The Armed Man

On the dome of the basilica of Neuss on the left bank of the Rhine there is no statue of Christ or Mary. What you see, is just an armed man. Quirinus of Neuss is commemorated around April 30 in Neuss and in Leuven. His relics are kept here in Leuven. He is venerated in our Park Abbey where he has a small altar with his statue. It is a strange coincidence because it was a regiment of Neuss that set fire to our city of Leuven in 1914. My grandparents' house in the Ravenstraat had a memorial stone that commemorated the fire. But why does the Church venerate a soldier here?

Quirinus van Neuss is not the only soldier venerated in the Church. We think of Saint Michael, Saint George, Saint Martin, Saint Maurice and Saint Gereon who regularly appear in our medieval art heritage. Usually, these figures are framed in a mythical battle between good and evil, in which the revered soldiers were of course on the side of good. Yet there is a commandment: "Thou shalt not kill". And after Peter had cut off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest, Christ said, "He who wields the sword will perish by the sword." Can armed men then be "benedicti", i.e. blessed?

I ask myself this strange question because we live in a time when even journalists preach armaments and war. I'm not saying they're wrong, but it seems to be dictated by the issues of the day. In the profane life we have always honoured fallen soldiers with lots of pump and circumstances. Even a hundred years after World War I, we still blow last posts in Ypres with a lot of interest. That is not insincere, but it does raise the permanent reflection in me that the powerful of the earth are happy to profit from the willingness to sacrifice of young brothers in arms.

Peter's current successor, Leo XIV, repeated Jesus' call to nonviolence, which was not appreciated by everyone. The media tried to make a competition out of it, as always, but that is irrelevant to anyone who places the moral authority of the gospel far above all the turmoil. Yet a lot has happened in the Church between Peter and Leo XIV. Is violence an inevitable component of our human condition, as twenty centuries of Christianity seem to suggest?

The Church Fathers developed the justification of the just war, which we will discuss in a future blog.

I refer to my blog Pray for Peace.

Picture: Saint Quirinus statue on the dome of the Neuss minster, 2024©Wim Lahaye