The *National Catholic Register* portal reports on an interview with Professor John Rist, who criticizes Leo XIV’s encyclical *Magnifica Humanitas* for describing just war theory as “outdated.” While Rist defends the tradition, the article itself reveals the conciliar sect’s systematic dismantling of Catholic moral theology regarding warfare.
The Encyclical’s Heretical Core
Leo XIV’s encyclical explicitly labels just war theory as “outdated” — a position directly contradicting two millennia of Catholic teaching. The document claims this doctrine has been “used to justify any kind of war” and fails to account for modern conflict’s “speed, destructiveness, and dehumanization.” This is not mere prudential judgment but a fundamental rejection of established moral theology.
The Church’s just war tradition, rooted in Sacred Scripture and developed by St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, has always maintained that war, while tragic, can be morally legitimate under specific conditions. Pius XII reaffirmed this in his 1944 Christmas Address: “The Christian conscience cannot resign itself to a peace which is not guaranteed by the moral order.” By declaring this tradition obsolete, Leo XIV effectively adopts the pacifist errors condemned by the Church throughout her history.
Selective Preservation of Self-Defense
While Leo XIV “explicitly preserves a narrowly understood right to self-defense,” this concession is meaningless when stripped of its theological foundation. The article notes he “offers little explanation as to how that ‘strictst sense’ would differ from what would be advocated in traditional just war theory.” This deliberate ambiguity serves to undermine the entire doctrine while maintaining plausible deniability.
St. Thomas Aquinas established three conditions for a just war: legitimate public authority, just cause, and right intention. These are not arbitrary restrictions but reflections of divine law applied to human conflict. By dismissing these as outdated, Leo XIV implicitly denies that human reason can discern moral principles applicable across historical circumstances — a position indistinguishable from moral relativism.
Augustinian Wisdom Ignored
Professor Rist correctly invokes St. Augustine’s practical wisdom, noting the saint “urged his fellow bishops not to abandon their flocks but to remain in post even if faced with the prospect of torture.” Augustine understood that the existence of evil does not negate the duty to resist it. His famous admonition to the general considering monastic life — “We need generals” — directly contradicts Leo XIV’s implied pacifism.
The article quotes Rist’s observation that Augustine recognized despots view war as “diplomacy by other means.” This insight, drawn from Romans 3:15-17 (“Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways”), exposes the futility of the “dialogue” and “diplomacy” advocated by the encyclical. When dealing with those who “regard war as but diplomacy by other means,” the call for dialogue becomes complicity in evil.
Historical Amnesia as Moral Failure
The article references World War II and the Holocaust as evidence for just war theory’s continued relevance. Rist argues that “if the Allies had always refrained from actions involving substantial civilian casualties, Hitler would have won the war.” This is not justification for indiscriminate killing but recognition of the principle of double effect — a cornerstone of Catholic moral theology that Leo XIV’s encyclical effectively rejects.
Pius XII, addressing the morality of defensive war, stated: “When the damage to the enemy is not disproportionate to the good sought, and when the means employed are not illicit in themselves, the use of force is permitted.” The siege of Caen, mentioned in the article, exemplifies this principle: civilian deaths, while regrettable, were not intended but were the inevitable consequence of legitimate military action against an entrenched evil.
The Pacifist Slide
The article warns that dismissing just war theory risks “dangerous passivity in the face of aggression.” This is precisely the error of modernism — the belief that human progress has rendered traditional moral categories obsolete. Leo XIV’s call for “peace built through justice, dialogue, diplomacy, and a ‘civilization of love'” echoes the utopian fantasies condemned by St. Pius X in *Pascendi Dominici gregis*: “They speak of progress, of evolution, of development… but all this is nothing but a dream.”
The “civilization of love” rhetoric, borrowed from Paul VI’s disastrous pontificate, substitutes sentimental naturalism for supernatural faith. It ignores the reality of original sin and the persistent existence of what Augustine called the “darkness of social life.” As Rist observes, “In human life perfection cannot be expected; if we expect it, we shall be paralyzed and able to do nothing for the common good.”
Conciliar Apostasy on Display
This encyclical represents another step in the conciar sect’s systematic destruction of Catholic doctrine. Just as Vatican II’s *Gaudium et Spes* introduced errors on religious liberty and ecumenism, *Magnifica Humanitas* advances the modernist agenda by undermining the Church’s teaching on legitimate defense. The timing — with “just war theory expected to be further discussed” at an upcoming consistory — suggests this is not an isolated statement but part of a coordinated effort to reshape Catholic moral teaching.
The article’s inclusion of keywords such as “Iran deal” hints at the political implications: by rejecting just war theory, the conciliar sect effectively paralyzes Catholic nations’ ability to defend themselves against Islamic aggression. This aligns with the broader pattern of Vatican diplomacy favoring dialogue with totalitarian regimes over the defense of persecuted Christians.
Conclusion
Leo XIV’s dismissal of just war theory as “outdated” is not a development of doctrine but a betrayal of it. By rejecting the moral framework developed by St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and reaffirmed by numerous pontiffs, the conciar sect reveals its true character as an enemy of Catholic tradition. Professor Rist’s defense of the tradition, while commendable, cannot obscure the fundamental apostasy of those occupying the Vatican. The faithful must reject this encyclical and cling to the unchanging teaching of the true Church: that war, while terrible, may be necessary to defend the innocent and resist evil — and that those who fail to do so when able bear moral guilt before God.
Source:
From Augustine to Auschwitz: Why Just War Still Matters (ncregister.com)
Date: 18.06.2026