Whether It Is Lawful for Clerics and Bishops to Fight?
Objection 1: It would seem lawful for clerics and bishops to fight.
For, as stated above (A. 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, and 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.
Obj. 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.
Obj. 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 Rom. 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.
Obj. 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 (Matt. 16:52): "Put up again thy sword into the scabbard
[Vulg.: 'its place'] [*"Scabbard" is the reading in John 18:11]."
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 [*Cod. xii, 35, De Re Milit.].
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 Obj. 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 Obj. 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 Obj. 3: As stated above (Q. 23, A. 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 Obj. 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.
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