❗️Pope rejects US-backed ‘just war’ theory, warns against slipping into violent culture of power – The Cradle
❗️Pope rejects US-backed ‘just war’ theory, warns against slipping into violent culture of power
Pope Leo XIV has formally rejected the concept of a “just war,” a doctrine heavily advanced by US President Donald Trump’s administration to defend attacks on Iran. Writing in his first papal encyclical today, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), the pontiff warned that humanity is slipping into a violent culture of power where armed conflict is treated as a natural extension of international politics. While acknowledging a strict right to self-defense, the pope declared that the historic just war framework has been consistently abused to rationalize illegitimate violence.
The public rebuke targets the White House and US Vice President JD Vance, who have repeatedly invoked Catholic just war theory to provide a moral defense for the ongoing war with Iran. Pope Leo XIV argued that modern technological changes, including the emergence of automated warfare has fundamentally altered the ethical calculations of combat. The text asserts that lethal, irreversible battlefield choices must never be outsourced to artificial systems or opaque algorithms that dilute human accountability.
The pontiff stressed that modern states possess far more effective diplomatic tools, including dialogue and forgiveness, to resolve international disputes without resorting to the sword. Pope Leo XIV also cautioned that global leaders may cynically weaponize foreign military campaigns as an opportunistic tool to divert public scrutiny away from pressing domestic failures.
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