Vatican criticizes EU for double standards on wars, sanctions

The Vatican's top doctrinal official accused the EU of applying international law selectively in responding to armed conflicts, arguing that political and economic interests increasingly determine governments' positions on war, Politico reported on Sunday.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, made the remarks Friday while opening Pope Leo XIV's closed-door meeting with cardinals from around the world on war and the Catholic Church's response to modern conflicts.

The extraordinary gathering, convened by the pope, is examining what he has described as a global "culture of power" fueling contemporary wars and is considering a reassessment of the Church's traditional doctrine of just war.

Fernandez said governments increasingly interpret 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 the EU, he said the bloc imposed sanctions on some countries while providing financial and military support to others, but failed to respond similarly to "other, even more serious invasions with even more brutal consequences for entire populations."

"These contradictions ... suggest that, in practice, concerns boil down to the political and economic interests of different regions of the globe," Fernandez said. "There is no longer a real and stable framework of truth and values."

The cardinal also argued that governments have stretched the concept of legitimate self-defense beyond its original meaning, citing Russia, the US, and other powers as relying on broad claims of self-defense to justify military interventions from Ukraine to the Middle East.

He warned that the Catholic doctrine of just war has also been manipulated to legitimize "the most unjust wars," saying it should instead be interpreted "in the strictest sense" and rejecting the concept of preventive war.

According to a Vatican summary released after the discussions, many of the cardinals supported moving beyond the traditional doctrine of just war.