The Korean Catholic Times column 'View from the Ark' by the director of the Jesuit Human Rights Research Center gives us some background to an important issue in our present world society.
The world is once again filled with the language of war. The massacre in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, the state violence of the Iranian regime, the U.S military threats against Greenland... Just hearing the news is dizzying and unsettling. The violent and irresponsible rhetoric of superpower leaders shows that war is no longer an emergency situation but is becoming a constant means of politics.
Even South Korea's democracy, achieved through long struggles and conflicts between peace and war, experienced a major crisis with a "rebellion from above" that even planned for war. In this age of war, how can we become people who bear witness to and practice peace? This is not just a question, but a question for the community that requires sacrifice and courage.
When considering the reality of war, the most important consideration is not military strategy or policy but the individuals who are suffering. The suffering of war extends beyond physical destruction. It includes the grief of the victims, the anxiety about ongoing violence, the moral and psychological damage people experience, and hatred and discrimination.
Any war erodes trust in peace itself and, therefore, always undermines humanity. Instead of easily saying that war is inevitable, we must first ask who is suffering, who is being forced into silence, and who is being pressured to abandon their conscience.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, stated that President Trump's remarks about invading Greenland constituted a "morally questionable" military order and "could not possibly be considered a situation of just war." He clearly affirmed that soldiers have an ethical right to disobey such orders on conscience-based grounds.
The Church cannot simply absolutize order or obedience. For a long time, the Church has adopted the "just war" theory, which holds that war can be waged as a necessary evil under strictly defined conditions. However, since the Second Vatican Council, a turning point has been reached, emphasizing the primacy of individual conscience in the face of military decisions by those in power. Conscience is not merely a subjective feeling, but the deepest inner capacity of a human being to discern truth before God. Therefore, the statement that conscience takes precedence over obedience when an order is unjust is not a radical departure for the Church, but rather a matter of its orthodoxy.
In his first message after establishing World Peace Day, Pope Paul VI directly linked peace to human rights ("The Promotion of Human Rights, the Path to Peace"). Human rights are a component of a just society, and peace is the achievement of integral, just, and participatory development. Upholding human rights is largely synonymous with peace.
Therefore, Pope John Paul II also asked, "How can there be war if all human rights are respected?" and stated that a culture of human rights is necessarily a culture of peace ("Respect for Human Rights"). The Church's declaration that "peace is a good that must be promoted" directly confronts all hypocrisy regarding violence and war.
Nevertheless, many doubt whether peace is possible. Countering this "skeptical certainty" is the task of the Church. Peace is not a static state but a dynamic process; it must be created and is continually realized gradually. Pope Paul VI said, "Peace is only possible when it is considered a duty." An inner compulsion stemming from the demands of human existence moves us.
Peace is possible, and it is our duty. Conscience is social, and faith is public. In an age of war, Christians are called not to indifference but to discernment, not to silence but to responsible speech. Peace is not idealism. It is the most realistic attitude of faith to treat human beings as human beings, no matter what.
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