It is not always fair to read a review of a papal encyclical and extract from that reading a surprising statement.
But I'll do it anyway.
...In the encyclical, he also rejects the idea of “just war,” arguing that under modern circumstances, no violent conflict can ever be justified, and he repeats his frequent calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the death penalty, insisting the latter is also an “abolition of life.”...
*Cough*....either the review is sloppily worded, or Pp. Francis has also rejected the concept of "self-defense" as a moral act. For as John Paul II wrote, "self-defense" and "national defense" are inextricably entwined (and we assume all the usual things about provocation, graduated use-of-force if available, etc.)
That. friends, is a shocker. Period.
And of course, Francis rides his 'death penalty' hobby-horse, managing to completely screw up at least one Scripture reference in the process:
...In paragraph 270, he issues a direct appeal to Christians who might be hesitant about the death penalty, asking them to remember the words of the Prophet Isaiah in the bible: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares,” and in Jesus urging his disciples to “put your sword back into its place” at his arrest....
We were taught that the self-sacrifice of Christ was necessary for the salvation of souls, thus Christ's acceptance of his arrest, passion, and death. We had NO IDEA that He was teaching an anti-death penalty lesson there.
John Allen's (second) wife's review is jam-packed with Trump- and America-bashing. Maybe Pp. Francis meant to do so in his encyclical, maybe not. Francis mentions the 'love your neighbor' and the golden rule, plus a lot of verbiage on the good Samaritan. But if the review is accurate, something else is conspicuous by its absence: the teaching of the Beatitudes. Ya'know, they're really quite the right thing for curing 'social justice' ills. Too bad they're not part of this 'social justice' Francis doc, eh?
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