Benedict XVI on War

Abstract

Pope Benedict XVI was well aware that he was unable to diagnose the contemporary crisis of peace, nor did he claim to have the right to resolve this issue. Rather, he attempted to identify, from a Christian (Catholic) perspective, the ethical and legal conditions that could enable military crises to be overcome. He therefore argued that it is possible to recognize this complex and tragic phenomenon for humankind by acknowledging the appropriate symbiosis of rational thinking with openness to the truth contained in Revelation. In this regard, he believed that it was necessary to recognize the shortcomings of the anthropocentrism promoted today, which is accompanied by moral relativism, destroying bonds between people, sensitivity to others, and community responsibility. He sought the sources of this attitude in the optimistic rejection of the reality of original sin and its moral consequences for the human race. Only a proper understanding of human nature and its eschatological purpose allows for a moral and normative analysis of wars, as well as the identification of criteria that can at least minimize the causes of current and future conflicts. It is the perspective of Christian anthropology that allows us to see ethical deficiencies and, thus, the weakness of effectiveness in the domestic and international relations of the modern world. Aware of the frailty of human nature, capable of generating armed conflicts, he placed his hope in human communities, as well as in the bodies responsible for establishing and enforcing international law, to be able to morally distinguish between right and wrong. At the same time, he was not in favor of accepting an attitude of extreme pacifism, which is a kind of acceptance of the existing evil of injustice in human relations or may be an expression of resignation from solidarity in caring for the common good. He therefore accepted the legitimacy of a just war, which, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, entitles one to defend oneself with military force.