The Canonization of Military Saints in the History of the Church: Constructive Notes for Research

Abstract

The expression “military saints”, or “warrior saints”, seems undermined by an aporia: can we attain holiness making use of weapons and through a “job” involving the killing of human beings? Can we still share the positions of the Catholic doctrine on just war? In this article this very relevant issue in today’s Church is addressed with an historical outlook and analyzed through the study of the cult of warrior saints with a juridical approach. Objects of this study, in historical order, are the military Passions of the martyred soldiers in the Roman Empire, the warrior saints in late Antiquity and early Middle Ages, the king saints killed in feuds and venerated as passio actors, the bishop saints defensores civitatis, the holy wars and the crusaders in the Holy Land and in the Reconquista, the spiritual assistance to the soldiers and the heroic witness of chaplains in the two world wars. In the light of this historical journey, some fundamental achievements of Vatican II, such as the dignity of the christifidelis and of the lay people, and the universal call to holiness, gain full clarity and deep meaning.