In the war between Russia and Ukraine, as in all conflicts, “disarmament is the only appropriate and decisive answer to these problems, as the Magisterium of the Church asserts. Read, for example, St. John’s encyclical Pacem in terris XXIII on a question of general disarmament and effective controls. In this sense, it does not seem right to ask the person attacked to surrender their weapons and not even to ask those who attack them beforehand”. Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin says in an interview with Limes.
Parolin recalls the Church’s position on arms: “As far as the use of arms is concerned, the Catechism of the Catholic Church provides for self-defense. Nations have the right to defend themselves when attacked. But this legitimate armed defense must be exercised under certain conditions. that the Catechism itself enumerates: that all other means of ending aggression have proved impracticable or ineffective, that there are well-founded reasons for success, that the use of arms causes no worse evils and disturbances than they could be eliminated.
Finally, the Catechism affirms that the power of modern means of destruction plays an important role in evaluating this problem. For these reasons, Pope Francis affirms in the encyclical Fratelli tutti that war can no longer be thought of as a solution because, stresses the Vatican Secretary of State, the risks are likely to always outweigh the hypothetical benefits ascribed to it.
To say the Pope is pro-Russian is a “simplification” that fails to take into account that “Pope Francis has condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine from the start, in no uncertain terms, he never attacked the aggressor and those attacked.” the same level, nor was it or seemed to be equally distant,” concludes Cardinal Parolin.
The Church is for peace: “The Gospel – stresses Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in an interview with Limes – is the proclamation of peace, a promise and a gift of peace. All its pages are full of it.” “The Church follows the example of her Lord: she believes in peace, works for peace, fights for peace, witnesses to peace and seeks to build it. In that sense, she is a pacifist.” Parolin recalls the Church’s position on arms: “As far as the use of arms is concerned, the Catechism of the Catholic Church provides for self-defense. Nations have the right to defend themselves when attacked. But this legitimate armed defense must be exercised under certain conditions. that the Catechism itself enumerates: that all other means of ending aggression have proved impracticable or ineffective, that there are well-founded reasons for success, that the use of arms causes no worse evils and disturbances than they could be Finally affirms the Catechism that in evaluating this problem the power of modern means of destruction plays an important role.For these reasons, Pope Francis, in the encyclical Fratelli tutti, affirms that war can no longer be thought of as a solution, because the risks – emphasizes the Vatican Secretary of State – are likely will always exceed the hypothetical utility ascribed to it. the cry of Saint Paul VI to the United Nations on October 4, 1965: ‘No more war!’”.