Building Peace Without Christ, by Father Nicola Bux

Edward Pentin has posted on his Substack a very valuable, short, and succinct commentary by Father Nicola Bux. Father Bux is a priest of the Italian Archdiocese of Bari, a professor of theology, and a former consulter to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Mr. Pentin’s subtitle summarizes the piece perfectly: “Father Nicola Bux on what Donald Trump has not understood and what Pope Leo has yet to say regarding the Church’s role in peace.”

The Church’s primary mission is to glorify God by extending the Kingdom of God on Earth in accordance with the mandate given to her by her Founder. That Kingdom of God is the Catholic Church herself. Christ’s Church is a supernatural organism that is a “perfect society,” that is, a society with all the means at its disposal to accomplish its ends. And, she is the only society capable of accomplishing the supernatural ends given her by her Founder, Spouse, and Head. While the teachings of the Natural Law are an important part of her mandate — and this certainly includes matters of war and peace among nations — her end is not in the natural, but the supernatural order.

While the supernatural character of the Church’s mission is seen all throughout her doctrine, her constitution, and her activity, it is perhaps most powerfully illustrated by that controversial yet infallibly defined doctrine that holds there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church.

Ultimately, the peace Jesus Christ has to offer us is the eternal peace we know as salvation.

I applaud Father Bux for his contribution to this discussion, and I thank him for affording us yet another opportunity to show how integral to Catholicity this doctrine is!

Here are the first three paragraphs of the commentary. For the rest, please go to Mr. Pentin’s site (link below).

Popes from John XXIII to Leo XIV have, in different ways, separated the question of peace from the concrete reality of the Church; as a result, their appeals for peace risk becoming utopian — aspirations that lack the means necessary for their fulfilment.

This separation appears when peace is framed primarily as a political or humanitarian goal: ending wars, encouraging dialogue, and fostering cooperation among nations. These aims are good, but when they are presented without reference to the Church’s essential mission — the conversion of persons and peoples to Christ — they lose their foundation. Peace becomes an external arrangement rather than the fruit of an interior transformation.

The Gospel presents a different logic. After His Resurrection, Christ gives peace to His Apostles and immediately commands them to make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19). The universality of this mission shows that peace is inseparable from the spread of the Gospel and the establishment of the Church. The Church is not merely a promoter of peace; she is its source in history, because she is the body of Christ, who is Himself our peace.