detroit) heads the organization Pax Christi and an outspoken critic of our war policies and—worse yet, he insists—the silence of American bishops. This link is to a speech he gave in September 2005 at a peace conference in Trieste, Italy. It pulls no punches to say the least.

(Eastern Rite Priest) Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, Christian Just War Theory and Moral Laxism: A Chronically Misleading Episcopal Witness , Position Paper for the Center for Christian Nonviolence (May 2006).

McCarthy has also had extremely harsh words for the U.S. Bishops regarding the death toll in Iraq. Theologian Baffled by U.S. Bishops’ Silence Over Iraqi Death Toll, Catholic New Times (Feb. 13, 2005).

For a critical, informative, and recent Catholic analysis of “just war” and current foreign policy issues, see:
Michael J. Baxter, An Interview…on the Iraq War, Catholic Neocons, Mr. Bush, and Iran, TCRNews.com (May 17, 2006).

Web Sites Addressing This Issue Specifically

ReligionLink.org - This is a service intended to provide journalists with accurate information pertaining to religious issues. The link below will take you its “Iraq” section, where you can “jump to” a number of sub-sections: choose “Extreme Makeover: Just-War Theory” for a compact but superb list of resources including encyclopedia entries, internet resources, major publications, and a list of currently acknowledged experts (most all of these with additional links).

JustWar? The Catholic Just War Tradition and the Iraq War - This is part of the “Ratzinger Fan Club” website and may be considered “conservative” if by that we mean it contains more items legitimizing the Iraq invasion than criticizing it (much to the chagrin of our Pope, I’m sure). At the same time, it does provide links to many of the leading Catholic intellectuals who support the invasion as compliant with Catholic “just war” teaching, including Robert P. George, Stephen F. Hayes, Deal H. Hudson, James Turner Johnson, Richard J. Neuhaus, Sandro Magister, Michael Novak, James V. Schall, George Weigel. There are dissenting voices scattered throughout this site and, towards the bottom, a number of useful links to articles (through 2006) as well as sections on “Additional Readings on the Catholic Just-War Tradition in General,” “Interviews and Symposia,” and “Formal Documents.” (Note: the “Additional Links” at the bottom of the website took me nowhere).

America Magazine’s Special Issue on the Just War  (185 no. 10, Oct. 8, 2001) - This leading national Catholic weekly obviously read the signs of the times, for less than a month after 9-11 the editors published a special issue in which they “asked experts in the just war theory to examine this question and present their views.” The link is to the editor’s introduction; specific articles may be double-clicked on the left of the page).

JustWarTheory.com - This is a website maintained by Professor Mark Rigstad (Dept. of Philosophy, Oakland University) dedicated to the philosophical issues of war and just-war theory in particular. It has heaps of information and so many links, most notably “Classics,” “General Resources,” and “Iraq”.

Catholic Peace Fellowship - This organization focuses on concsientious objectors but related to this are its many links to Church teaching on issues of war, peace, just-war theory, etc. Therer are useful links to canonical documents, statements by Church Fathers and saints as well as more recent ones by the U.S. Conference of Bishops, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI. (Note: start with the link “Church Teaching” that appears on the homepage.)