Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, introduced discussions on Friday by criticizing governments for applying moral and legal principles based on political convenience rather than universal standards. “If a country is an enemy, it is condemned as undemocratic and sanctioned; but if it is an ally, its lack of freedom of expression, human rights, or democracy is ignored,” he stated.
Fernández also accused the EU of inconsistency in foreign policy, saying, “The European Union imposes economic sanctions on one country and sends financial aid and weapons to another, yet fails to do the same against other, more serious invasions with more brutal consequences.” He added, “These contradictions highlight that in practice, political and economic interests of different regions prevail, with no real and stable framework of truth and values.”
He argued that governments have distorted the concept of legitimate self-defense in warfare, citing Russia, the United States, and other powers as using broad claims of self-defense to justify military interventions from Ukraine to the Middle East.
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