4 thoughts on “REFLECTION: The Church’s turn toward nonviolence

  1. It is an important step forward, but the road will still be difficult. The majority of those in the church aren’t there yet. And the Pope’s message to the conference did include a quote which included mention of the state’s right of defense, implying that while he will encourage nonviolence he is not ready to rule out war in all circumstances. The key section on this is here:

    we recall that the only explicit condemnation issued by the Second Vatican Council was against war, although the Council recognized that, since war has not been eradicated from the human condition, “governments cannot be denied the right to legitimate defence once every means of peaceful settlement has been exhausted.”

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