Pope Leo XIV's press conference aboard the plane returning from his first papal trip abroad also touched on Ukraine, immigration and his spirituality, and revealed new insights into where he might travel next.,Pope Leo XIV's press conference aboard the plane returning from his first papal trip abroad also touched on Ukraine, immigration and his spirituality, and revealed new insights into where he might travel next.
13 days ago
Pope Leo XIV addressed escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela during a press conference on December 2, 2025.1
He emphasized that the US has "another way" besides military action, advocating for diplomatic alternatives.1
The Pope's remarks come amid heightened US concerns over Venezuela's political instability and regional influence.1
His intervention highlights the Vatican's role in promoting global peace, consistent with his predecessor Pope Francis's approach.1
Leo XIV's call for non-violent solutions could influence US policy debates on Latin America.1
It underscores the Catholic Church's ongoing mediation efforts in hemispheric conflicts.1
Assess Catholic diplomacy’s alternatives to military intervention
The Catholic Church has long viewed military intervention as a grave last resort, permissible only under strict just war criteria when all peaceful avenues have been exhausted. Instead, Catholic diplomacy emerges as a proactive, principled alternative rooted in the Gospel's call to fraternity, justice, and reconciliation. Drawing from papal encyclicals, bishops' conferences, and doctrinal reflections, this approach emphasizes dialogue, mediation, and international cooperation to prevent conflicts and resolve disputes without violence. It reflects the Church's evolving self-understanding as a peacemaker, prioritizing the dignity of the human person and the common good over force. This assessment explores the theological foundations, practical mechanisms, historical applications, and challenges of these diplomatic strategies, highlighting their fidelity to Catholic tradition.
At its core, Catholic diplomacy is grounded in the belief that peace is not merely the absence of war but "the tranquility of order," as articulated by Saint Augustine and reaffirmed in recent Church documents. This tranquility arises from safeguarding human goods through justice, solidarity, and fraternity, rather than through coercive power. Pope Francis, in Fratelli Tutti, underscores this by invoking Saint Francis of Assisi's vision of universal brotherhood, where love transcends borders and fosters openness to others regardless of distance or origin. He insists that true peace demands "tireless recourse to negotiation, mediation and arbitration," aligning with the United Nations Charter as a "fundamental juridical norm" to uphold international law and the global common good. War, by contrast, is "the negation of all rights and a dramatic assault on the environment," unleashing uncontrollable harm to the vulnerable and fraternal relations.
This perspective builds on the just war tradition, which balances empowerment against evil with moral restraint. As Gregory M. Reichberg notes, classical teachings, from Thomas Aquinas onward, affirm the duty to resist aggression justly but warn against indifference to war's costs. Pope Paul VI's famous plea—"never again war, war never again!"—to the United Nations in 1965 exemplifies this tension: while acknowledging the human frailty that may necessitate defensive arms, it calls for patient diplomacy as the primary path to peace. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops echoes this in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, urging nations to "find more effective ways to prevent conflicts, to resolve them by peaceful means, and to promote reconstruction and reconciliation" in war's aftermath. Rejecting torture and preventive force, the Church promotes ethical limits on power, focusing on terror's roots through moral assessment and fair burden-sharing.
The bishops of England and Wales, in Cherishing Life, further clarify that while governments hold a right to lawful self-defense, the Church encourages "the work of peace and the building of competent international authorities to prevent warfare." This aligns with the Second Vatican Council's Gaudium et Spes, which limits force to protecting the innocent while advocating juridical means over aggression. Thus, Catholic diplomacy is not pacifism but a dynamic commitment to non-violent resolution, viewing force as a failure of human dignity.
Catholic diplomacy offers concrete alternatives through structured practices that prioritize dialogue and cooperation. Central to this is the principle of pacta sunt servanda—fidelity to agreements—which Pope Francis describes as essential for establishing shared goals and reinforcing "normative instruments for the peaceful resolution of controversies." Multilateral agreements, rather than bilateral ones, are preferred because they protect weaker states and advance the universal common good. This approach counters the "temptation to appeal to the law of force rather than to the force of law," ensuring transparency and sincerity in international relations.
Mediation stands out as a key tool, with the Holy See often positioning itself as a neutral broker. Robert John Araujo, S.J., traces this in the Church's teachings from World War I onward, noting a shift toward reliance on international organizations like the League of Nations (and later the UN) for peaceful dispute resolution. Early 20th-century popes, such as Benedict XV, emphasized that military force is legitimate only for self-defense or protecting others, never for aggression, which is "intrinsically immoral." Contemporary teachings, from John XXIII to Benedict XVI, deepen this by favoring "juridical means for relieving tensions" amid modern weaponry's horrors.
The Church's role has evolved significantly since the 19th century. As Reichberg explains, under Pius IX, the papacy rejected armed defense of temporal interests, embracing instead a "pacific mission" as successor to Peter. By Leo XIII's time, the pope's function was explicitly "to promote peace between nations," amplified after the 1870 loss of papal states, allowing focus on spiritual leadership in temporal affairs. Benedict XV's failed but earnest mediation in World War I exemplified this ministerial role. Today, Antiqua et Nova (2025) applies this to emerging challenges like AI in warfare, insisting that peace tools must respect dignity and fraternity, built through "patient diplomacy" and "active promotion of justice."
The effectiveness of Catholic diplomacy is evident in papal interventions that have averted or mitigated conflicts. Pope John Paul II's efforts in the late 1970s and 1980s illustrate this vividly. In a 1978 address amid tensions between Argentina and Chile over the Beagle Channel, he expressed "paternal affection" for both nations and offered the Holy See's mediation, prioritizing "the higher interests of peace" over political complexities. Despite initial hesitations, his direct appeals to presidents fostered dialogue, ultimately leading to a papal-brokered treaty in 1984 that resolved the dispute peacefully.
Similarly, in speeches to Venezuelan ambassadors in 1993 and 2000, John Paul II highlighted the Church's commitment to reconciliation amid domestic unrest and international relations. He urged collaboration for an "equitable social order," drawing on bishops' calls for solidarity post-violence, and stressed dialogue between Church and state to address values forming a nation's soul. Warning against ideologies that lead to totalitarianism or ignore truth, he positioned the Church as a partner in building society through respect for spiritual convictions, enabling confident civic participation. These examples demonstrate how papal diplomacy leverages moral authority to encourage constructive dialogue, avoiding confrontation and placing the common good first.
The USCCB's guidance on terrorism further applies this: nations must defend life against threats like religious persecution, but through "effective responses" rooted in ethical restraint, focusing on prevention and reconstruction rather than escalation. Pope Francis builds on this in Fratelli Tutti, sowing "seeds of peace" by walking with the marginalized, as Saint Francis did, to foster harmony without power struggles.
While robust, Catholic diplomacy faces challenges in a world of asymmetric threats and non-state actors. Just war teachings acknowledge that "defense arms will, alas! be necessary" amid human wickedness, yet they demand moral limits to avoid vice in tolerating harm to others. Araujo notes that aggressive wars deplete aggressors and devastate victims, underscoring diplomacy's moral imperative. Controversies arise when sources interpret just war's evolution: some see a shift toward near-pacifism in modern popes, but Reichberg argues for continuity in empowerment and restraint. Recent documents like Antiqua et Nova take precedence, emphasizing fraternity over force in technological contexts.
Effectiveness varies: successes like the Argentina-Chile mediation show diplomacy's potential, but failures, such as Benedict XV's World War I efforts, highlight limitations against entrenched interests. The Church neither competes with states on technical solutions nor claims visionary foresight but guides through faith, solidarity, and attention to the weak. Overall, these alternatives align faithfully with Catholic teachings, proving more sustainable for integral human development than military paths, though they require global commitment to multilateral norms.
In conclusion, Catholic diplomacy offers a compelling alternative to military intervention by centering on dialogue, mediation, and justice as expressions of fraternal love. From Aquinas's restraint to Francis's global solidarity, it calls the faithful—and nations—to build peace proactively, honoring human dignity amid conflict's shadows. By embracing these tools, we heed the Church's urgent plea: work tirelessly for a world where war is not inevitable but obsolete.