Is supporting an unjust war a sin?

[Catholic_Hammer]

If a pope comes out and specifically says a particular war is “unjust”, is it a sin to support that war?

 

[Verbum]

Hi Catholic,

It might be a venial sin, but it would not be a grave sin unless the pope made it very clear that it was a grave matter and Catholics were to abide by his teaching.

Verbum

 

[otjm]

The whole issue of Just War Theory is way too complex to reduce to the simple question you asked. There are simply too many factors to be weighed to make any viable answer.

If you are interested in Just War Theory, please take the time to read what George Weigel has written about it. He has been castiaget by many who appear to have done nothing more than skim, if that, his writing.

Too many people take the position (on either side of the question) with a “He said it, I believe it, that ends it, please don’t confuse me with the facts as I already have my mind made up” approach. That is simply a cop out.

 

[searching06]

This absolutely is way too complicated to boil it down as such. I’m Catholic and for the majority of my life, was a soldier. It is a question always close to the heart of any soldier, even those who claim no particular religion, if they are doing the right thing, is it moral, is it just, is such killing a sin, am I right with God. You have to be sure you are where you want to be in the first place and if you believe inwhat you are doing - defending our country (politics aside). Because when the bullets start flying, you have to shoot first and pray for their souls later. Granted, that also means following all of the laws of war, etc. in the heat of the battle.

I don’t believe the Pope finds the Iraq war justified, but I would disagree. And in that, I don’t think I’m a bad Catholic or sinning as such.

I will ask a question I think dovetails with this nicely and I’ve wondered about for years, especially in the light of terrorism and Muslim fanatics: is defending yourself and your country justified if those trying to kill us (and it will come here again, only worse) are doing so in the name of their religion? Are we to die for ours/our faith without defending ourselves, especially in our own country? I personally believe we will have to defend ourselves in short order, or make the choice of dying for our faith, or both.

 

[FightingFat]

IMO Supporting war is dodgy period. It would be very hard to justify a conflict to the point where I would be supportive.

 

[Brendan]

If a pope comes out and specifically says a particular war is “unjust”, is it a sin to support that war?

About the only way a Pope would have that particular authority would be if the Vatican State was one of the participants in the war.

The Church recognizes that the authority to determine the Justice of a War resides with the secular State.

(per the CCC 2309 “The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.”)

So the Pope has no authority to rule if a war is Just or not. Which does make sense, the Pope does not have access to the intelligence that a Secular State would, or the military expertice to determine what is a “serious prospect of sucess”.

In addition, the requirement that all other means be shown to be “impractical or ineffective” is rather subjective anyway.

But that is why you won’t find Popes declaring particular conflicts to be Just or Unjust, but rather more general statements prompting peace.

 

[M-Dent]

This absolutely is way too complicated to boil it down as such. I’m Catholic and for the majority of my life, was a soldier. It is a question always close to the heart of any soldier, even those who claim no particular religion, if they are doing the right thing, is it moral, is it just, is such killing a sin, am I right with God. You have to be sure you are where you want to be in the first place and if you believe inwhat you are doing - defending our country (politics aside). Because when the bullets start flying, you have to shoot first and pray for their souls later. Granted, that also means following all of the laws of war, etc. in the heat of the battle.

I don’t believe the Pope finds the Iraq war justified, but I would disagree. And in that, I don’t think I’m a bad Catholic or sinning as such.

The current Pope has written just that in the past.

Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion
General Principles
by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

1. Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment.** There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty**, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.

 

[Bobby_Jim]

Now regardless of what the pope says, sometimes an individual can discern for themselves that a given war that their country is involved in is unjust. For example, a Catholic in Germany during WWII could have recognized this as a war of aggression, not a matter of self-defense and last resort, regardless of how much else they knew about the atrocities being perpetrated, and whether or not they were ever permitted to hear anything Pius XI or XII had to say about it.

The complicating factor is that, oftentimes an obviously unjust war is accompanied by some kind of coercion on the part of the government, wherein you & your family would be shot for not visibly supporting the unjust war. Not to mention a lot of propaganda so you can’t see straight. So it’s tough, because you’re not really free to do what you ought.

 

[Greg27]

In my view it would depend. The Catholic tradition defends the notion of ‘just war’ and people called up to defend their country against external threats are obliged to go to war. Yet, if a war is done purely for the usual reasons of greed, ambition and power-lust, then one should carefully examine one’s conscience and also study the events and motives behind the war and its history before supporting it.

In the case of a war like Iraq, I think it is debateable if it was just, but far more concerning to the Pope was the horrible violence going on there against innocent life, as well as the persecutions of the Christian community. If the US military is stopping the situation from getting any worse (i.e. all out civil war) then even if the war itself was not just, a just reason could be given for staying the course.

 

[Orionthehunter]

If a pope comes out and specifically says a particular war is “unjust”, is it a sin to support that war?

The main value of the just war theory is it provides a framework for the individual to make his own prudential judgment regarding its justness. Our only obligation is to accept what the Church teaches infallibly. Matters of prudential judgment are matters which the Church provides moral guidance but the final matter is a matter of individual prudential judgment. See Brandon’s post below from the CCC.

This being said, conclusions reached with ill-intent are always sinful. But these are matters that are hard (if not impossible) to determine except during an examination of conscience in conversation w/ the Holy Spirit.

 

[PhilipCal]

The statement of Pope John Paul II concerning the war in Iraq, was essentially a statement of his opinion. Certainly, the weight and prestige of his holy office lent substantial credence to his pronouncement. For the soldier, the question is a little more simple. Armed Forces are not debating societies. They operate on the principle of obedience to orders. They are in essence, instruments of policy. The Nurnberg Trials of leading German officials introduced the principal named for that venue. Essentially, an Officer, or any soldier, is bound to refuse any order he believes to be immoral or illegal. Our current military personnel policies allow for conscientious objectors to either be discharged from the Armed Forces, or serve as non-combatants. Obviously, there are serious, awesome considerations in making a decision to employ armed force to achieve a policy objective. The imputability for sin in this regard lies with the person ultimately responsible for the decision to employ force.