HONG KONG (SE): Can war ever be justified is an age-old question that has been debated many times, but increasingly so in the modern era as the nature of war has changed rapidly and dramatically.

A conference on peace and Catholic teaching held at the Vatican from April 11 to 13 set out to change the conversation from justifying war to pro-actively working for peace, and to develop a coherent articulation of making peace the primary teaching of the Church.