It has been sixty years since Pope St. John XXXIII wrote the encyclical Pacem in Terris. While many things have changed, at least accidentally, the concerns raised by him remain with us to this day. We have seen the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Sadly, we have also seen the rise of a new militant Russia, a Russia which invades other sovereign territories with the hope of assuming its own place of dominance in the world. We have seen the United States engage all kinds of wars, from Vietnam to Afghanistan, even as we have seen the United States attacked on its home soil. We have seen the rise of climate change, and with it, new factors creating chaos, factors which, if not fixed, threaten to destroy any sense of peace in the world as nations will fight against each other for survival. We have seen the rise of social justice, and with it, the desire to fix various wrongs of the past. We have seen, however, many fight against social justice, fearful of what it means for them to work for and promote such justice. In general, what has changed are the accidental situations and contexts which we find ourselves in, while what has not changed are the root causes of conflict, the reasons why peace has not found its proper footing in the world. There continues to be the need for peace building by everyone, and on every level of society, with the recognition that what is wanted is true peace, one founded upon justice. For peace without justice is not true peace, but mere surrender. This is why the world cannot stand back and ignore Russia’s activities, calling a lack of action peace, for in the end, that would promote and support Russia’s war efforts, and therefore, war.
We want peace. We need peace. But we must want true peace, not its simulacra. We certainly need to recognize that we must not become militant or warlike, justifying going on the offense, claiming that is the way of peace; on the other hand, while we be pacifistic, we must not be legalistic with our pacificism, that is, denying any possibility of defense when invaded or extreme injustices are found in the world. In such situations, lack of action is not indicative of peace, but rather the acceptance of violence. That is, we can find ourselves affirming violence in one of two ways, either by our own defensive action, or by our inaction. When we find ourselves in such a situation, we must recognize that defensive action can promote justice more than inaction if our inaction leads to further erosion of justice and the common good. This is why we must not confuse surrender as bringing about peace if such surrender enables grave injustice in the world. Pope St. John Paul II said it best in his Message For World Peace Day (1-1-2002):
True peace therefore is the fruit of justice, that moral virtue and legal guarantee which ensures full respect for rights and responsibilities, and the just distribution of benefits and burdens. But because human justice is always fragile and imperfect, subject as it is to the limitations and egoism of individuals and groups, it must include and, as it were, be completed by the forgiveness which heals and rebuilds troubled human relations from their foundations. This is true in circumstances great and small, at the personal level or on a wider, even international scale. Forgiveness is in no way opposed to justice, as if to forgive meant to overlook the need to right the wrong done. It is rather the fullness of justice, leading to that tranquillity of order which is much more than a fragile and temporary cessation of hostilities, involving as it does the deepest healing of the wounds which fester in human hearts. Justice and forgiveness are both essential to such healing [ ¶3].
Thus, it should once again be said that peace without justice is not true peace. To establish peace in the world, to promote peace, we must build a world order centered upon justice. Such justice must not be legalistic, knowing no sense of leniency or mercy, but rather it should be one which looks after and promotes the common good, using mercy and forgiveness as tools to help build it up. St. John XIII understood this. In his promotion of peace, in his declaration that we, as a people, should work for the elimination of war and the weapons of mass destruction used in them, he knew that the way forward was not to simply give in to tyrannies, to human rights abusers, thinking that surrendering to them created true peace. He knew that the violence such regimes used would continue, and indeed, would likely be used more, showing that in the end, though some element of conflict might be stopped, that must not be confused with peace in the world. This is why he said in Pacem in Terris: “Peace on Earth—which man throughout the ages has so longed for and sought after—can never be established, never guaranteed, except by the diligent observance of the divinely established order” [¶1]. That means, for proper peace to be found in the world, everyone’s needs will need to be met, even as their dignity and human freedom will be preserved:
Any well-regulated and productive association of men in society demands the acceptance of one fundamental principle: that each individual man is truly a person. His is a nature, that is, endowed with intelligence and free will. As such he has rights and duties, which together flow as a direct consequence from his nature. These rights and duties are universal and inviolable, and therefore altogether inalienable [ibid., ¶9].
What are these rights?
But first We must speak of man’s rights. Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of ill health; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood. [ibid., ¶11]
When these rights, or the rights which flow from them, are undermined or rejected, justice is denied, and when justice is denied, there is no peace. Doing nothing in such a situation does not promote peace. This is why, when we see such basic rights being denied to those in Ukraine by Russia, it is obvious that Ukraine cannot just submit to Russia. That is, Ukraine cannot simply surrender to Putin, thinking this will restore peace in the world. Russia’s actions are genocidal in nature. Ukraine has a right, indeed, a duty to defend themselves. Of course, they should do so in the name of justice, with the desire to restore peace in the world. This is why an honest cease fire should be a goal, but such a cease fire will require much from Russia, for Russia will have to make restitution for their war crimes and return to Ukraine what they unjustly took from it. Without making amends, a mere cease fire will not end of the conflict, for it will not restore peace. All it will do is give Russia the rest and respite it needs before it begins its next assault against another sovereign nation. Any negotiation should require Russia accepting the new world situation, one where it understands it cannot use force to restore to it the glory it believes it had in the past. If they don’t, there will be no peace, because the seeds of war will remain. After all, their actions have proven the validity of what Pope Francis said in 2020 on the 53rd World Day of Peace:
War, as we know, often begins with the inability to accept the diversity of others, which then fosters attitudes of aggrandizement and domination born of selfishness and pride, hatred and the desire to caricature, exclude and even destroy the other. War is fueled by a perversion of relationships, by hegemonic ambitions, by abuses of power, by fear of others and by seeing diversity as an obstacle. And these, in turn, are aggravated by the experience of war [¶1].
Russia shows its vainglory, pride, and selfishness whenever it tries to justify its war. As long as the current regime is in power, Russia cannot be trusted. This is why, as a part of the peace process, that regime will have to be overturned, hopefully by the Russian people themselves, so that the interests of peace can be promoted. For, as St. John XXIII said in Pacem in Terris:
States have the right to existence, to self development, and to the means necessary to achieve this. They have the right to play the leading part in the process of their own development, and the right to their good name and due honors. Consequently, States are likewise in duty bound to safeguard all such rights effectively, and to avoid any action that could violate them. And just as individual men may not pursue their own private interests in a way that is unfair and detrimental to others, so too it would be criminal in a State to aim at improving itself by the use of methods which involve other nations in injury and unjust oppression. There is a saying of St. Augustine which has particular relevance in this context: “Take away justice, and what are kingdoms but mighty bands of robbers” [¶92].
Ukraine has a right to exist. Putin does not have a right to invade Ukraine, to try to take it over and create a new empire. Certainly, we must desire peace. We should desire an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. But we must recognize who broke the peace, and what is needed for it to be restored. That means we must support Ukraine. We must also support Russia paying the price for its crimes. If we want to shortcut the process by having Ukraine merely surrender to Russia, peace will not be the result. All we will do is create the conditions for more conflict, more wars, as Russia will be emboldened, thinking the world will not resist them as they undermine the sovereignty of other countries. We must work for no more war. But that means we must deal with the war going on right now, making sure it is ended properly. We must look to the injustices in the world, and work to overturn them, lest in the future, we will find ourselves in even a worse situation. This is why we cannot accept Ukraine’s surrender to Russia.
While we should wish not to have to use violence in the world, we cannot be absolute pacifists ignoring that there might be times when a proper defense is not only justified but necessary. Certainly, we should seek to limit the violence, recognizing even if and when it is justified and needed, even if it is pardonable, it is not without a corrupting influence of its own, which is why St. Basil, among others, suggested those who took part in such a war still might need some time away from communion to restore their inner peace and their spiritual purity.
We must do more than focus on Russia. Peace is something we need to build up in the world. We need to engage justice throughout the world. We must make sure our own country promotes justice, even as we must make sure every country in the world comes together to deal with the various crises which affects them all, crises such as climate change. For if we do not do so, we are bound to see countries coming into more and more conflicts with each other, conflicts which will likely end up with worse and worse wars as they have to deal with existential threats to their existence.
The message of Pacem in Terris should be clear. We must want peace. We must strive for it. We must say no to war. But we must do more than speak such things. We must make for the situation where we can find such peace. The cry for no more war must come with the cry of justice. Without it, all we will get is a false peace. Sadly, this message is one which has yet to be heeded.
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