Sunday, May 31, 2026
Roads to the Great War: The Incredible 32 Days of June 1916
Roads to the Great War: The Incredible 32 Days of June 1916: Stretch June 1916 a little, adding a day at each end—31 May and 1 July. This minor astronomical adjustment allows adding two monumental even...
Pope Leo and the Just War Theory.
To all of this, the media and digital dimensions are adding new and decisive elements. Communication networks, fragmented information environments and algorithms that reward conflict can magnify polarization and resentment, increase propaganda and make shared discernment more difficult. Thus, war is not only fought, but also culturally conditioned through simplistic narratives, a friend-or-foe mentality, disinformation and fear. When historical memory fades and the ethical principles that protect civilians and the most vulnerable are weakened, it becomes easier to justify violence as necessary, inevitable or even “sanitized.” It is in this context that humanity is slipping into a violent culture of power, where peace no longer appears as a responsibility to be taken on, but as a fragile interval between conflicts. Today, more than ever, without prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the “just war” theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated. [182] Humanity possesses far more effective and capable tools for promoting human life and resolving conflicts, such as dialogue, diplomacy and forgiveness. The use of force, violence and weapons reflects a relational poverty that always has disastrous consequences for civilian populations.
Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas.
When first released, almost all of the attention given to Magnifica Humanitas was on his discussion of Artificial Intelligence, but then somebody noticed is comments on the Just War Theory, and now people are freaking out. Conservative Catholic pundits have already come out with the "Pope is wrong" commentary, and even an Anglican journal came out with an article to the same effect.
He isn't wrong.
And this isn't really new.
First of all, the Just War Theory was always that, a theory. It's not doctrine, and in some quarters its never been accepted. Moreover, since World War Two the Church has really made significant modifications to what can be considered a "just war".
So, what did Pope Leo really say here.
First, what's the Just War Theory hold?
Well, let's look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It states:
According to CCC 2309, the following conditions must be met in order for war to be just:
(1) The damage inflicted by the aggressor must be lasting, grave, and certain.
(2) All other means of putting an end to it must have shown to be impractical or ineffective.
So, presently, those are the criteria set out in the Catechism. Will this be changed? I suspect it will be modified. And frankly, based on prior statements by the last three Popes, the Catechism does not support the view that the Pontiffs have been stating. The thing that they've repeatedly stated is that war is only justifiable for defensive purposes. Hence the comment; "Today, more than ever, without prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the “just war” theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated."
So, with this in mind, what we might suppose (although I'm treading on dangerous grounds here as I'm not a theologian) is that the Church would modify the material set out above to read:
A country may legitimately act in self defense when:
(1) The damage inflicted by an attacking aggressor must be lasting, grave, and certain.
(2) All other means of putting an end to it must have shown to be impractical or ineffective.
(3) There must be serious prospects of success.
(4) The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated (the principle of proportionality).
Is that a big change in what the Popes have been saying? Not really.
But does it effect some sort of a change? Well, yes. A clarifying one, in my view.
What I think the Pope's statement makes clear that the moral laxity in interpreting the Just War theory is not justified. It never has been, but all too often those citing it go on to hold that whatever war they're speaking of is kind of sort of justified by the theory. That should not have been the case, and it needs to come to an end.
It's needed to come to an end for a long time.
There's no way that, for example, the US and Israeli war upon Iran is a just war. No way. At least from the U.S. prospective, it's an illegal war as it defies the requirements of the U.S. Constitution for Congress to declare war, making it immoral to a certain extent from the onset. But the criteria required for a just war even as the CCC states it cannot be met. The first criteria alone, that Iran was inflicting damage upon the United States in a way that is lasting, grave, and certain, was never met. The repeated baloney that "they've been attacking us for 47 years" didn't come close to meeting this criteria. Yes, Iran is a sponsor of terrorism. Terrorism, however, is an act of the weak and is largely ineffectual. Launching a massive offensive against Iran was not justified by the fact that Iran acts immorally.
Indeed, on that score, the war does not meet, in my view, the requirements of the forth criteria. And it never met the requirements of the second criteria either.
A war launched to change the regime, which was an earlier excuse for the war, was certainly not justified.
And it turns out that the third criteria cannot be met either. The war has actually made the regime more hard line. The only chance for success would require a massive ground invasion of the country, which is certainly not proportional to the hoped for outcome.
What Pope Leo has clarified is something that other Popes have said, to some degree, and which follows the history of the discussion on the death penalty. Pope St. John Paul the Great made statements to the effect that the death penalty could not be justified in the modern world. The following two Popes amplified that. Catholic conservatives have still refused to accept that, but that's completely correct. In the modern world, the criteria which would allow for the imposition of the death penalty simply to not exist.
And with Pope Leo's statements, it seems fairly clear that the criteria for launching an offensive war never exist either. That's been somewhat presumed all the way back to the 1940s, but now its clear.
And, it should also be clear, this is not a mere academic discussion.
War is killing people and breaking things. There's no two ways about it. Killing people intentionally is gravely evil, except in self defense. Supporting killing people except in self defense is likewise gravely illegal. The same Catholic beliefs that hold that murder is immoral, that abortion is immoral, lead directly to war and the death penalty being immoral. You cannot, no matter how much you might want to stretch it, supporting abortion if you are a Catholic, and frankly at this point, you cannot support immoral wars.
It was Pope St. John Paul, I think, who instructed that Catholic lawyers should not represent people in divorces. Judges can still preside over them however. Which brings us to this next point.
Catholic politicians can clearly not support immoral wars. When people like Chuck Gray and Megan Degenfelder come around seeking votes, as they are Catholic, their position on this war should be asked of. If they support it, as Trump supports it, they're willing to condemn their souls to Hell for their ambitions, or at least risk that. Those Catholics in the Trump administration supporting the war, and we don't really know who they are (we know that Vance wasn't in support of it) are doing the same, to a larger degree. The military raid on Venezuela that occurred earlier likewise presents the same problem. Any invasion of Cuba, which it seems likely we will do, poses the same situation.
But beyond that, can Catholic servicemen morally serve in these wars?
I'm sure opinions will vary, but I don't think they can.
And that is a real change. And given that war involves death, that's a change for the good.
Related threads:
Just War 101: Catholic Teaching for a Dangerous Moment
Monday, May 31, 1976. Syria invades Lebanon.
It was Memorial Day for 1976.
Indeed, it's probably just a trick of the calendar and memory, but this year's Memorial Day seemed freakishly early to me. We probably went fishing.
I was a newly minted teenager as of a few days prior.
Syria invaded Lebanon, occupying part of the country until 2005. In the weird way that history works, the first column which was targeting Sidon was stopped by the PLO, a second by the Lebanese Army, and a third column by Christian militias.
That says something about how crappy the Syrian Army was, and frankly always was. They endured huge casualties.
The goal was to annex Lebanon into Syria. They'd never achieve a full occupation of the country, but they would over time expand the amount of territory they were occupying.
The Indonesian installed "People's Assembly of East Timor" voted unanimously in favor of the "Act of Integration" to make East Timor Indonesia's 27th province.
The UK and Iceland entered into negotiations to end the Cod Wars.
Last edition:
Thursday, May 20, 1976. Kleptocracy.
Labels: 1960s, 1967, 1970s, 1976, baseball, Congo, Disaster, Expo 67, Kleptocracy, Personalities, Quebec (Montreal), The Second Trump Administration, Zaire
The Best Posts of the Week of May 24, 2026. Going Feral, The Feral Week
The best posts of the week of May 24, 2026.
We dug through Trump’s recent stock trades. The timing will shock you.
The Feral Week:
Endangered Species Act protections for pygmy rabbits? Groups sue Trump administration over missed deadlines.
Last edition:
The Best Post of the Week of May 17, 2026. Going Feral, the Feral Week of May 17, 2026. The Agrarian's Lament, the Agrarian Week of May 17, 2026.
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Thursday, May 30, 1946. First post war Indianapolis 500.
The Indianapolis 500 was run for the first time since 1941. George Robson, took the race.
Robson was killed in a racing accident that September.
Over 90 passengers were killed in a railway accident at Hengyang, China.
The day prior the Senate had defeated a really badly thought out plan by Truman to draft striking rail workers.
Last edition:
Saturday, May 25, 1946. Jordanian independence, Railroad strike ends.
Labels: 1940s, 1946, Harry S. Truman, Jordan, Labor unrest, Monarchy, Railroads, Strike Wave of 1945-1946, Unions
Sunday, May 30, 1926. An oral arrangement.
In an oral arrangement, Turkey gave up claims to Mosul in exchange for 10% of the regions oil production for a period of twenty five years.
Last edition:
Wednesday, May 26, 1926. Riffians surrender.
Tuesday, May 30, 1876. Coup in Constantinople, Ems Ukaz in the Russian Empire.
A bloodless military coup d'état deposed Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz, and resulted in the the appointment of Murad V as the Sultan. Midhat Pasha would preside over a constitutional committee for the next two years, a period known as the First Constitutional Era.
Czar Alexander IIsigned the Ems Ukaz to eliminate the Ukrainian language from the cultural sphere and limited it with domestic use.
Last edition:
Monday, May 29, 1876. Start of the Yellowstone Expedition.
Friday, May 29, 2026
Wyoming Catholic Cowboys - raw and real: Belle Creek Branding
Wyoming Catholic Cowboys - raw and real: Belle Creek Branding: Memorial Day is the annual day for the Kuhbacher branding in Montana. That's a great deal, because it works out for me to join in. Anoth...
CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 139th Edition: Um, I have to wash my hair that night.
One of the ways to tell if you are held in social esteem is to invite people to a party and have them come up with excuses not to show up.
That's happening to Trump. Trump was planning a "Great American State Fair" with a host of performers, most of whom have already begged off.
This isn't even up to date, as since this was posted C+C Music factory says he or it (I don't know anything about that act) has said nope as well.
McBride says she'll be on tour with the Dixie Chicks. Bret Michaels says he never planned to go to a political event, which this has become, and is concerned about the safety of his people. Young MC has also said he never intended to go to a political event. I'd be surprised if any of these people show up.
Somebody will. It'll likely be country acts that trend heavily far right, which a few do. But this level of rapid backing out is fairly remarkable.
The reference to state fairs is interesting. Are state fairs a big deal anywhere anymore? I'm sincere. They still occur, but I don't think they were what they once were, so that's an oddly nostalgic reference, I think.
On other spectacles. . .
I've hesitated to say it, as its controversial, and can be taken the wrong way, but MAGA contains a heavy element of white trash in it. Not everyone by any means. I know a few very well educated supporters of Donald Trump, and a few who are supporters for what I'd regard as regional reasons. But there's some flat out white trash as well. "Professional" wrestling is a white trash theatre, and Trump is hosting an event on the White House grounds.
Figures.
Hosting a wrestling event gives lie to the entire "I need a ballroom as if I don't get one I'll be in danger" crap. It'll be a big, stupid, hootenanny. If you were concerned about safety, you wouldn't host it.
It's so unfortunate that Trump is President for the 250th Anniversary of American independence as he symbolizes everything the nation rebelled against. It's like simply closing a page on American democracy. We had local democracy and colonial rule, went to democracy, improved our democracy, and then crashed into oligarchy. It's questionable if the nation will be able to recognize itself after Trump is done destroying everything he touches.
Last edition:
CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 138th Edition: Congress is having hearings on UFOs.
Monday, May 29, 1876. Start of the Yellowstone Expedition.
For the second time that year, Gen. Crook's command left Ft. Fetterman, crossing the swollen North Platte on ferries, bound for the Powder River Basin.
Last edition:
Thursday May 25, 1876. Stoves and ranges.
Labels: 1870s, 1876, Army, Crime, police, Texas, Texas (Laredo), Texas (Nueces Strip), Texas Rangers, tools and appliances
Thursday, May 28, 2026
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
We Investigated Social Security Offices. What We Found Will Shock You.
We Investigated Social Security Offices. What We Found Will Shock You.
I'm not shocked. Life in Trump's America.
People who depend on Social Security are billionaires who get trips to Epstein Island. Why would Trump care about them?
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Churches of the East: Magnifica Humanitas
Churches of the East: Magnifica Humanitas: Just out, it's notably already being hailed as a great work, and notably already criticized by the United States Secretary of the Interi...
Magnifica Humanitas
Just out, it's notably already being hailed as a great work, and notably already criticized by the United States Secretary of the Interior.
OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE LEO XIV
ON SAFEGUARDING THE HUMAN PERSON
IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Wednesday, May 26, 1926. Riffians surrender.
Flag of the Rif Republic.
The Riffians surrendered, bringing to an end the Rif War.
Last edition:
Tuesday, May 25, 1926. Ukrainian assassination in Paris.
Labels: 1920s, 1926, Calvin Coolidge, Crime, law, Personalities, Russian Civil War, Ukraine, Ukrainian National Army
Monday, May 25, 2026
Saturday, May 25, 1946. Jordanian independence, Railroad strike ends.
Jordan achieved full independence.
Railroads and Railway workers signed an agreement at the White House averting a Federal seizure of the railroads. Truman's order to take control was only three minutes away from implementation.
Last edition:
Friday, May 24, 1946. Truman and the railroad strike.
Tuesday, May 25, 1926. Ukrainian assassination in Paris.
Former Ukrainian President and socialist, nationalist leader Symon Petiura was assassinated in Paris by Jewish Communist Anarchist Sholom Schwartzbard, who encountered him by happenstance.
Petiura had been head of the UNA which was responsible for the murder of thousands of Jewish Ukrainians. He remains a controversial figure. Schwartzbard would be acquitted of the charge of murder. He later moved to South Africa. He had served in World War One in the French Foreign Legion and the Russian Civil War as a Red Guard. Following the war, he returned to France disillusioned with the outcome of the war.
President Coolidge signed the Public Buildings Act into law, providing funding for construction of federal buildings for the first time in over a decade.
Last edition:
Monday, May 24, 1926. National Parks created. Oil concessions extended. Tokachi erupts.
Thursday May 25, 1876. Stoves and ranges.
The Army issued specifications for types and supplies of heating stoves and cooking ranges for the first time.
A company of forty Texas Rangers left Laredo ,Texas for the Nueces Strip with orders to find, kill or capture John King Fisher, the leader of a band of cattle rustlers
Last edition:
Wednesday, May 24, 1876. Mount Royal Park inaugurated.
The kind of BS that makes people hate lawyers.
The Aerodrome: Frontier Passengers File $10 Million Claim Against...: Frontier Passengers File $10 Million Claim Against Denver For Failing To Stop Runway Suicide Seriously? That should be tossed out and sancti...
Frontier Passengers File $10 Million Claim Against Denver For Failing To Stop Runway Suicide
Frontier Passengers File $10 Million Claim Against Denver For Failing To Stop Runway Suicide
Seriously?
That should be tossed out and sanctions levied against the lawyer who filed it.
Sunday, May 24, 2026
Friday, May 24, 1946. Truman and the railroad strike.
President Truman made a radio address promising that if railway workers had not returned to work by 4:00 p.m. May 25, he was going to seize control of the railroads.
Last edition:
Thursday, May 23, 1946. Chick-fil-A.
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