Der Heilige Stuhl und der Krieg: Zwischen Kirchenlehre und diplomatischer Praxis

Time and again in international conflicts, the Holy See, with its humanitarian priorities and political neutrality, finds itself caught between its pragmatic aim of saving as many human lives as possible on the one hand, and its claim of representing fundamental moral values and ideas of justice on the other. Moreover, diplomatic practice shows that the Pope and the World Church lack the material means and formal legitimacy for a permanent and consistent oversight of local catholic churches. As a consequence, local and regional churches may position themselves much more one-sided and clearly in violent conflicts than theological perspectives and papal attitudes might consider acceptable from a global point of view. Basically, the Holy See’s theoretical and practical relationship with international violent conflicts remains trapped in ambiguities and contradictions resulting from its unique position as a subject of international law sui generis, with a comprehensive religious and moral claim and a global church organization, in a complex, self-organizing international system.