The head of the Catholic Church has urged Ukraine to concede to Russia's invasion simply to end the fighting, ignoring any concept of just war or self-defence: why?
As a practicing Catholic, I fully support the direction in which Pope Francis is leading the Catholic Church. Its not about impressing liberal opinion (that will never happen). Its about giving new hope and energy to the existing faithful. I find the thought of an atheist with an ancestral suspicion of Jesuits telling the Pope he should be more Catholic amusing! However, I agree he has got things badly wrong on Ukraine. (I note the Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin, has done his best to walk back the Pope's remarks.) I have no doubt that Francis is primarily moved by horror at the 30K+ Ukrainians who have been killed and the probably greater number of Russians who have died. If the Ukrainians listened to his advice, they would probably end up up with a "peace treaty" in which Russia would gain Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, leaving Putin free to rearm and come back for more when he felt ready, leading to yet more deaths. But if the West is not prepared to give the Ukrainians the weapons they need for an outright victory, would it not better to tell them that so they can make their own decision as to how best their nation can be preserved in these horrific circumstances? The Catholic Church in Ireland had a long history of advising their congregation not to rebel against what most of them regarded as an unjust foreign occupier, but to pursue their objectives through peaceful means. I believe one of the conditions St. Thomas Aquinas set down for a "just war" was that there should be a realistic prospect of success?
As a practicing Catholic, I fully support the direction in which Pope Francis is leading the Catholic Church. Its not about impressing liberal opinion (that will never happen). Its about giving new hope and energy to the existing faithful. I find the thought of an atheist with an ancestral suspicion of Jesuits telling the Pope he should be more Catholic amusing! However, I agree he has got things badly wrong on Ukraine. (I note the Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin, has done his best to walk back the Pope's remarks.) I have no doubt that Francis is primarily moved by horror at the 30K+ Ukrainians who have been killed and the probably greater number of Russians who have died. If the Ukrainians listened to his advice, they would probably end up up with a "peace treaty" in which Russia would gain Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, leaving Putin free to rearm and come back for more when he felt ready, leading to yet more deaths. But if the West is not prepared to give the Ukrainians the weapons they need for an outright victory, would it not better to tell them that so they can make their own decision as to how best their nation can be preserved in these horrific circumstances? The Catholic Church in Ireland had a long history of advising their congregation not to rebel against what most of them regarded as an unjust foreign occupier, but to pursue their objectives through peaceful means. I believe one of the conditions St. Thomas Aquinas set down for a "just war" was that there should be a realistic prospect of success?