Trump administration has riled head of Catholic church over use of theology to justify conflict in Iran

Trump administration has riled head of Catholic church over use of theology to justify conflict in Iran

The contrast in experience between the two men disagreeing over war and theology was striking.

On the one side was Pope Leo XIV, the first North American to head the Catholic church and the first cleric from the Augustinian order, who this week visited the modern Algerian city where Saint Augustine once lived. For Leo, who wrote his doctoral thesis on Augustine’s ideas, it was the culmination of a lifelong intellectual interest.

On the other, the US vice-president, JD Vance, a very recent adult convert to Catholicism with no academic background in the history of the church’s thinking.

  • ViatorOmnium@piefed.socialEnglish
    14·
    17 hours ago

    Apparently only atheists read the catechism these days:

    2309 The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. the gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time: - the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; - all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective; - there must be serious prospects of success; - the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. the power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

    Vance’s war of choice meets none of the criteria. There was no certain damage (Iran has been “Two Months Away”™ from having nukes for 20 years, and even if they had them doesn’t mean they would use them), negotiations were still officially ongoing, they went in without even having concrete goals let alone a plan to end the war, and then started by bombing a school.