Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

Objection 1: It would seem lawful for clerics and bishops to fight. For, as stated above (Article 1), wars are lawful and just in so far as they protect the poor and the entire common weal from suffering at the hands of the foe. Now this seems to be above all the duty of prelates, for Gregory says (Hom. in Ev. xiv): "The wolf comes upon the sheep, when any unjust and rapacious man oppresses those who are faithful and humble. But he who was thought to be the shepherd, and was not, leaveth the sheep, end flieth, for he fears lest the wolf hurt him, and dares not stand up against his injustice." Therefore it is lawful for prelates and clerics to fight.

Objection 2: Further, Pope Leo IV writes (xxiii, qu. 8, can. Igitur): "As untoward tidings had frequently come from the Saracen side, some said that the Saracens would come to the port of Rome secretly and covertly; for which reason we commanded our people to gather together, and ordered them to go down to the seashore." Therefore it is lawful for bishops to fight.

Objection 3: Further, apparently, it comes to the same whether a man does a thing himself, or consents to its being done by another, according to Rm. 1:32: "They who do such things, are worthy of death, and not only they that do them, but they also that consent to them that do them." Now those, above all, seem to consent to a thing, who induce others to do it. But it is lawful for bishops and clerics to induce others to fight: for it is written (xxiii, qu. 8, can. Hortatu) that Charles went to war with the Lombards at the instance and entreaty of Adrian, bishop of Rome. Therefore they also are allowed to fight.

Objection 4: Further, whatever is right and meritorious in itself, is lawful for prelates and clerics. Now it is sometimes right and meritorious to make war, for it is written (xxiii, qu. 8, can. Omni timore) that if "a man die for the true faith, or to save his country, or in defense of Christians, God will give him a heavenly reward." Therefore it is lawful for bishops and clerics to fight.

On the contrary, It was said to Peter as representing bishops and clerics (Mt. 16:52): "Put up again thy sword into the scabbard ." Therefore it is not lawful for them to fight.

I answer that, Several things are requisite for the good of a human society: and a number of things are done better and quicker by a number of persons than by one, as the Philosopher observes (Polit. i, 1), while certain occupations are so inconsistent with one another, that they cannot be fittingly exercised at the same time; wherefore those who are deputed to important duties are forbidden to occupy themselves with things of small importance. Thus according to human laws, soldiers who are deputed to warlike pursuits are forbidden to engage in commerce .

Now warlike pursuits are altogether incompatible with the duties of a bishop and a cleric, for two reasons. The first reason is a general one, because, to wit, warlike pursuits are full of unrest, so that they hinder the mind very much from the contemplation of Divine things, the praise of God, and prayers for the people, which belong to the duties of a cleric. Wherefore just as commercial enterprises are forbidden to clerics, because they unsettle the mind too much, so too are warlike pursuits, according to 2 Tim. 2:4: "No man being a soldier to God, entangleth himself with secular business." The second reason is a special one, because, to wit, all the clerical Orders are directed to the ministry of the altar, on which the Passion of Christ is represented sacramentally, according to 1 Cor. 11:26: "As often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until He come." Wherefore it is unbecoming for them to slay or shed blood, and it is more fitting that they should be ready to shed their own blood for Christ, so as to imitate in deed what they portray in their ministry. For this reason it has been decreed that those who shed blood, even without sin, become irregular. Now no man who has a certain duty to perform, can lawfully do that which renders him unfit for that duty. Wherefore it is altogether unlawful for clerics to fight, because war is directed to the shedding of blood.

Reply to Objection 1: Prelates ought to withstand not only the wolf who brings spiritual death upon the flock, but also the pillager and the oppressor who work bodily harm; not, however, by having recourse themselves to material arms, but by means of spiritual weapons, according to the saying of the Apostle (2 Cor. 10:4): "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God." Such are salutary warnings, devout prayers, and, for those who are obstinate, the sentence of excommunication.

Reply to Objection 2: Prelates and clerics may, by the authority of their superiors, take part in wars, not indeed by taking up arms themselves, but by affording spiritual help to those who fight justly, by exhorting and absolving them, and by other like spiritual helps. Thus in the Old Testament (Joshua 6:4) the priests were commanded to sound the sacred trumpets in the battle. It was for this purpose that bishops or clerics were first allowed to go to the front: and it is an abuse of this permission, if any of them take up arms themselves.

Reply to Objection 3: As stated above (Question 23, Article 4, ad 2) every power, art or virtue that regards the end, has to dispose that which is directed to the end. Now, among the faithful, carnal wars should be considered as having for their end the Divine spiritual good to which clerics are deputed. Wherefore it is the duty of clerics to dispose and counsel other men to engage in just wars. For they are forbidden to take up arms, not as though it were a sin, but because such an occupation is unbecoming their personality.

Reply to Objection 4: Although it is meritorious to wage a just war, nevertheless it is rendered unlawful for clerics, by reason of their being deputed to works more meritorious still. Thus the marriage act may be meritorious; and yet it becomes reprehensible in those who have vowed virginity, because they are bound to a yet greater good.

Articulus 2

Argumentum 1

Ad secundum sic proceditur. Videtur quod clericis et episcopis liceat pugnare. Bella enim intantum sunt licita et iusta, sicut dictum est, inquantum tuentur pauperes et totam rempublicam ab hostium iniuriis. Sed hoc maxime videtur ad praelatos pertinere, dicit enim Gregorius, in quadam homilia, lupus super oves venit, cum quilibet iniustus et raptor fideles quosque atque humiles opprimit. Sed is qui pastor videbatur esse et non erat, relinquit oves et fugit, quia dum sibi ab eo periculum metuit, resistere eius iniustitiae non praesumit.

Ergo praelatis et clericis licitum est pugnare.

Argumentum 2

Praeterea, XXIII, qu. VIII, leo Papa scribit, cum saepe adversa a saracenorum partibus pervenerint nuntia, quidam in Romanorum portum saracenos clam furtiveque venturos esse dicebant. Pro quo nostrum congregari praecepimus populum, maritimumque ad littus descendere decrevimus.

Ergo episcopis licet ad bella procedere.

Argumentum 3

Praeterea, eiusdem rationis esse videtur quod homo aliquid faciat, et quod facienti consentiat, secundum illud Rom. I, non solum digni sunt morte qui faciunt, sed et qui consentiunt facientibus.

Maxime autem consentit qui ad aliquid faciendum alios inducit.

Licitum autem est episcopis et clericis inducere alios ad bellandum, dicitur enim XXIII, qu. VIII, quod hortatu et precibus Adriani Romanae urbis episcopi, carolus bellum contra longobardos suscepit.

Ergo etiam eis licet pugnare.

Argumentum 4

Praeterea, illud quod est secundum se honestum et meritorium non est illicitum praelatis et clericis. Sed bellare est quandoque et honestum et meritorium, dicitur enim XXIII, qu. VIII, quod si aliquis pro veritate fidei et salvatione patriae ac defensione christianorum mortuus fuerit, a deo caeleste praemium consequetur.

Ergo licitum est episcopis et clericis bellare.

Sed Contra

Sed contra est quod Petro, in persona episcoporum et clericorum, dicitur Matth. XXVI, converte gladium tuum in vaginam.

Non ergo licet eis pugnare.

Corpus

Respondeo dicendum quod ad bonum societatis humanae plura sunt necessaria. Diversa autem a diversis melius et expeditius aguntur quam ab uno; ut patet per philosophum, in sua politica.

Et quaedam negotia sunt adeo sibi repugnantia ut convenienter simul exerceri non possint. Et ideo illis qui maioribus deputantur prohibentur minora, sicut secundum leges humanas militibus, qui deputantur ad exercitia bellica, negotiationes interdicuntur.

Bellica autem exercitia maxime repugnant illis officiis quibus episcopi et clerici deputantur, propter duo. Primo quidem, generali ratione, quia bellica exercitia maximas inquietudines habent; unde multum impediunt animum a contemplatione divinorum et laude dei et oratione pro populo, quae ad officium pertinent clericorum. Et ideo sicut negotiationes, propter hoc quod nimis implicant animum, interdicuntur clericis, ita et bellica exercitia, secundum illud II ad Tim. II, nemo militans deo implicat se saecularibus negotiis.

Secundo, propter specialem rationem. Nam omnes clericorum ordines ordinantur ad altaris ministerium, in quo sub sacramento repraesentatur passio christi, secundum illud I ad Cor. XI, quotiescumque manducabitis panem hunc et calicem bibetis, mortem domini annuntiabitis, donec veniat.

Et ideo non competit eis occidere vel effundere sanguinem, sed magis esse paratos ad propriam sanguinis effusionem pro christo, ut imitentur opere quod gerunt ministerio. Et propter hoc est institutum ut effundentes sanguinem, etiam sine peccato, sint irregulares. Nulli autem qui est deputatus ad aliquod officium licet id per quod suo officio incongruus redditur.

Unde clericis omnino non licet bella gerere, quae ordinantur ad sanguinis effusionem.

Ad 1

Ad primum ergo dicendum quod praelati debent resistere non solum lupis qui spiritualiter interficiunt gregem, sed etiam raptoribus et tyrannis qui corporaliter vexant, non autem materialibus armis in propria persona utendo, sed spiritualibus; secundum illud apostoli, II ad Cor. X, arma militiae nostrae non sunt carnalia, sed spiritualia.

Quae quidem sunt salubres admonitiones, devotae orationes, contra pertinaces excommunicationis sententia.

Ad 2

Ad secundum dicendum quod praelati et clerici, ex auctoritate superioris, possunt interesse bellis, non quidem ut ipsi propria manu pugnent, sed ut iuste pugnantibus spiritualiter subveniant suis exhortationibus et absolutionibus et aliis huiusmodi spiritualibus subventionibus. Sicut et in veteri lege mandabatur, ios. VI, quod sacerdotes sacris tubis in bellis clangerent.

Et ad hoc primo fuit concessum quod episcopi vel clerici ad bella procederent. Quod autem aliqui propria manu pugnent, abusionis est.

Ad 3

Ad tertium dicendum quod, sicut supra habitum est, omnis potentia vel ars vel virtus ad quam pertinet finis habet disponere de his quae sunt ad finem. Bella autem carnalia in populo fideli sunt referenda, sicut ad finem, ad bonum spirituale divinum, cui clerici deputantur. Et ideo ad clericos pertinet disponere et inducere alios ad bellandum bella iusta. Non enim interdicitur eis bellare quia peccatum sit, sed quia tale exercitium eorum personae non congruit.

Ad 4

Ad quartum dicendum quod, licet exercere bella iusta sit meritorium, tamen illicitum redditur clericis propter hoc quod sunt ad opera magis meritoria deputati. Sicut matrimonialis actus potest esse meritorius, et tamen virginitatem voventibus damnabilis redditur, propter obligationem eorum ad maius bonum.