Off Topic > Off Topic
Can the pope declare a crusade?
Nonnel:
wear modern armor under your chainmail
sir dooble:
The Pope can't declare a crusade because he has no army.
But he could call for one and ask monarchs/heads of governments to go to war.
It's then up to those specific leaders to decide to answer that call or not.
There's very little incentive to go to war for the Pope however.
Most nations are not Roman Catholic so have no obligations to the Pope or Vatican.
Most nations are ruled by elected officials who have to answer to their citizens, rather than being ruled by monarchs.
There is little reward to retaking the Holy Land, and a large portion of it is already in the hands of Israel who are allied with much of the Christian West.
I don't know the workings of the Catholic Church but I imagine if the Pope were to make a sudden announcement tomorrow calling for a crusade then the Church would work quickly to remove him from his position however they could.
Most western nations would also condemn a call for war, especially on religious grounds.
Ipquarx:
--- Quote from: Nonnel on June 22, 2017, 09:19:01 PM ---if he did, no one would listen and he'd lose that last bit of respect and influence he has
--- End quote ---
which is weird because as far as i know in the catholic church, what the pope says is the literal word of god. Like no buts about it, this is what god says. To say that the pope is wrong is to say that god is wrong, literally, in that belief system
King Tøny:
He should because someone needs to stop the terrorists
Texan101:
--- Quote from: Ipquarx on June 23, 2017, 06:53:50 PM ---which is weird because as far as i know in the catholic church, what the pope says is the literal word of god. Like no buts about it, this is what god says. To say that the pope is wrong is to say that god is wrong, literally, in that belief system
--- End quote ---
That was also the theory behind monarchies.