While Roman Catholic ethics of war and peace develops more restrictive criteria of
just war and reprioritizes nonviolence, an important strand of Protestant theology
defends war as a God-given instrument of government’s multiple ends. A newer ethics
of just peace and peacebuilding emerges from Christian initiatives to transform armed
conflict at intra-state and cross-border levels. This essay assesses these approaches
and pacifism, concluding with a perspective from the Global South.

Benedict’s first encyclical, Deus caritas est, assigned political work to the laity and restricted the Catholic Church’s social activities to charity. Benedict’s Word Christology, presented in Jesus of Nazareth, coheres with his longstanding vision of a countercultural Church centered in Europe. Caritas in veritate envisions the Church and its representatives as advocates for global justice.

[Roman Catholic teaching on marriage focuses on interpersonal love of spouses, of which sacramentality and procreation are dimensions. Post Vatican II disputes about sexual morality, divorce, and birth control have taken place in this general context. A new generation of scholars—married, with children—argues for a more social view of marriage, with special concern about socioeconomic

[Several earlier essays in this journal have explored questions such as whether it is possible to speak of intercultural dialogue about the common good in an era of globalization, or whether one can even seek a “global ethics.” These questions are more poignant and critical since the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The author