"War No More? How Much of a Pacifist is the Pope?"

William McGurn writes at OpinionJournal today:

.... Catholics understand that not all papal utterances are invested with the same authority. If you dig far enough, you will even find that point confirmed by the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, whose latest statement concedes that "people of good will may and do disagree on how to interpret just war teaching and how to apply just war norms to the controverted facts of this case."

Of far more concern, at least to papal admirers such as yours truly, is that the war statements appear to reflect not simply a disagreement over Iraq but a strain in John Paul's thinking that sits uncomfortably with 1,500 years of Catholic teaching on the legitimate use to force — a teaching, moreover, that asks not when authorities have the "right" to use force but when they have the obligation....

(Thanks, Dale.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 03/28/03 10:54:10 AM
Categorized as Pope John Paul the Great & Religious.