Magisterium on War in the context of the socio-political doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church in the time of Benedict XV

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of certain aspects of anti-war activities of Pope Benedict XV (1914–1922) and his personal contribution to the formation of the highest teaching of the Catholic Church on war. The work touches upon a wide range of problems related to the liturgical side of the issue we are interested in and the specifics of pastoral care for military personnel in combat conditions. Besides, the consequences of the forced mobilization of clergy and monks, as well as the measures of the Holy See to counter the sacralization of the war and the politicization of prayerful appeals for victory were analyzed. In this aspect, the problems touched upon in the article have been raised in Russian science only fragmentarily. In addition to papal documents of the period we are interested in, modern foreign studies of the pontificate of Benedict XV were used. Their introduction into Russian scientific circulation makes it possible to take a more objective approach to achieving the aims set in this work and fill in the gaps in Russian historiography, which is little familiar with the figure of this Pope and his contribution to the formation of the socio-political concept of the Roman Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council. In the context of the identified parallels between the era of Benedict XV and the current state of the world community, which feels a real threat to world peace, the issues covered in the article may be of scientific interest.