The Catholic Case against War demonstrates how the Catholic mantra Never again war! reflects a set of powerfully realistic teachings on war and peace.
Over the last five decades, the Catholic Church has emerged as a powerful critic of war and as an advocate for its alternatives. At the same time, researchers of armed conflict have produced a considerable body of scholarship on war and its prevention. The Catholic Case against War compares these seemingly disparate lines of thought and finds a remarkable harmony between the two.
Drawing on years of Vatican documents and papal statements, political scientist David Carroll Cochran clearly presents the key elements of the Church´s case against war. Far from a naïve, optimistic call for peace, these teachings are consistent with the empirical research on the realities of contemporary warfare. The result is a look not only at the explicit moral case against war developed by the Vatican but also at its remarkable realism and relevance to world conflict today.
