Pope Leo XIII suggested this Friday, March 13, that Christian political leaders who start wars should confess and evaluate whether they are following the teachings of Jesus.
“Do these Christians who have a serious responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to do a serious examination of conscience and to confess?” asked the Pope in a speech to priests, without mentioning any specific leader or conflict.
“The dynamics of unity with God, with the Church and within ourselves is a prerequisite for peace among peoples”, continued the leader of the Catholic church. “Only a reconciled person is capable of living unarmed and without conflict!”
Despite not mentioning names or conflicts, Leo
“Along with the episodes of violence and devastation and the widespread climate of hatred and fear, there is also a growing concern that the conflict could spread and that other countries in the region, including our beloved Lebanon, could plunge back into instability,” said the American.
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, in an interview given to Vatican News at the beginning of the month, also warned that the attacks by the United States and Israel weakened international law. “Force has replaced justice; the force of law has been replaced by the law of force,” he said, warning that allowing countries to launch a “preventive war” according to their own criteria runs the risk of “setting the whole world on fire.”
Leave a Reply