Martyrdom, Holy Wars, and the Roman Catholic Just War Tradition
By Josiah Hasbrouck, Juicy Ecumenism.
Amidst the persistence of violent global conflicts, consideration of just war principles is ever-needed. Given the Christian origins of the just war tradition, these time-tested principles become even more relevant when parties to a conflict cite religious motivations for their actions.
Few religious traditions have considered just war theory as extensively as members of the Roman Catholic Church, as seen in Catholic University of America’s Institute for Human Ecology recently-held second Annual Lecture on Catholic Political Thought. In this year’s lecture, “Thomism Goes to War,” Dr. Gregory M. Reichberg of Peace Research Institute Oslo expounded on the Roman Catholic just war tradition.
After summarizing the origins and basic tenets of Thomistic just war theory, Reichberg notes that St. Thomas Aquinas – a major figure in both Medieval history and the just war tradition – did not often apply his writings on just war to actual wars, instead keeping his examination of the topic in the realm of the theoretical. He suggests that some of Thomas’s writings about war may have nonetheless been motivated by life experience, as he belonged to a military family and likely had a brother executed during a conflict between Frederick II and Pope Innocent IV.
Reichberg noted that there has been debate throughout Catholic history about whether dying for one’s country ought to be considered martyrdom. Reichberg summarizes that according to Thomas, “service to one’s country in a just war is indeed a morally good act, and if uplifted by charity, this act will be meritorious. In other words, conducive to eternal life on par with the other naturally good acts we carry out in our daily lives: teaching school children, providing medical care for the sick… these just warriors who die in the process may very well be received into heaven, but they will not merit the aureola [halo] of martyrs.” Reichberg quotes, however, Thomas’s nuanced position that “if someone sustains death defending his country against the attack of an enemy who is endeavoring to undermine the Faith of Christ, then that person will merit the aureola and he will be a martyr.”
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