Israeli Attacks on Civilians Violate Catholic “Just War Doctrine”

Brian William Thomas

Lent is a period of fasting, penance and alms giving.

It is also a time many Catholic men seek to challenge themselves by performing acts of moral courage.

Bishop Joseph Strickland has just set the bar higher in that area.

MAGA Catholics Grow Critical of Trump’s Inaction on Protecting Gaza’s Civilians

For the first time, a traditional Catholic cleric and staunch Trump supporter, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, has pointedly criticized the Trump administration‘s support for Israel.

He does so just days after appearing as an honored guest speaker at President Trump’s own home during a Catholic Prayers for America Gala at Mar-a-Lago.

Some one hundred priests and nuns gathered at the Trump residence to ask for God’s blessings for the nation and celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass.

The Bishop’s rebuke of the administration’s Gaza policy speaks volumes of Bishop Strickland’s allegiance to Christ first, before all earthly leaders.

He speaks for many MAGA faithful, from Mel Gibson to General Flynn.

“In Gaza,” Strickland writes in an open letter to the US President, “the indiscriminate killing of civilians – including women and children – has reached an intolerable scale. The people of Palestine, many of whom have no affiliation with terrorist organizations, suffer immensely. War cannot be waged without regard for the innocent.”

His comments follow January 8’s statement by Pope Francis that mirrored similar concerns.

In his annual address to diplomats, the Pontiff intensified his criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, calling the human cost “very serious and shameful.”

He condemned the bombing of civilians and the destruction of essential infrastructure, highlighting the plight of women and children suffering due to the lack of electricity and destroyed hospitals.

“We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians. We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country’s energy network has been hit.”

But Bishop Strickland’s critique goes farther.

Strickland says the Administration’s support for Israel in Gaza is a grave violation of centuries-old church moral law on warfare.

“The principle of just war is clear: war must be a last resort, waged only in defense, with proportional force, and never targeting civilians. It must aim not at conquest or retaliation but at restoring a just peace. Pope Pius XII warned that war often ‘creates more serious evils than it eliminates.’ Today, as conflicts multiply across the Middle East, I fear we are seeing this tragic truth unfold before our eyes.”

What’s more, MAGA Catholics are increasingly unsettled at how quickly Trump falls in line with Israeli calls for support across the board.

They are bolstered in this regard by their Holy Land co-religionists who remain bitterly opposed to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.

Could a Christian MAGA Blowup Derail the Trump Train?

A showdown appears to be brewing in MAGA-Land between two Christian cornerstones of MAGA.

Trump’s Scofield Evangelists, who are major backers of Israel First,

(Scofielders are also looking for Red Bulls to sacrifice on the altar of a newly rebuilt Third Temple to usher in the return of the Messiah)

and MAGA Catholics who want to see the slaughter of the innocents in Gaza contained within Magisterial parameters.

The two major Christian blocs are, however, uniting on an essential plank that shapes their worldview and politics – “Christ is King” – against a new internal conservative opponent – conservative pro-Israel Jews offended by the expression “Christ is King.”

The issue was pushed to the fore by Jewish pundit Ben Shapiro, co-owner of the pro-Trump Daily Wire.

The “Christ is King” condemnation by Shapiro, as well as Shapiro’s support for the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, has found the support of conservative influencer Jordan Peterson. (Peterson is believed to earn up to one million USD annually working for Ben at the Daily Wire.)

A triangulated conservative Civil War could threaten the internal stability of MAGA at a time when 47 is looking at a Summer of Hate orchestrated by the Leftist rear guard.

The entire discussion has become highly tangled, and Michael Matt of the Remnant does his best to explain what could become an unseen threat to America’s attempts at overdue reform.

Amidst the rising smoke and rolling thunder, Bishop Strickland’s reference to proportionality and the tested and true Just War Doctrine is a soothing balm for troubled souls.

I wishe you a happy and holy Lent.

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