Conscientious Objection to Unjust War: From Augustine to John Paul II
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Authors
Bergman, Roger
Issue Date
2017
Volume
14
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Journal Article
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Abstract
This paper examines the development of the Catholic tradition on selective conscientious objection (SCO), the right to refuse to participate in a war judged to be unjust, from Augustine through Aquinas, Vitoria, Suárez, and Grotius to Vatican II, the statements of the U.S. bishops, and the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. It has been argued that support for what we now call selective conscientious objection has for centuries been a minority position – over against the majority position that argues that soldiers have no responsibility to make judgments about the justice of the war in which they are called to fight. The soldier’s only responsibility is to fight justly, obeying legal orders but disobeying illegal ones, such as targeting innocent civilians. But is it possible to fight an unjust war justly? The minority tradition has become official, as represented by support for SCO in the Compendium. |Keywords: selective conscientious objection, just/unjust war, Catholic tradition, jus ad bellum, just in bello
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Citation
Bergman, R. (2017). Conscientious Objection to Unjust War: From Augustine to John Paul II. Supplement Series for the Journal of Religion & Society Supplement Series, 14, 28-43.
Publisher
Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke Center, Creighton University
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ISSN
1941-8450