The Church and War

The Church and War was written nearly a hundred years ago, but has not lost any relevance in our day. The author, Franziskus Stratmann, O.P. (1883-1971), was a long-standing advocate for peace. Making full use of the Catholic tradition, he shows how modern warfare is incompatible with the Church's teachings. While a few of his finer points may be debated by some, Stratmann's motivation for this study demands attention. His aim was "to learn how we can bring the world out of anarchy to order, how we can answer the call for help even if it comes to us in the form of curses, how we can heal the special wound from which our world today is suffering: that wildest form of anarchy which is war." Fr. Stratmann does not dismiss the concept of "defensive war," which has a secure place in the Church's teaching. Rather he questions whether the modern pursuit of war is morally reasonable. Love of neighbour, rooted firstly in the love of God, is not a weak and insipid sentimentality, but a command from Our Lord, the paragon of strength and sacrifice. For Stratmann, love of neighbour applies not only to personal relations but also those between nations. The Catholic Church has always understood herself as a beacon of peace among nations, even if her voice is ignored or shouted down by contemporary warmongers. Stratmann reminds us that war need not, and should not, be inevitable.