Papato e guerra "giusta" nel Novecento. Una prospettiva transatlantica.

This essay investigates the 20th Century contentious dismantling of the Catholic Church’s doctrine of “just war”, with particular attention to the evolving role of the papacy. It argues that the pontificates of Benedict xv and Pius xi reflected both political and doctrinal biases in the Holy See’s moral stance on warfare, thereby shaping the subsequent reorientation of papal teaching. Furthermore, the study reinterprets Pope Pius xii’s approach to conflicts as an attempt to align – without subordinating – the Vatican’s international engagement with that of the United States, in a strategic effort to counter the spread of Communism and the influence of the Soviet Union. Finally, the essay concludes with the pontificate of John Paul ii, highlighting how, from the mid-20th Century onward, papal reflection on the justification of war gradually transcended its Euro-Atlantic focus to adopt a more global perspective, in line with the transformations brought about first by decolonization and later by the end of the Cold War.