Did Pius XII condemn conscientious objection?

[Scottgun]

I read this on another site:

“Conscientious objection (to military service) is morally indefensible!” announced Pope Pius XII in his Christmas address of 1956. “A Catholic citizen may not appeal to his own conscience as ground for refusing to give his service to the state.”

Does anyone have a link to the whole text of the address? I can’t seem to find it through normal google searching. Thanks.

 

[oldcatholicguy]

I read this on another site:

Does anyone have a link to the whole text of the address? I can’t seem to find it through normal google searching. Thanks.

Is your source the Iowa Peace Network?

 

[Dale_M]

The take home quote I found in a scholarly book is that Pope Pius XII said, in his 1956 Christmas message, that a Catholic citizen "“cannot invoke his or her own conscience in order to refuse to render the services and perform the duties established by law”.
books.google.com/books?id=F8luZnjkVdAC&lpg=PA36&ots=P07D7R7PzW&dq=%22conscientious%20objection%22%20%22pius%20xii%22&pg=PA36#v=onepage&q=%22conscientious%20objection%22%20%22pius%20xii%22&f=false

The pope seems to have been referring to persons drafted after their country has been invaded, but it would be good to read the entire Christmas message to put it into context. I don’t think the pope was saying that Catholics are not morally permitted to be conscientious objectors, particularly if their country has such a legal provision.

Whether a Catholic could morally refuse military service for a non-defensive war, even if drafted, would be a good question to pursue. I don’t think Pope Pius XII was addressing such a question.

 

[Genesis315]

This is definitely something that should be seen in context. It sounds like the presumption is this is a just war that is being spoken of.

For what its worth, Pope Leo XIII said this in his encyclical Diuturnum:

“For it was a mark of a Christian soldier to combine the greatest fortitude with the greatest attention to military discipline, and to add to nobility of mind immovable fidelity towards his prince. But, if anything dishonorable was required of him, as, for instance, to break the laws of God, or to turn his sword against innocent disciples of Christ, then, indeed, he refused to execute the orders, yet in such wise that he would rather retire from the army and die for his religion than oppose the public authority by means of sedition and tumult.”