The United Nations has been unjustly vilified over the years, usually by people who have an agenda or do not understand how it works, its context, and the stakes involved. The reality is that the UN is a beneficial organization that has done, and continues to do, much good.
Pope Leo XIV, in his Address to the Diplomatic Corps on January 9, praised the United Nations and multilateralism, calling for the strengthening of the institutions that form this world order. He said the “United Nations has mediated conflicts, promoted development and helped States protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.” With 193 Member States, the United Nations represents and depends on multilateralism which “purpose…is to provide a place where people can meet and talk, modeled on the ancient Roman Forum or the medieval square.”
The Church has always worked with and approved of the UN. In Pacem In Terris, Pope St. John XXIII gave a strong endorsement. He wrote of its vital mission of “maintaining and strengthening peace between nations, and…encouraging and assisting friendly relations between them, based on the principles of equality, mutual respect, and extensive cooperation in every field of human endeavor.”
The UN was created primarily through the initiative and efforts of the United States and the United Kingdom after World War II. Cordell Hull, an American attorney and Secretary of State for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, is called the “Father of the United Nations”; his work in founding the project won him the Nobel Peace Prize. Many Americans and others of good will
knew the horrors of war, and wanted to put an end to war and the conditions that lead to war. To do so, an international effort was needed, and that effort was founded on the recognition that the natural law gave rise to a community of nations, a vision that both America and the Church long held. The UN can be said to be the juridical manifestation of such a community of nations, and it is a strong reminder of the moral order which is to govern the actions of States.
Pope Pius XII, and many Catholics of his day, were pleased with and supportive of the UN. Its Four Pillars were and are consistent with Catholic Social Teaching. These Four Pillars are to avoid war and promote peace, recognize and defend fundamental human rights, advance social progress and better living standards, and promote the rule of law.
The United Nations Charter is a treaty; all member states are bound to honor the treaty under international law. Yet a violation of this treaty is not only illegal; but it is also immoral, an offense against the moral order. One of the most important terms of the UN Charter is contained in Article 2(4), which outlaws war except for purposes of self-defense. This principle was developed and first expressed by Frank Kellogg, American lawyer and Calvin Coolidge’s Secretary of State, in the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1929.
Perhaps the most egregious recent violation of the UN Charter is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Professor Michael N. Schmitt, a Professor of Public International Law at the University of Reading and a Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar and Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Texas, explained that Putin cannot claim the right to self-defense. Self-defense and collective defense require an actual or imminent attack. There is no evidence that Ukraine, NATO, or the United States were attacking Russia or were massing their forces for an attack. Indeed, there are not, nor were there ever, any such plans for an attack.
Putin repeatedly expressed the desire to erase Ukraine, a sovereign country and founding Member State of the United Nations (the Ukrainian S.S.R. has its own separate membership, apart from Russia’s predecessor state, the U.S.S.R.). The sovereignty of member states is recognized by the UN Charter in Article 2(1), and all Member States are required to recognize and protect the sovereignty, or existence with all that entails, of other member states.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) repeatedly condemned Putin’s invasion, ordered Russia to vacate Ukraine (including Crimea), and directed Russia to cease its violations of human rights. Some of these condemnations, demands and directives since the start of the February 2022 invasion can be found in UNGA Emergency Session (ES) Resolutions ES 11/1, 11/2, 11/3, 11/4, 11/5, 11/6, 11/7, and 11/8.
The invasion is causing countless and untold suffering, to include over 6.5 million displaced, and more than 1.5 million killed or wounded as a result of the fighting. Putin and officials in his government are charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, the first time a leader of a permanent member of UN Security Council has been so charged.
This is an egregious situation, made more so by Russia’s status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, which is charged with keeping the peace by authorizing the use of force to stop aggression. Russia was the aggressor in Ukraine and blocked any attempts to prevent the community of nations from acting to stop its aggression.
One of the great concerns Pope Pius XII had about the UN, one shared by Cordell Hull, was that a permanent member of the Security Council could block the UN’s efforts to stop aggression or promote peace. Another great concern of Pius XII was the absence of legal and institutional machinery to enforce decisions of the International Court of Justice or the World Court. Currently, it is up to member states to comply with such orders voluntarily. Pius XII’s concern sheds light on a great goal of Christianity and of humanity: the creation of a world political authority capable of keeping the common good internationally, so as to insure and improve the common good in the domestic societies of the various members of the community of nations. This, however, will have to be left for another discussion.
Image: “United Nations 4” (CC BY 2.0) by Abeeeer
David Wemhoff is a practicing attorney, former adjunct professor of Constitutional Law, and
holds an LLM in international law.
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