BREAKING US Bishops' Chairman Issues Clarification Following Vice President JD Vance's Critique of Pope Leo XIV and Just War Theory
U.S. Bishops’ Chairman on Doctrine Issues Clarification on Just War Theory
“When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ.”
WASHINGTON – In light of recent public comments regarding the Catholic Church’s teaching on war and peace, Bishop James Massa, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, issued the following statement:
“For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught just war theory and it is that long tradition the Holy Father carefully references in his comments on war. A constant tenet of that thousand-year tradition is a nation can only legitimately take up the sword ‘in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2308). That is, to be a just war it must be a defense against another who actively wages war, which is what the Holy Father actually said: ‘He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.’
“When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ. The consistent teaching of the Church is insistent that all people of good will must pray and work toward lasting peace while avoiding the evils and injustices that accompany all wars.”
###USCCB Release
Interviewer: I think it was well placed if I if I may say I'm sure you've seen that the Vatican and the Pope and the president have been in the news uh lately. So as a Catholic, what does it feel like to be, you know, in the middle of that?
I thought it was going to get easy questions. This is kind of a tough question here.
Nope, no easy ones.
So here here's the thing about this.
So, first of all, you will sometimes hear people say, well, you know, the Vatican, the church, whether it's the Protestant church, the Catholic Church, like, you know, they should preach the gospel, they should ignore public policy. I actually don't agree with that. I actually think that it's a good thing when Christian leaders, whether they're Catholic or Protestant, part of preaching the gospel is talking about how the gospel applies to the issues of the day. So, I'm I've never been one of these people who say that you should never have, you know, Christian leadership not talking about politics or frankly political leaders not talking about their Christian faith. But I do think that we have to remember that, you know, each of us has our own role. I'm the vice president of the United States.
The fundamental way I understand my role is that I'm trying to take the lessons, the moral truths that are that are rooted in Christianity and I'm trying to apply them to a whole host of complicated real world scenarios. You know, the the Thank you. So, my job is to apply moral truth to try to do the best thing for the American people. That's my job and that's the president of the United States' job. And of course, he's the person who leads our administration. The Pope's job is to preach the gospel.
Okay? And again, I think that sometimes in the in the context like it doesn't bother me even when I disagree with him.
And I have a lot of respect for the Pope. I like him. I admire him. I've gotten to know him a little bit. I it doesn't bother me when he speaks on
issues of the day. Frankly, even when I disagree with how he's applying a particular principle. So the the most obvious example is it has frustrated me that some of the Catholic clergy have attacked mercilessly the Trump administration on immigration. It is a constant idea that somehow everything that that the Trump administration does when it comes to sec securing our borders is inhumane. And my constant response to that is how is it humane to allow drug traffickers and sex traffickers to bring little kids across the southern border?
Amen. How is that humane?
But but again, I'd almost rather have the conversation. So I kind of like even when there's disagreement, I like it when the Pope comments on questions of immigration. I like it when the Pope talks about abortion. I like it when the Pope talks about matters of war and peace because I think that at the very least it invites a conversation. So I think some people, you know, their reaction to this is to is to say, well, you know, he shouldn't have said that.
And look, there are certainly things that the pope has said in the last few few months that I disagree with. Let me just take like one very concrete example, you know, related to this conflict in in in Iran. So the pope said something where he said, and I'm going to I'm going to try to remember the exact quote, but he said that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword. God is never on the side of those who wield the sword. I'm pretty sure that he said that exact that exact statement. Now, on the one hand, again, I like that the Pope is an advocate for peace. I think that's certainly one of his roles. On the other hand, how can you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword? Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated France from the Nazis? Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated Holocaust camps and liberated those those innocent people from, you know, those who had survived the Holocaust? genocide. I certainly think the answer is yes.
And I agree. Jesus Christ does not I agree. Jesus Christ certainly does not support genocide. Whoever yelled that out from the dark, he certainly does
not. I think that's pretty easy. I think that's a a pretty easy principle.
Someone interrupts: Okay. So, so here's a guy. Let me just say this. This is a guy. No, no, no,
First of all, first of all, random dude who's shouting, can I finish my point and then I'll respond to what you just shouted.
Is that okay? Okay, great.
Yeah. Can we give him one second to to to answer this?
So, let me just finish this question on the Pope and then I want to respond to what this guy said. So number one, the when when the when the pope says that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword, there is a thousand-year more than a thousand-year tradition of just war theory. Okay? Now, we can of course have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just, but I think that it's important in the same way that it's important for the vice president of United States to be
careful when I talk about matters of public policy. I think it's very very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.
And I think that one of these issues here is that there has been is again hey random dude screaming I told you I'd respond to your point. I just want to respond to this question first. But I I think one of the issues here is that 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 whether they're Catholic or Protestant.
So, first of all, you will sometimes hear people say, well, you know, the Vatican, the church, whether it's the Protestant church, the Catholic Church, like, you know, they should preach the gospel, they should ignore public policy. I actually don't agree with that. I actually think that it's a good thing when Christian leaders, whether they're Catholic or Protestant, part of preaching the gospel is talking about how the gospel applies to the issues of the day. So, I'm I've never been one of these people who say that you should never have, you know, Christian leadership not talking about politics or frankly political leaders not talking about their Christian faith. But I do think that we have to remember that, you know, each of us has our own role. I'm the vice president of the United States.
The fundamental way I understand my role is that I'm trying to take the lessons, the moral truths that are that are rooted in Christianity and I'm trying to apply them to a whole host of complicated real world scenarios. You know, the the Thank you. So, my job is to apply moral truth to try to do the best thing for the American people. That's my job and that's the president of the United States' job. And of course, he's the person who leads our administration. The Pope's job is to preach the gospel.
Okay? And again, I think that sometimes in the in the context like it doesn't bother me even when I disagree with him.
And I have a lot of respect for the Pope. I like him. I admire him. I've gotten to know him a little bit. I it doesn't bother me when he speaks on
issues of the day. Frankly, even when I disagree with how he's applying a particular principle. So the the most obvious example is it has frustrated me that some of the Catholic clergy have attacked mercilessly the Trump administration on immigration. It is a constant idea that somehow everything that that the Trump administration does when it comes to sec securing our borders is inhumane. And my constant response to that is how is it humane to allow drug traffickers and sex traffickers to bring little kids across the southern border?
Amen. How is that humane?
But but again, I'd almost rather have the conversation. So I kind of like even when there's disagreement, I like it when the Pope comments on questions of immigration. I like it when the Pope talks about abortion. I like it when the Pope talks about matters of war and peace because I think that at the very least it invites a conversation. So I think some people, you know, their reaction to this is to is to say, well, you know, he shouldn't have said that.
And look, there are certainly things that the pope has said in the last few few months that I disagree with. Let me just take like one very concrete example, you know, related to this conflict in in in Iran. So the pope said something where he said, and I'm going to I'm going to try to remember the exact quote, but he said that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword. God is never on the side of those who wield the sword. I'm pretty sure that he said that exact that exact statement. Now, on the one hand, again, I like that the Pope is an advocate for peace. I think that's certainly one of his roles. On the other hand, how can you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword? Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated France from the Nazis? Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated Holocaust camps and liberated those those innocent people from, you know, those who had survived the Holocaust? genocide. I certainly think the answer is yes.
And I agree. Jesus Christ does not I agree. Jesus Christ certainly does not support genocide. Whoever yelled that out from the dark, he certainly does
not. I think that's pretty easy. I think that's a a pretty easy principle.
Someone interrupts: Okay. So, so here's a guy. Let me just say this. This is a guy. No, no, no,
First of all, first of all, random dude who's shouting, can I finish my point and then I'll respond to what you just shouted.
Is that okay? Okay, great.
Yeah. Can we give him one second to to to answer this?
So, let me just finish this question on the Pope and then I want to respond to what this guy said. So number one, the when when the when the pope says that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword, there is a thousand-year more than a thousand-year tradition of just war theory. Okay? Now, we can of course have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just, but I think that it's important in the same way that it's important for the vice president of United States to be
careful when I talk about matters of public policy. I think it's very very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.
And I think that one of these issues here is that there has been is again hey random dude screaming I told you I'd respond to your point. I just want to respond to this question first. But I I think one of the issues here is that 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 whether they're Catholic or Protestant.
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