Elected to the papal throne, on September 3, 1914, little more than a month after the outbreak of the conflict, Benedict XV since his first official document, the apostolic exhortation Ubi Primum, on September 8, denounced “the terrible show” of the war that was ravaging Europe and turned to the warring governments to lay down their differences in the interest of human society. His mission will be to promote peace and “hasten the end of this calamity.” However, the condemnation of the Great War by the pontiff can be understood only when placed in the ideological context influenced by the principle of “just war,” elaborated by the Jesuit Luigi d’Azeglio Taparelli since the forties of the nineteenth century and then developed on the pages of La Civiltà Cattolica. The journal of the Society of Jesus, which since its foundation (April 6, 1850) was placed under the service of the pope and was regarded as the official voice of the Holy See, had devoted numerous articles to issues related to war and peace, condemning nationalism generated by the affirmation of the principle of nationality claimed by the Liberals, European states’ pursuit of armaments and obligatory conscription but also claiming the central role of the pope in the resolution of international controversies and the legitimacy of the principle of intervention and, thus, of war if it complies with law. These arguments will be reaffirmed by the journal during the years of the Great War.
The Most Terrible Calamity That Has Ever Fallen on Europe: The Great War Commented by La Civiltà Cattolica
DI GIANNATALE, FABIO
2015-01-01
Abstract
Elected to the papal throne, on September 3, 1914, little more than a month after the outbreak of the conflict, Benedict XV since his first official document, the apostolic exhortation Ubi Primum, on September 8, denounced “the terrible show” of the war that was ravaging Europe and turned to the warring governments to lay down their differences in the interest of human society. His mission will be to promote peace and “hasten the end of this calamity.” However, the condemnation of the Great War by the pontiff can be understood only when placed in the ideological context influenced by the principle of “just war,” elaborated by the Jesuit Luigi d’Azeglio Taparelli since the forties of the nineteenth century and then developed on the pages of La Civiltà Cattolica. The journal of the Society of Jesus, which since its foundation (April 6, 1850) was placed under the service of the pope and was regarded as the official voice of the Holy See, had devoted numerous articles to issues related to war and peace, condemning nationalism generated by the affirmation of the principle of nationality claimed by the Liberals, European states’ pursuit of armaments and obligatory conscription but also claiming the central role of the pope in the resolution of international controversies and the legitimacy of the principle of intervention and, thus, of war if it complies with law. These arguments will be reaffirmed by the journal during the years of the Great War.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
