Pope Francis: If the World Wants Peace, We Should 'Ban All Weapons'
Pope Francis called for a ban of “all weapons” in a tweet earlier this week.
The pontiff does not appear to limit the ban to nuclear, chemical or some other class of weapons, as other Catholic Church leaders have in the past.
He wrote, “Do we really want peace? Then let’s ban all weapons so we don’t have to live in fear of war.”
Breitbart observed the proposed ban would seemingly include outlawing “everything from rifles to hand grenades to the halberds carried by the Swiss Guards in the Vatican.”
Last fall, Pope Francis “firmly condemned” the possession of nuclear weapons by any nation.
“International relations cannot be held captive to military force, mutual intimidation, and the parading of stockpiles of arms,” the pope stated. “Weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, create nothing but a false sense of security. They cannot constitute the basis for peaceful coexistence between members of the human family.”
By contrast, Pope John Paul II recognized the morality of nations having a nuclear capability, if their purpose is to deter the outbreak of nuclear war.
In line with broadly accepted world opinion, Pope Francis denounced Syria’s reported chemical weapons attack in April. He also proclaimed there is no such thing as a “good war.”
“There is no such thing as a good war and a bad war. Nothing, but nothing, can justify the use of such instruments of extermination on defenseless people and populations,” he said at the end of a Mass in St. Peter’s Square. “Let us pray for all the deceased, for the wounded, for the families who suffer.”
The pope further exhorted that “military and political leaders should choose another path, that of negotiations, which is the only one that can bring about peace and not death and destruction.”
The United States, Great Britain and France responded to the use of the banned weapons on April 13 by bombing facilities used to research, manufacture and store them.
President Donald Trump made the case that these nations exercised a righteous use of force to counter evil acts.
“These are not the actions of a man,” Trump said of Syria leader Bashar al-Assad’s suspected chemical attack. “They are crimes of a monster instead.”
The pope did praise recent developments on the Korean peninsula, pointing to the prospect of denuclearization and peace between the North and South.
“I accompany with prayer the positive success of the Inter-Korean summit last Friday and the courageous commitment assumed by the leaders of the two parts to carry out a path of sincere dialogue for a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons,” the Catholic Church leader told pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed the Panmunjeom Declaration on Friday stating that “there will be no more war on the Korean Peninsula and thus a new era of peace has begun.”
Tre Goins-Phillips, writing for Independent Journal Review, argued that the pope’s call for a ban on all weapons runs contrary to scripture concerning the presence of evil in the world and the need for God-ordained government to counter it.
“The theology doesn’t add up,” he wrote.
“Of course, we yearn for a perfect world free of violence and the need for weapons, but until Jesus Christ returns and restores humanity to its pre-fallen state, we use the imperfect tools we have to advance righteousness,” Goins-Phillips contended.
The Apostle Paul wrote in the book of Romans, “Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”
He explained, “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
“For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil,” Paul concluded.
Jesus also admonished his followers to buy swords to protect themselves.
Best-selling Christian author and speaker, Eric Metaxas, quipped that the Pope Francis’ Twitter account may have been hacked, “But if not, why not ban hatred and murder.”
I think the Pope has been hacked. But if not, why not ban hatred and murder. Why not put those ideas in a book three thousand years ago and talk about that and not about state's banning weapons? https://t.co/G2Sru4JSBn
— Eric Metaxas (@ericmetaxas) April 30, 2018
In another pronouncement that seemingly runs contrary to scripture, Pope Francis proclaimed in March that there is no hell.
When asked if people are punished in the afterlife for doing evil during the lifetimes, the pontiff reportedly responded, “They are not punished, those who repent obtain the forgiveness of God and enter the rank of souls who contemplate him, but those who do not repent and cannot therefore be forgiven disappear. There is no hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls.”
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