Vatican slams Trump and Vance over ‘simply conflict’ concept – ‘This was earlier than drones’
The Vatican has hit back at Donald Trump and JD Vance, arguing the centuries-old ‘just war’ theory does not apply to modern conflicts shaped by advanced weaponry
The Vatican has slammed Trump and JD Vance(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The Vatican has issued a sharp rebuke to Donald Trump and JD Vance over their stance on “just war” theory, warning the doctrine was formed “before drones” and is increasingly difficult to justify in modern warfare.
The Vatican‘s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, said “just war” was developed centuries ago, when wars were fought with swords – not machine-guided drones.
“This teaching has gradually been enriched and deepened, to the point of recognizing how increasingly difficult it is to claim that a ‘just war’ exists,” Tornielli said.
His comments come after JD Vance pushed back on Pope Leo‘s claim that God is never on the side of those who wage a war, saying there is a “more than 1,000 year tradition of just war theory”.
Speaking at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia yesterday, Vance added: “We can, of course, have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just.”
The remarks were prompted after Donald Trump branded Pope Leo “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” in response to the pontiff’s criticism of the US-Israeli led war on Iran.
Modern warfare poses a “reality that raises moral questions of dramatic intensity,” Tornielli said in his response to the vice president. “There has been a growing awareness that war is not a path to be followed,” he wrote.
US Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, has said the US-Israeli war in Iran failed to meet the minimum criteria for the war to be considered morally just.
Such criteria would have included that it was a response to an imminent threat, that the US and Israel had clearly articulated their intentions or that the benefits would outweigh the harm.
Speaking to crowds on Tuesday, Vance questioned: “How do you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword?”, citing the example of US troops liberating France from the Nazis and freeing prisoners from concentration camps.
“I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” Vance said. “If you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful. You’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth and that’s one of the things that I try to do and it’s certainly something I would expect from the clergy.”
