Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, has warned against a “dangerous pacifism” that would lead the Church to completely abandon the doctrine of just war, and stated that Pope Leo XIV’s lung cancer has changed the image of the Pontiff, who in his first months was seen almost as a superpope. He made these remarks in a one-hour conversation, open to publication, with several dozen foreign correspondents accredited in Italy, held in Rome on October 27 and whose content has now been released by the German Catholic agency KNA.
Gallagher declared himself not a pacifist. According to KNA, he maintained that the doctrine of just war should not be abandoned, but rather reformulated in accordance with the present time, and that this reformulation should also take into account the many thousands of Catholic soldiers. He also proposed recovering the spirit of the Helsinki Conference and called for dialogue among nuclear powers on the future architecture of nuclear deterrence.
Regarding the Pope, the Holy See’s foreign relations official acknowledged that he did not know in advance that Leo XIV was going to announce at the Angelus on October 11 that he needed surgery. “No, I didn’t know,” he replied. The illness, he explained, has made everyone see that the Pontiff is not a superman, but “a poor mortal like the rest of us.” Previously, because of his good physical condition, he had almost been seen as a superpope. Gallagher believes that Leo XIV will maintain his course: “He will continue with his plan,” he said, although he warned that he is not someone who tells others what he plans to do in three or four years.
The archbishop described a very well-informed Pope who asks many questions and addresses problems in a professional manner, and said that working with him is simpler than with Francis, among other reasons because they share English as a language. When asked about the possibility that the Curia might eventually absorb him, he replied that as soon as there are signs of something like that, the Pope “will bare his teeth.”
On the international agenda, Gallagher said he expects a papal trip to the United States in the near future, which could be combined with Mexico. He explained that so far there has been no direct contact between Leo XIV and Donald Trump because it has not been necessary. Regarding the war in Ukraine, he stated that Moscow and Washington appreciate the Holy See’s humanitarian work, but do not want it to assume a formal role as mediator. Concerning the Oleshky ceasefire, he downplayed who made it possible: what matters, he said, is the result. He expressed cautious optimism about the parties’ willingness to end the war soon, and recalled that his visit to Moscow in August took place at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
In the same meeting, Gallagher defended the agreement with China on the appointment of bishops. According to KNA, he celebrated as a major advance that all Catholic bishops in China are now in communion with the Pope, acknowledged that the 2018 pact has weaknesses, and explained that a permanent representation of the Holy See in Beijing would for now be too expensive. The Catholic Herald had already published on October 28 his admission that the imperfections of the agreement are evident.
Gallagher’s words on just war contrast with the reservations Pope Francis expressed in his final years about the possibility of continuing to speak today of a just war. The head of Vatican foreign policy maintains that the doctrine must be reformulated, not abandoned, and calls “dangerous” the pacifism that discards it.
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- Gallagher acknowledges the flaws in the agreement with China and defends continuing dialogue with Beijing
- Gallagher presides over Mass in Moscow and assures Catholics of Leo XIV’s “closeness and prayer”
- The Catholic Herald raises the question of what happens if a Pope cannot exercise his authority, following Leo XIV’s surgery