The Only Just War
Can we state that the war has been engaged in a moral manner? Is the bombing of schools moral? Is the economic warfare inflicted upon the civilian populace moral? The murder of children is simply anathema.
JD Vance has been on the news lately for clashing with the Pope over the Iran war. Under these circumstances let us inspect the Catholic Church’s stance on war. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is quite clear:
CCC 2308: All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war [1].
Can JD Vance honestly state that the American government worked to avoid war? No, on the contrary there was no sign a war would have occurred without Israeli and American intervention [2]. The war is not in the slightest a defensive war.
CCC 2312: The Church and human reason both assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflict. "The mere fact that war has regrettably broken out does not mean that everything becomes licit between the warring parties [1].
Can we state that the war has been engaged in a moral manner? Is the bombing of schools moral? Is the economic warfare inflicted upon the civilian populace moral? The murder of children is simply anathema.
What about the words of Cardinal Ratzinger before the Iraq war?
“Given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a 'just war'.” [3]
The weapons that America possesses have only become greater and more destructive since the days of Iraq. The American military industry complex is massive, every day there are new and more creative ways to kill thousands with American guns, bomber jets and missiles.
On the contrary to the wholly unjust war in Iran there is in fact one war where the defending party fights with sticks and stones, with worn down guns in the face of an immense enemy. That war is the war of liberation for the Palestinian peoples. That we might say today is the only “just war”.
[1] The Vatican. “Catechism of the Catholic Church” https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P81.HTM.
[2] Stewart, Phil and Pamuk, Humeyra . “Pentagon tells Congress no sign that Iran was going to attack US first, sources say” https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pentagon-tells-congress-no-sign-that-iran-was-going-attack-us-first-sources-say-2026-03-02/
[3] Zenit Staff. “Cardinal Ratzinger on the Abridged Version of Catechism Cardinal Ratzinger on the Abridged Version of Catechism” https://zenit.org/2003/05/02/cardinal-ratzinger-on-the-abridged-version-of-catechism/
