A Nato commander has said that Christian faith enriches the work of a soldier, as he discussed Pope Leo XIV’s recent statements on just war theory. Commander Ruprecht von Butler, who also serves in the German Army under the rank of major general, said he was “very much in line” with the Pope, who had written in Magnifica Humanitas that the term “just war” was no longer applicable.
Pope Leo wrote in his 2026 encyclical that “without prejudice to the right to self-defense”, just war theory had been “all too often” used to justify any kind of war and was now outdated.
