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Just-War Reflections, by Randall Smith – Brown Pelican Society of Lousiana

Just-War Reflections, by Randall Smith

5 Powerful Moments of Faith at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, by Francesca Pollio Fenton

From Augustine to Auschwitz: Why Just War Still Matters, by Edward Pentin

Dove by Pablo Picasso, 1949. [Tate Gallery]

By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing, June 23, 2026

Randall Smith holds the J. Michael Miller Endowed Chair of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. His books include Bonaventure’s Journey of the Soul into God: Context and Commentary, From Here to Eternity: Reflections on Death, Immortality, and the Resurrection of the Body, Aquinas, Bonaventure, and the Scholastic Culture of Medieval Paris: Preaching, Prologues, and Biblical Commentary, Reading the Sermons of Thomas Aquinas: A Beginner’s Guide. …

The next synod might or might not deal with the Church’s “just war” doctrine. So, let me go on record as saying: I don’t like war. It doesn’t represent a great “profile in courage” to say that. I mean, who loves war? I suppose some tyrants do. But that poses a problem. If tyrants pursue wars in order to secure their positions of power, what are others who hate war to do?

The Church has long defended the legitimacy of wars of self-defense. But recent proclamations from certain sectors of the Church seem to verge on pacifism, the view that all war is wrong. Perhaps this simply means all aggressive wars by tyrants are wrong. That would not be a new or especially troubling teaching. It would be a welcome change if we could get tyrants to abide by the principle. …

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