Mark Piper

There is a way past the absurd and deeply divisive “war” between the President and the Pope, which has been enthusiastically ginned up by the press. And it is indicated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2309 to be precise. After laying out the various criteria for determining a just war—proportionality, last resort, declaration by a competent authority, reasonable hope of success, etc.—the Catechism points out that “the evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.” The assumption is that the just war principles function, to use the technical term, as heuristic devices, designed to guide the practical decision-making of those civil authorities who have to adjudicate matters of war and peace. The role of the Church, therefore, is to call for peace and to urge that any conflict be strictly circumscribed by the moral constraints of the just war criteria. But it is not the role of the Church to evaluate whether a particular war is just or unjust. That appraisal belongs to the civil authorities, who, one presumes, have requisite knowledge of conditions on the ground. So, is the war in question truly the last resort? Is there really a balance between the good to be attained and the destruction caused by the war? Are combatants and non-combatants being properly distinguished in the waging of the conflict? Do the belligerents have right intention? Is there a reasonable hope of success? The posing of those questions—indeed the insistence upon their moral relevance—belongs rightly to the Church, but the answering of them belongs to the civil authorities. The Pope has said, on numerous occasions, that he is not a politician and that his role is not the determination of any nation's foreign policy. But he has just as clearly said that he will continue to speak for peace and for moral constraint. In making both of these claims, he is operating perfectly within the framework of paragraph 2309 of the Catechism. If we understand that the Pope and the President have qualitatively different roles to play in the determination of moral action in regard to war, we can, I hope, extricate ourselves from the completely unhelpful narrative of “Pope vs. President.”

As a casual fan of Catholicism, I will just share a few quotes from Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) rejecting "preventive war" in Iraq and reaffirming the UN Charter:

Mike Johnson says the Pope had it coming: "A religious leader can say anything they want, but obviously if you wade into political waters, you should expect some political response and I think the Pope has received some of that. Frankly I was taken a bit aback by him saying something about 'those who engage in war, Jesus doesn't hear their prayers' or something. There's something called the 'just war' doctrine.'"

🚨 JD VANCE RESPONDS TO POPE LEO: "When the Pope says that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword — there is more than a THOUSAND year tradition of Just war Theory." "In the same way that it's important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology." "And I think that one of these issues here is that there has been — if you're going to opine on matters of theology, you've got to be careful, you've got to make sure it's anchored in the truth, and that's one of the things that I try to do, and it's certainly something I would expect from the clergy, whether they're Catholic or Protestant."

Regarding this post, it’s possible to hold all of the following views: - The Trump Administration has badly miscalculated with the war in Iran, which was not in American interests. The Pope is right to push for peace and we support him in this endeavor. - The President’s post against the Pope was both incoherent and imprudent. - The Pope and the clergy have repeatedly inserted themselves into American politics in a manner that is unprecedented during the modern era, particularly in their attempts to impede immigration enforcement. No such attention was ever afforded to the actions of the Biden Administration, despite flagrant violations of Catholic teaching on abortion and transgenderism. - If the clergy choose to directly involve themselves in politics, they are not above criticism for doing so.

The statements made by President Trump on Truth Social regarding the Pope were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful. They don’t contribute at all to a constructive conversation. It is the Pope’s prerogative to articulate Catholic doctrine and the principles that govern the moral life. In regard to the concrete application of those principles, people of good will can and do disagree. I would warmly recommend that serious Catholics within the Trump administration–Secretary Rubio, Vice President Vance, Ambassador Brian Burch, and others–might meet with Vatican officials so that a real dialogue can take place. This is far preferable to the statements on social media. I am very grateful for the many ways that the Trump administration has reached out to Catholics and other people of faith. It has been a high honor to serve on the Religious Liberty Commission. No President in my lifetime has shown a greater dedication to defending our first liberty. All that said, I think the President owes the Pope an apology.

The Pope is not a liberal woke. He is simply a Christian following the Lord. Those who label him as such and are angry at him for speaking against injustices are the ones willfully forgetting how to be disciples of Jesus Christ.