Landmark Vatican conference rejects just war theory, asks for encyclical on nonviolence | National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Apr. 14, 2016
672
PrintemailPDF
Vatican City

The participants of a first-of-its-kind Vatican conference have bluntly rejected the Catholic church’s long-held teachings on just war theory, saying they have too often been used to justify violent conflicts and the global church must reconsider Jesus’ teachings on nonviolence.

Members of a three-day event co-hosted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the international Catholic peace organization Pax Christi have also strongly called on Pope Francis to consider writing an encyclical letter, or some other “major teaching document,” reorienting the church’s teachings on violence.

“There is no ‘just war,'” the some 80 participants of the conference state in an appeal they released Thursday morning.

via Landmark Vatican conference rejects just war theory, asks for encyclical on nonviolence | National Catholic Reporter