Introducing the discussions on Friday, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, argued that governments increasingly apply moral and legal principles according to political convenience rather than universal standards.
“If a country is an enemy, it is condemned as undemocratic and sanctioned in various ways; but if it is an ally, the fact that it lacks freedom of expression, human rights or democracy is ignored,” he said.
Turning to Europe, Fernández accused the EU of inconsistency in foriegn policy.
“The European Union, in fact, imposes economic sanctions on one country, and sends financial aid and weapons to another; yet fails to do the same in the face of other, even more serious invasions with even more brutal consequences for entire populations,” he said.
“These contradictions … suggest that, in practice, concerns boil down to the political and economic interests of different regions of the globe,” Fernández said. “There is no longer a real and stable framework of truth and values.”
Fernández argued that governments have stretched the concept of legitimate self-defense in warfare beyond recognition, citing Russia, the United States and other powers as relying on broad claims of self-defense to justify military intervention from Ukraine to the Middle East.