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| Authors: | Lionel Beehner Lee Hudson Teslik, Associate Editor |
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Updated: August 20, 2008
Since Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger ascended to the papacy in 2005, becoming Pope Benedict XVI, U.S.-Vatican relations have progressed unevenly. The pope has weighed in on several pressing matters of interest to the United States, from climate change to the Iraq war to domestic “culture war” issues like intelligent design. Benedict’s first visit to the United States as pope, in April 2008, brings several of the most pressing issues between Washington and the Vatican to the policy forefront. Some analysts say the Vatican has soured on several aspects of U.S. foreign policy, including the methodology it has used to pursue its “global war on terror.” Others see theological divergence between the pope and U.S. Catholic leaders. But some say this interpretation is overly blunt, pointing to aspects of Ratzinger’s writings that indicate strong allegiance to the U.S. Catholic Church and a sophisticated understanding of U.S. foreign policy.
Wilson Miscamble, a Catholic priest and professor of U.S. history at the University of Notre Dame, wrote in a pair of articles—America (1979), and Diplomacy History (1980)—that until the early twentieth century the Vatican's involvement in foreign policy was “episodic and, in fact, largely limited to attempting to protect the interests of the institutional church in other lands.” Not until the twentieth century did the church really seek to influence U.S. foreign policy.
Contrary to popular belief, the Catholic Church has not always taken a pacifist line on policy. Applying teachings on Just War theory that can be traced back to thirteenth-century theologian Thomas Aquinas, the church supported the Allied Powers entering World War II. It took a strong anti-Communist stance during the Cold War, and Catholics who supported communism were excommunicated by Pope Pius XII in 1949. When war in Vietnam erupted, the church initially called the cause just, but grew increasingly pacifist as the 1960s wore on. At the same time, significant changes were taking place within the church as the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council modernized and freed up discourse within its rank and file. From this sprang the liberation theology movement.
Beginning with Pope John XXIII's 1963 Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) encyclical calling for nuclear disarmament, the church began to a take a stronger and more vocal stance against the nuclear arms race. This stance was later echoed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ letter on nuclear weapons in the early 1980s. Throughout that decade, in addition to its anti-Communist stance, the Vatican took a more forceful position in favor of promoting human rights and economic development. The United States did not establish full diplomatic relations with the Holy See until 1984.
In the 1980s, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II forged an important partnership in their efforts to discredit the Soviet Union. But since the end of the Cold War, experts say the Vatican and the U.S. government have struggled to find common cause. There have been long-standing tensions on a number of issues, not least of which is Washington's handling of the war on terror. The Vatican strongly opposed the U.S.-led intervention in Iraq. Yet some theologians say this rift over the war has been overstated and U.S.-Vatican relations will not be negatively affected. “The United States works with the Holy See on a huge number of issues: trafficking, aid, development; the idea that all this stopped because of different prudential judgments about what to do about Saddam Hussein is just wrong,” says George Weigel, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Other issues of common cause include reviving the Middle East peace process, curbing the spread of nuclear arms, and opposing development programs that permit abortion or artificial contraception. The Catholic Church and White House do clash on several important social issues, however, including the use of the death penalty. Pope John Paul II had made repeated personal appeals to spare death-row inmates and repeal capital punishment in the United States.
Many experts see Pope Benedict’s foreign policy as a continuation of the policies of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. “Popes don't invent doctrine,” Weigel says. “Every pope is going to tease out of the rich and complex traditions of the church particular themes he'll want to explore in depth.” In his first encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI spoke at length about love and charity and the church’s role vis-à-vis the state. He said it is primarily the state’s responsibility to bring about a just social and civil order. But, the pope added, the church “cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice.”
Pope Benedict XVI chose his name after that of Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), who had a peacemaker’s reputation. Benedict stirred controversy, however, in a September 2006 address that quoted the following statement from a medieval text: “Show me just what [the Prophet] Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman.” After Muslim leaders expressed outrage, the pope backpedaled, apologizing for any offense that had been taken—though some Muslim groups said the apology was insufficient because the pontiff stopped short of apologizing for the remarks themselves. Later the pope struck a more conciliatory tone, calling for “reconciliation” among world religions. In early 2008, the Vatican publication L’Osservatore Romano published a modern companion to the “seven deadly sins,” updating the ancient list of vices to include politically sensitive moral failings such as polluting the environment and contributing to the income gap between rich and poor.
Unlike the united U.S.-Vatican stance against Soviet-style Communism, theologians say Washington’s and the Holy See’s positions on terrorism are profoundly different and more complex. Most of the disagreements are over the means of fighting the war on terror, not the ends. “The Vatican is not opposed to the right of the United States to defend itself, but as a general rule is less willing to endorse the use of force,” says Gregory A. Smith, a research fellow with the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. According to Catholic teachings on jus inbello, war can only be waged in self defense or in defense of others. War also requires just cause and “competent authority,” or, in this case, the United Nations. In 2003, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said there were “not sufficient reasons to unleash a war in Iraq.”
The church has been critical of the White House's jus ad bellum use of torture and its treatment of detainees. Pope John Paul II, in a June 2004 meeting with President Bush, called the abuses of prisoners at Abu Ghraib “deplorable events.” The March 2008 killing of the kidnapped Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul revived Vatican concerns about Iraq just ahead of Benedict’s April 2008 trip to Washington.
The White House and Vatican agree, however, on the need to frame the war on terror not as one against Muslims but rather a radical ideology. “There's been lots of emphasis on the Holy See to make sure this is not seen as a religious conflict,” says J. Bryan Hehir, an expert on the Catholic Church at Harvard University. However, Pope Benedict XVI, like Washington, has been more vocal in pressing for Muslim moderates to condemn terrorist actions.
The Vatican has played an important role in the Middle East peace process. Officially, it recognizes Israel’s right to exist while supporting Palestinians’ demands for a homeland. The Vatican, theologian Weigel says, is motivated as much by demographics as geopolitics. “The Holy Land is hemorrhaging its Christian populations and has been for twenty-five years,” he says. “There's concern that the Holy Places might become museum pieces rather than homes to living Christian communities.” Israelis have sometimes perceived the papacy as being too pro-Palestinian. In 2006, the pope’s omission of Israel from a list of countries struck by terrorist attacks drew criticisms from Israeli leaders.
Yet some experts say that Pope Benedict XVI is hardly anti-Israel. Theologically, Benedict has a fine appreciation for religious Judaism, J. Peter Pham of James Madison University says. The pontiff's views on Muslims are less clear. “If you look at history, he's profoundly skeptical of democracy and Islam,” Pham says. Before he was elected pope, Cardinal Ratzinger came out against Turkey’s accession to the European Union, ostensibly because of its Muslim heritage. “He's a realist about the differences between Islam and Christianity and favors dialogue while recognizing profound differences in their identities,” says Timothy Shah, CFR adjunct senior fellow for religion and foreign policy.
Perhaps nowhere does the Vatican wield more influence than in Latin America, where the population is roughly three-quarters Catholic. The Vatican opposed Reagan’s policies in the region during the 1980s, including the U.S. interventions in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Twenty years later, the U.S. image in the region has been tarnished, not least because of Washington’s failed prescriptions for market reforms. Some experts say a U.S. alliance with the Vatican can help improve Washington’s image south of the border. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says it supports free trade agreements like CAFTA and the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas. Generally, the church favors free but fair trade in addition to a more equitable redistribution of wealth, but not to the point of abolishing private property or individual freedoms. This partially explains the Vatican’s chilliness toward Marxist-oriented liberation theology movements in Latin America from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Shah points out in an April 2008 interview that the pope is intently focused on the extent to which Vatican-U.S. policy intersects with Vatican-Latin American policy. Shah points out that an April 2008 address to the American people was delivered in both Spanish and English. Shah adds that the increasing importance of Hispanic Catholics within the U.S. Catholic community has encouraged Benedict to turn toward the new issue, including immigration. “You have more and more cities adopting measures to round up illegal immigrants, at least illegal immigrants that are guilty of minor crimes,” Shah says, adding that Benedict is “acutely aware of this.”
The Catholic Church has long emphasized the need to alleviate poverty, heal the afflicted, and forgive debts. “Poverty is a plague against which humanity must fight without cease,” says Pope Benedict XVI. Charity featured prominently in November 2007. Experts say the Vatican views terrorism as rooted in economic injustice, inequality, and abject poverty. Says Shah: “In addition to political freedoms, the Church stresses the need to bring greater economic development to alleviate pent-up frustrations.” Likewise, the Bush administration has linked its disbursement of development aid to the war on terrorism. “Poverty doesn't cause terrorism,” President Bush told reporters in March 2002. “Yet persistent poverty and oppression can lead to hopelessness and despair. And when governments fail to meet the most basic needs of their people, these failed states can become havens for terror.” In 2004, Bush established the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) to deliver billions of dollars of aid to developing countries that met certain standards of democratization. The United States’ aid budget to Africa has increased substantially during the Bush administration. However, critics say that as a percentage of its gross domestic product, U.S. foreign aid remains among the lowest in the developed world.
The Vatican has increased its pressure on major global political players, including the United States, to take a firm stance on climate-change policy. In Pope Benedict’s revisions to the “seven deadly sins,” he included polluting the environment as a sin—a sign many experts interpreted as politically significant. In an August 2007 address, Benedict urged the Catholic Church worldwide to become more environmentally conscious, saying abuse of the environment is against God’s will. Experts say Benedict’s speech was only the latest in a series of increasingly forceful statements about tending to environmental concerns, and that by defining the issue in moral terms he substantially upped the ante for policymakers in countries where the Catholic Church is influential.
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