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Pope: ‘There is No Such Thing As a Just War: They Do Not Exist!’

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Pope Francis is famous for his tendency to shoot from the hip, which is unfortunate for someone whose every word is watched for significant and authoritative pronouncements. His bad habit was on full display Friday; in expressing sympathy with Ukrainians, the pope declared: “There is no such thing as a just war: they do not exist!” In that single sentence, the pontiff swept aside centuries of Catholic teaching and even undercut the ground for the Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion. All in a day’s work for the Marxist who warns against Marxism.

The pope held an audience Friday morning for participants in an international congress, “Educating for democracy in a fragmented world,” which was promoted by a pontifical foundation and held at a Roman university, the Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta (LUMSA). He began his remarks by marveling at how much more dangerous the world has suddenly become: “We are used to hearing news of wars, but far away. Syria, Yemen… the usual. Now the war has come closer, it is on our doorstep, practically.”

Syria, Yemen, the usual? That was callous enough coming from someone who should be as concerned about wars in Syria and Yemen as he is about war in Ukraine, and the pope was just getting warmed up. “And this,” he said, “makes us think about the ‘savagery’ of human nature, how far we are capable of going. Murderers of our brothers.” The war in Ukraine was, of course, uppermost in his thoughts: “We think of so many soldiers who are sent to the front, very young, Russian soldiers, poor things. Think of the many young Ukrainian soldiers; think of the inhabitants, the young people, the young girls, boys, girls… This is happening close to us.”

Christians, the pope continued, should not be indifferent to all this: “The Gospel only asks us not to look the other way, which is precisely the most pagan attitude of Christians: the Christian, when he gets used to looking the other way, slowly becomes a pagan disguised as a Christian. This is why I wanted to begin with this, with this reflection. The war is not far away: it is at our doorstep. What am I doing? Here in Rome, at the ‘Bambino Gesù’ Hospital, there are children wounded by the bombings. At home, they take them home. Do I pray? Do I fast? Do I do penance? Or do I live carefree, as we normally live through distant wars? A war is always – always! – the defeat of humanity, always. We, the educated, who work in education, are defeated by this war, because on another side we are responsible. There is no such thing as a just war: they do not exist!”

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Comments

  1. A quote from the article by the pope, “We, the educated” I find that most strange as I feel that he is a Servant of Satan & Not educated. Why ? Very simple if you read The
    Catholic 10 Commandments they have done a nifty switch! They left out the commandment, Not to bow down to Idols. They still have ten but missed that one out !!
    When I visited the Vatican many years ago, I thought that I was transported back to a
    Hindu Temple in India. That is why I call the Pope The Servant of Satan.

    • Let’s not exaggerate, brother. The pope is clearly mistaken, impulsive and presumptuous. He should ask theologians before he makes a fool of himself. Someone in his position has a duty to be sensible, well-grounded in reality and precise. Pope Francis spoke passionately, when he should have limited himself to teach the church’s dogma on the matter. His compassionate feelings for the victims of war do not overturn the need to militarily protect those same people when they are victimized from invading tyrants or civil unrest from terrorists. The pope is a bit of a hippy, but hardly ‘satanic’.

    • I’m fairly sure, since a few years ago, he called Jesus *wrong,* that Jesus would say to him, this ‘pope.’ “You are from your father the devil and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a liar/murderer from the beginning…” (John 8)

      Yes, by his actions and his many lying words, this guy called ‘pope,’ has made himself a son of satan.

    • Just to clarify RCs do not bow down to or worship idols. They are merely aids to prayer.

      • Some do. I have read personal accounts of people who did or do, and I have a close friend who was raised by nuns and we’ve had some long and interesting conversations about some people who are Catholic.

        • Nonsense. If thats the case they have no knowledge of the Catholicism.
          Just because you watch a video or speak to a few people proves diddly squat.

        • In fact I am sick and fed up with you talking crap but never ever giving a genuine link. C’mon give us a verifiable link that we RCs worship idols.

        • So sorry, but I can’t “”link”” to an actual person. She’s a longtime friend, raised by Catholic nuns and had a love for the “church” before leaving it.
          She is not the only Catholic I spoke with about their faith, had some send me their personal account of what they believe by email…can’t “link” to them either. Others were via the printed page. No links.

          And, I didn’t make the statement you claim that I made. I said, “some” do, and some Catholics do worship the idols…by praying to the idol, kneeling down in front of…etc. “SOME” do this.

          You don’t have to believe what I write. Just like I don’t have to believe what you say

          And I don’t give a care with what you “are fed up.”

        • No i am fed up with your crap as you argue like a child….a poorly educated child.

        • Did you not understand that “I don’t care with what you are “fed up”?

          Perhaps if I write, I don’t give a fig for what you think, believe or any action you may take, you might get a clue as to the meaning of “I don’t care.” If you are so “fed up” and sick, go upchuck, Perhaps you will feel better.

  2. Pope Francis imposes his own opinion above Scripture, sacred church tradition and the most authoritative theologians on the matter of the church’s just war doctrine. That is absurd, because the Roman Catholic Church does have criteria for a just war.

    Jus ad bellum 1) a just cause 2) right authority 3) right intention 4) reasonable chance of success 5) proportionality to threat 6) last resort

    Jus in bellum 1) proportionality 2) discriminacy 3) military necessity

  3. Pope Francis contradicts the clear teaching of his church found in the 1992 Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, In paragraph 2309, there are four strict conditions for “legitimate defense by military force”:

    -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

    • Rarely, it is one thing to be against war, it is another thing entirely to claim that even defense against unprovoked invasion and conquest is wrong.

      Were defenders against the Fascts during WWII unjust? Should they just have all rolled over for the Nazi invasion?

      If you make it clear that you will not defend yourself *under any circumstances* then far from univestal peace this just emboldens thugs and warmongers.

      Do you smilarily oppose having police and courts? Do you hold that any defense against crime also wrong?

      • Because one can be against war it doesn’t mean one is against fighting to defend oneself. There is a world of difference between starting a war and defending. What constitutes “starting” a war I will leave to the philosophers — sometimes it’s clear and sometimes not. Each side will most often blame the other for starting the war and History will decide the “truth”. History, of course, is usually written by the victor.

        • Rarely, the Pope said that there is no such thing as a just war, not that there is no such thing as a just war if it is unprovoked aggression.

    • To Rarely: There is a difference between ‘war’ and ‘just war’.

      Are you against ‘just war’?

      Then you would oppose the police arresting the Mafia or you would be against the Allies fighting Hitler.

      Most people see WWII as a good example of a ‘just war’.

      • Agreed, mortimer, and demonstrating again that pacifism only works if everyone is a pacifist.

        Not to have opposed Hitler militarily (which btw the highly overrated Gandhi argued for, even to the ludicrous degree of asserting that Jews should demonstrate their moral superiority by not using any violence to counter Hitler) would itself have been highly immoral.

        Democracy and great religions like Judaism and Christianity are not suicide pacts. Some people still don’t get this. Continued pacifism when confronted by outright barbarism is itself a great wrong and a tremendous stupidity.

        • I’m no pacifist but I’m still against War per se.
          BTW both Germany and Japan viewed WWII as a “just” war too although their various justifications fade pretty quickly when the deaths of 60+ million souls are put in the equation. Italy was just along for the ride.

        • Rarely, I note that you *still* will not say that opposing Fascism was a good thing–nor even that arresting hoodlums is justified. Do you think that arresting Jihad terrorists is wrong as well?

          The fact is that opposing all war under all circumstances means that you cannot defend yourself against aggression. Whether Nazis or Jihadists, this sadly only emboldens the thugs.

          The West being so weak now may, in fact, have been a significant factor in Putin being so emboldened as to invade Ukraine.

        • GI.
          Being “against War” does NOT imply being against defending oneself against the aggression of others. However, by rationalizing the actual aggressor will claim most often, if not always, that the other is the aggressor. For example, Russia will (and has) claimed that the threat of the Ukraine joining NATO is an aggression sufficient to justify their actions.
          Do not take my comments in any way as supporting Russia or to imply that I do not support the Ukraine defending itself. I am fully in favour of giving the Ukraine everything it needs to repel Russia’s aggression.
          Nor should my comments in any way be taken to mean that I am against the arrest and prosecution of criminals. Ridiculous.
          I am still against war.

  5. This fool for the devil lies as if he is an old, dirty rug. He wouldn’t know the truth if it smacked him right between the eyes.

    The God that the ‘pope’ pretends to serve, had directed the Jews to fight wars in order to clean out the land of those who worshipped satan with many false gods. The people who burned their children in the fires, the ba’al worshippers who murdered for their ‘god,’ were fought by the Jews. And there are more examples of times when war was necessary.

    making a broad statement because it looks like war is getting to his “doorstep” is typical of someone who is a narcissist and psychopath. The liar just can’t hide his selfishness.

    • Hailing from Buenos Aires as he does, we can’t expect much. He didn’t get the memo about “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” and the like. Pope Frank even denies the idea of nation states, especially when it comes to the USA’s southern border. Another Pope like this guy and the Church may be done for.

      • APF, I know a couple of Argentines who are very devout Christians. They haven’t all been ruined by “liberation theology”. But this is all too common…

        • Pope Francis reminds me of Father Guido Sarducci, a comic caricature played by Don Novello on Saturday Night Live.

          Fr Guido Sarducci was somewhat of a shallow hippy. Pope Francis is like that. Not evil, but somewhat of a shallow hippy.

          Pope Francis oversimplifies almost everything.

          Theology has been called the ‘queen of sciences’, because it is a demanding study. But Pope Francis’s theology is not rigorous. It is spontaneous and based on his emotions.

      • The old Catholic Church is already done for. Vatican II, a monumental stupidity, killed it off.

        Thus, Francis is far more of a symptom than a cause though he is still destructive in his own right.

        Roman Catholicism of old is never coming back. Stabs at its trying to come back were laudably attempted by the two previous Popes, but they were just rear-guard actions trying to prop up something that was no more. Rather like Diocletian and Constantine endeavoring to restore the Roman Empire of old. Didn’t work. And won’t work with what is left of the Roman Catholic Church—which isn’t much though many remain in denial about this.

  6. even the pope, smokes dope….

    what else can be said… then again it is discriminatory against dope smokers so next thing you know you get censored…

    i just dont want to supose he is on anything stronger than mere dope…. but there is possibilities…

    what to say other than him participating in any mainstream media propaganda makes him another parrot that is regurgitating everything the neo marxists worldwide are spreading, and so passionately that it is obvious his opinions are 100% guided and programmed….

    • Born Saturday, all I can say is ” Bloody Brilliant ” the answer you made, made me smile from ear to ear. A big thank you.

  7. No such thing as a “just war”? What was World War II? Should we have let the Nazis have Europe and Japan its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere? Or the war to rescue the Yazidis, Shi’a, and others from the ISIS fanatics? Or the war against Al Qaeda? Or the war to force Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait? Or the wars that Israel has had to fight for its very survival, in 1948, 1967, and 1973? Or the war to keep the Communists from taking over South Korea? Or the War Between the States, which ended slavery in America?

    The Pope is a constant source of wonder and dismay. A nice guy, but so very limited.

    • Hugh Fitzgerald says,

      “The Pope is a constant source of wonder and dismay. A nice guy, but so very limited.”

      With respect, judging by Pope Francis’s historical statements and actions / inactions, I believe that you’re being way too generous.

        • Ditto. Francis is, at best, a fool. At worst, cognitively complicit with evil.

          I don’t know how any still-practicing Catholic can: 1) have any respect for this man; 2) not wonder what the Hell God is up to in allowing such a man to become pontifex maximus in the first place since, per Catholicthink, the College of Cardinals are guided by God to elect a successor to follow in the way of the “Shoes of the Fisherman,” i.e., Saint Peter. So, the question could be asked of Catholics, considering the debacle, the travesty, Francis is, what is God thinking?

      • Great exchange, Hugh, James, Somehistory, and Wellington. I’m not sure that Pope Francis is really a particularly nice guy, either. I think this applied more to Pope John Paul II, who could occasionally be naive, but more often had a clear sense of good and evil.

        Hugh, especially good examples of truly just wars.

    • The war to remove Saddam from Kuwait – I’d remove that from the list of just wars, given everything that’s happened since then

  10. Complete idiocy from this Pope. I suppose he is a pacifist. I have always thought that pacifists have an idiotic point of view in that I guess that they would not have gone to war against Hitler or the Japanese in WWII. Pacifists would just sit there like doormats and be stomped all over and led away to be slaughtered. Of course there are just wars. The Pope’s statement is absolute garbage. When you are attacked by a vicious enemy, such as Nazi Germany was, you have every justification for fighting back. There are certainly some clowns in important leadership roles these days, this Pope and Biden being two examples.

    • Good points, Tim. I think that this pontiff is morally worse than a pacifist, though, even given how misguided this position is, for the vey reasons you mention.

      But he also said that he’d punch anyone who insulted his mother–and *worse* used this to condone Muslims committing terrorism if anyone dared mock their vicious creed.

      https://www.irishcentral.com/pope-punch-someone-insulted-mother

      Really, the *worst of both worlds* here.

      • Thanks for that information, gravenimage. I didn’t know that this clown of a Pope had said that about punching people or using that idea to defend his beloved Muslims. I wouldn’t expect consistency from this man. So he is a pacifist in saying that there is no such thing as just war, an idiotic notion if I’ve ever heard of one, but he’d punch punch people. I”m a peaceful type of person and have never punched anyone in my life, (of course, being scrawny, I’d have little effect if I did) but it is the height of idiocy to say that there is never a just reason to go to war. People who say that are out of touch with life’s harsh realities.

        • And, he slapped the hand of a poor little Catholic woman who dared touch him. The look on his face was pure evil. But, he gladly washed the dirty feet of people who would slit his throat …and that of the little lady…if they got the chance, while smiling broadly.

          He’s an evil creature, pretending to be a servant of God, an example to follow, and one who has authority to tell the rest of us what to do and how to live and how to think. He does not represent…nor stand in place of…our Lord, Jesus Christ.

        • somehistory, I didn’t know about that incident either. I suppose I take little notice of this Pope because he seems to be, from my point of view, even though I am a Catholic, a useless fool. I find what you mention there, about him slapping the woman’s hand inexcusable. It is not the way any clergyman should behave. Certainly not the way Christ, who they are meant to imitate, would have ever behaved.

        • tim.

          there was video of the incident. He was with bunch of people and she walked up and touched him and he turned and slapped her hand. It was painful to watch.

          I recall the Bible account of Jesus in a crowd of people with His disciples and suddenly, He stopped and said something like, “Who touched me?” His disciples asked how were they to tell when there were so many people there milling and moving about. He said that He felt “power” go out. And the woman, who was supposed to not touch others because of her situation, and what the Law said about that…she was unclean, came forward and confessed But, Jesus did not rebuke her when she confessed to having touched Him, but healed her problem. Perfect compassion.

          anyone claiming to imitate/represent Christ, should absolutely Know Him and what He would do in any situation.

      • Thanks, Wellington. Yes, we tend to see things in very similar, I would say sensible, ways. There are some fools around in high up positions these days and this Pope is definitely proving to be one of them.

  11. Pope: ‘There is No Such Thing As a Just War: They Do Not Exist!’
    …………..

    So even opposing the Fascists and liberating the death camps was wrong? Moral insanity, and this is *not* Christian.

  12. I think that we have an answer to the question:”Is the Pope Catholic?” In this case I feel that the correct answer is “No” and if you want to add a favorite expletive or two, I agree.

    Why this is happening, I don’t know, But Our Lady of Akita had a message that predicted just what is occurring. Bishop vs bishop and faithful being persecuted by their own kind

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