The Catholic Church And The War In Iran – Buz Blog

An illustration of St. Thomas Aquinas

“If I were emperor, king, or prince in a campaign against the Turk, I would exhort my bishops and priests to stay at home and mind the duties of their office, praying, fasting, saying mass, preaching, and caring for the poor, as not only Holy Scripture, but their own canon law teaches and requires.” – Martin Luther on the war against the Turks

Last Sunday, on 60 Minutes, three American Catholic Cardinals expressed the Church’s opposition to the war in Iran. They were Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, Washington D.C. Cardinal Robert McElroy and Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin. Cardinal McElroy even said that this was not “a just war” by Catholic standards. These Catholic bishops, and Pope Leo need to reacquaint themselves with the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas on the subject of a just war. Since St. Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the greatest intellects in the history of the Catholic Church, it is appropriate to review his thoughts on a war to be considered “just”.

According to St. Thomas, there are some requirements for a just war. The first is that the war must be called by a “sovereign authority”. The United States of America quite obviously fills this requirement.

Next, the war must be for a just cause. Aquinas lists several reasons, among them are two that are pertinent to our current battle with Iran. One is that the enemy must be guilty of some fault. The killing and targeting of tens of thousands of their own innocent civilians alone, fits that bill. Targeting and murdering American and Israeli civilians, adds more justification for attacking Iran. Continuous unprovoked attacks on neighboring countries contribute to the reasons for conducting this just war.

Another reason is that the enemy in the war deserves it. Iran deserves this not only because of the reasons above, but because they cannot be trusted. They declared war on the United States decades ago. They call us the “Great Satan”. They have violated every agreement with the US and other countries about developing nuclear weapons. They have used what is essentially bribe money, sent to them by the Obama and Biden administrations, to finance terrorism around the world. Obviously, these Neville Chamberlain type bribes never worked.

One more requirement referenced by St. Thomas is that a just war must have right intentions. These include the furtherance of good and the rejection of evil. Some good reasons are to secure peace, punish evil doers and promote good. Unjust reasons for conducting a war would be for revenge, greed or cruelty. Surely every thinking person, maybe even some liberation theology Catholic Cardinals, could see that the United States has the right and just intentions in this war.

Those of us who are practicing Catholics, and other concerned Christians and Jews, should let Pope Leo and the Papal hierarchy know that we reject liberation theology and consider this Iran war to be JUST, and in accordance with the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Those in leadership in the Church who state, unequivocally, that this is not a just war should be required to reacquaint themselves with the writings of St. Thomas on the subject or should be encouraged to retire. It might be helpful to point out to those in the Vatican, that during this Iran war, the Iranians have shown that they can send missiles some 2,000 miles, well within the range of Rome. Do those in the Catholic leadership think that if the mullahs in Iran were able to reconstitute their nuclear and missile productions, that they would be in the least bit reluctant to send a nuclear missile at the Vatican? Don’t Islamist radicals consider Catholics to be the infidels that they have sworn to eradicate?