June 09, 2016
Commentary: What happens if pope rejects 'just war' theory?
Recent events in Rome indicate that some influential figures in the Vatican want Pope Francis to use his next encyclical to jettison the "just war" theory as the way the church determines whether or not it is moral to go to war. In particular, they urge that the church replace this age-old model - which focuses on determining a fight's justifiability by the degree to which it complies with criteria like necessity, likelihood of success, proportionality, and discrimination - with a "peace movement" approach that comes very close to ruling out war as a legitimate instrument in any circumstances, and thus to pacifism.
To read the full article, visit the Philadelphia Inquirer website.