Catholic group urges Vatican to renounce 'just war' doctrine
Participants at a Vatican conference have called for the Catholic Church to renounce its "just war" theory and for Pope Francis to write an encyclical on non-violence and "just peace."
Church teaching has long allowed for "just wars" - the use of force to stop an unjust aggression - as long as certain conditions are met.
But participants at a conference sponsored by the Vatican's justice and peace office and Pax Christi, the Catholic peace movement, said in a final communique on Thursday that too often the doctrine had been used to justify and endorse military action rather than prevent it.
They called for the church instead to develop a new peacemaking framework "consistent with Gospel non-violence", and for Francis to articulate it all in a new encyclical.
Press Association
