“If a Country Is an Enemy, It Is Punished With Sanctions; if an Ally, Its Violations Are Ignored.”

As Politico notes, the statement was made at the opening of a global conference of cardinals devoted to questions of war. The event was convened by Pope Leo XIV to determine how the Catholic Church should respond to global conflicts.

One of the main topics was the pontiff’s initiative to revise the traditional doctrine of “just war.” In his view, it has too often been used to justify aggression.

Fernández said governments are increasingly applying moral and legal principles not as universal norms, but according to political expediency.

“If a country is an enemy, it is condemned as undemocratic and punished with various sanctions; but if it is an ally, the absence of freedom of speech, human rights or democracy is simply ignored,” he said.

Speaking about Europe, Fernández directly accused the EU of inconsistency in foreign policy.

“The European Union, in effect, imposes economic sanctions on one country and sends financial aid and weapons to another; however, it does not do the same in the face of other, even more serious invasions with even more brutal consequences for entire peoples,” the cardinal said.

According to him, such contradictions suggest that the real concerns of Western countries in practice come down to political and economic interests in different regions of the world, while “a real and stable foundation of truth and values” no longer exists.

Fernández also said world governments had distorted the concept of legitimate self-defense. He noted that Russia, the United States and other powers use overly broad interpretations of the term to justify military intervention—from Ukraine to the Middle East.