Handout #242

The peace proposals of Pope Benedict XV (1 August 1917)

The pope seriously offended French public opinion as a whole by proposing the abandonment of war reparations and being vague about the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France. Among Catholics, including the clergy, national feeling was stronger than traditional submission to the sovereign pontiff.

First of all, the basic point must be that the material force of arms is replaced by the oral force of law, hence a just accord on all sides for the simultaneous and reciprocal reduction of armaments, according to rules and guarantees to be established, to the degree necessary and sufficient to maintain public order in every state. This is to be followed by the replacement of armies, the institution of arbitration with its supreme function of peacemaking, according to norms which are to be agreed and sanctions to be taken against the state which refuses either to submit international questions to arbitration or to accept its decisions. 

As for reparations and the costs of war we see no other means of resolving the question than by laying down as a general principle a complete and reciprocal waiver, which moreover would be justified by the immense benefits to be gained from disarmament.

As to territorial questions, like those discussed for example between Germany and France, there is room for hoping that considering the immense advantages of a lasting peace with disarmament, the parties in conflict would want to examine them in conference.

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