By rejecting just war, Pope Leo ends Catholic 'permission' for conflicts

Pope Leo this week repudiated an important teaching used by the Catholic Church since at least the 5th century to assess when countries can use justifications to wage wars, in a move that experts say could have far-reaching impact for global powers.
The rejection of the doctrine came in the pope's first major document, published on Monday, which also called for global regulation of AI systems and made the clearest apology yet for the Catholic Church's historic role in supporting slavery transatlantic.
"The theory of 'just war,' which has been used too often to justify any type of war, is now outdated," Leo wrote in the encyclical, titled "Magnifica Humanitas."
"Humanity has much more effective tools capable of promoting human life and resolving conflicts, such as dialogue, diplomacy and forgiveness," he said.
Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, a close ally of Leo who was at the Vatican for the presentation of the text on Monday, told Reuters that the pope is concerned about the way the theory has been used by world leaders to justify war.
"We must be clear that the theory of just war was always intended to be a restriction, not a permission that, unfortunately, some are inappropriately using to justify their decisions to go to war instead of seeking the paths of peace," declared Cupich.
Leão, who adopted a more forceful tone in recent months and drew the ire of US President Donald Trump, after of criticizing the war in Iran, criticized the number of wars ravaging the world in his text and warned that profits from the arms industry are a driving force behind the conflicts.
Just war theory, which generally says that wars should only be fought to defend against aggression, was invoked by Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, to defend the war in Iran.
In April, after the pope's official X account posted that God is "never on the side of those who have already taken up the sword," Vance mentioned just war theory at an event in Georgia and called on the pope to "be careful when speaking about questions of theology." just war theory) be placed in a broader and renewed context of criteria for building peace and resolving conflicts," she said of the pope's claim that the theory is outdated.

Source: G1