Know Your Enemy The Pope and the President [Teaser]
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Apr 17, 2026 A sharp conversation about a U.S. president publicly clashing with a newly prominent pope over pleas for peace. A debate on whether modern warfare can ever meet just-war standards. Historical tracing of papal skepticism about 20th-century conflicts and why religious leaders’ moral claims matter in political crises.
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Modern War May Void Just War Theory
- Modern warfare may make just war impossible because industrialized weapons inevitably harm civilians and civilian infrastructure.
- Matthew Sitman highlights bombing steel plants in Iran as an example where collateral deaths and diverted resources undermine just-war criteria.
Popes and Theologians Doubt Just War After Total War
- Major 20th century Catholic figures questioned the licitness of just war after industrialized, total warfare emerged.
- Sam Adler-Bell cites Cardinal Ratzinger and John Paul II saying modern weapons and scale make war unacceptable as a means.
Train Parishioners In Full Just War Discernment
- Teach and practice full just war discernment rather than sacralizing causes to avoid holy-war thinking.
- Sam Adler-Bell and Matthew Sitman argue parishes should train the faithful in all moral criteria beyond just cause.