Summaries / Resúmenes - Studia Moralia

POPE JOHN PAUL II AND THE WAR IN IRAQ 323rather than the enunciation of a clear ethical position. In whatfollows, I will seek to develop such. Since the word “war” is toobroad and imprecise, for the purposes of argument, I will use theterm “disarming violence.”Official Catholic teaching affirms a right and duty on thepart of governments to defend their citizens. Until the universalcommunity is achieved, this right stands. As Vatican II stated, inthe document Gaudium et Spes: 33As long as the danger of war remains and there is no competentand sufficiently powerful authority at the international level,governments cannot be denied the right to legitimate defence onceevery means of peaceful settlement has been exhausted. (# 79)There are two issues here, the first is the foundation of theright of defence.As we have seen, Pope John Paul has re-affirmed this right.The second is the justification of violence, in some form, as themeans of exercising this right.Even if the right to defence is vindicated, violence is not tobe envisioned as a component (even if regrettable) of the commonhuman project for peace, nor should it be presumed that itis the normal means of defence. It is an abnormal intrusion intothe moral universe, and requires special justification. Preciselybecause the overall project is for peace, when decision-makersconsider their response to aggression, the presumption mustalways be against violence.In what follows, I am, of course, going beyond what thePope has said, nor can this explanation claim support in hisstatements. I suggest that to interpret the Pope’s position on theethical level, we need to make a distinction between war put forwardas a positive means for peace, and defence, in the form ofdisarming violence, for the preservation of the conditions necessaryfor peace. With regard to the first part of the distinction, thePope’s imperative holds, “No to war.” War, as such cannot be a33www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_cons_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html.