The Vatican and the White House have spent much of the last week arguing about the war in Iran, from the behind-the-scenes confrontations reported on in our pages to a more public war of words between Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV. The president called the Pontiff “WEAK on crime and terrible for foreign policy” in a social media post on Sunday. “I have no fear of the Trump administration,” said Pope Leo the next day. But this clash belies a more complicated reality, with American Catholics divided on the war. Father Gerald Murray, an expert on canon law and what makes a “just war,” is one of the country’s foremost Catholic thinkers. Below, he explains why he thinks this war meets the conditions for a just war according to Catholic doctrine. —The Editors
Is the United States war against Iran morally justifiable? There is a strong argument that it is, because the American and Israeli attack on Iran’s leadership and military meets the centuries-old conditions for a just war under the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
The Church is not pacifist in her doctrine. Waging just war is a last resort to protect the innocent by defeating the enemy. It is a virtuous act to take up arms in defense of the nation against an unjust aggressor.
Does this mean that one must wait for the enemy to attack before a nation can commence morally legitimate military action to neutralize the threat? No, that would be a dereliction of duty if the intent and capabilities of the prospective aggressor were known with certainty. The Iranian regime is a relentless enemy, using proxies to kill Americans and America’s allies. There is no doubt that Iran has been and presently is a grave threat.
The United States and Israel undertook the attack on Iran principally to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. In February of this year, American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as Witkoff revealed to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, were stunned by what the Iranian side told them: “Both Iranian negotiators said to us directly with, you know, no shame, that they controlled 460 kilograms of 60 percent [enriched uranium] and they’re aware that that could make 11 nuclear bombs, and that was the beginning of their negotiating stance.” Witkoff continued: “Jared and I opened up with the Iranian negotiators telling us they had the inalienable right to enrich all their nuclear fuel that they possessed.”
