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Objection 1: It would seem lawful for clerics and bishops to fight.
For, as stated above (Article 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, end 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.
Objection 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.
Objection 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 Rm. 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.
Objection 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 (Mt. 16:52): "Put up again thy sword into the
scabbard." 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 to Objection 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 to Objection 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 to Objection 3: As stated above (Question 23, Article
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 to Objection 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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