Steven Waldman asks his earlier question in a different way; this time focusing on the “moral” question of whether I, and others who supported the war, ignored the pope on this issue.
Did I find John Paul II persuasive in the run-up to the invasion? Yes, in the sense that I checked and re-checked my reasoning for thinking it a “just war.” But, I did not come to the same conclusion.
Waldman adds the following comment: “He [the pope] thought the administration’s approach to the war contradicted the essence of Christ’s teachings. I’m assuming Waldman is not implying that Church teaching is pacifist. If so, the comment makes little sense to me. Why? Because the Church teaching on this matter is what I referenced before, “just war” theory as stated in the Catechism. Since going to war is a prudential matter, a decision to be made by a head of state, the “essence of Church teaching” is satisfying the four principles of a “just war.”
A prudential judgment can be right or wrong, but cannot contradict an essence. To contradict an essence, the Church’s teaching on war would have to be equivalent to its teaching on abortion or euthanasia, which it is not. Abortion is never right, war can be.