Catholic Teaching on Peace and War

Page Updated:  01 Jan 2008

Diocese of Austin

The Catholic Church of Central Texas

Oct.12, 2001

The foundation of Catholic Social Teaching is the sanctity of human life. This principle guided the earliest followers of Jesus to a position of pacifism, or rejection of violence, as a means for resolving conflict. By the fourth century, Christianity was no longer persecuted, but was the official religion of the Roman Empire, an empire that was now crumbling. In the face of the aggressive attacks of the Vandals on his community, St. Augustine of Hippo articulated a theology that developed into what is known as the "just war" theory, or conditions under which Christians would be justified in taking up arms.

What St. Augustine began was continued and refined by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. His just war principles could be summarized as:

· "war must be declared by the authority of the state;

· there must be a just cause; the intention must be just; war must be the last resort;

· only right means may be' employed in the conduct of war;

· there must be a reasonable hope of victory;

· the good to be achieved must outweigh the evils of war."

(from what Are They Saying about Peace and War, by Thomas A Shannon. Paulist Press, 1983)

In the Second Vatican Council document "Pastoral Constitution in the Modem World" (Gaudium et Spes), the bishops of the whole Church wrote the following:

"War of course, has not ceased to be part of the human scene. As long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed. State leaders and all who share the burdens of public administration have the duty to defend the interests of their people and to conduct such grave matters with a deep sense of responsibility. However, it is one thing to wage a war of self-defense; it is quite another to seek to impose domination on another nation. The possession of war potential does not justified the use of force for political or military objectives. Nor does the mere fact that war has unfortunately broken out mean that all is fair between the warring parties. All those who enter the military service in loyalty to their country should look upon themselves as the custodians of the security and freedom of their fellow countrymen; and when they carry out their duty properly, they are contributing to the maintenance of peace." (No. 79)

The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" addresses the issues of peace and war in articles 2302-2317. Specifically in article 2309, the Catechism outlines "the strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force... At one and the same time:

· The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave and certain;

· All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;

· There must be serious prospects of success;

· The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluation of this condition. The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good:"

On the 10th anniversary of their pastoral "The Challenge of Peace," the U.S. bishops released "The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace" in 1993. They reiterated the Church's strong responsibility to work for peace, repeating what they wrote in the 1983 pastoral: "The Christian has no choice but to defend peace. This is an inalienable obligation. It is the how of defending peace which offers moral options." The bishops discuss two avenues that the Christian tradition offers in resolving conflict: nonviolence and just war.

As modern warfare has caused a dramatic rise in noncombatant causalities, the bishops say that there is a "need for clear moral restraints both in avoiding war and in limiting its consequences."

They also say, though, "When sustained attempts at nonviolent action fail to protect the innocent against fundamental injustice, then legitimate political authorities are permitted as a last resort to employ limited force to rescue the innocent and establish justice." They then outline the Church's just war tradition:

"First, whether lethal force may be used is governed by the following criteria:

· Just Cause: force may be used only to correct a grave, public evil, i.e., aggression or massive violation of the basic rights of whole populations;

· Comparative Justice: while there may be rights and wrongs on all sides of a conflict, to override the presumption against the use of  force, the injustice suffered by one party must significantly outweigh that suffered by the other;

· Legitimate Authority: only duly constituted public authorities may use deadly force or wage war;

· Right Intention: force may be used only in a truly just cause and solely for that purpose;

· Probability of Success: arms may not be used in a futile cause or in a case where disproportionate measures are required to achieve success;

· Proportionality: the overall destruction expected from the use of force must be outweighed by the good to be achieved;

· Last Resort: force may be used only after all peaceful alternatives have been seriously tried and exhausted.

These criteria (jus ad bellum), taken as a whole, must be satisfied in order to override the strong presumption against the use of force. Second, the just war tradition seeks also to curb the violence of war through restraint on armed combat between the contending parties by imposing the following moral standards (jus in bello) for the conduct of armed conflict:

Noncombatant Immunity: civilians may not be the object of direct attack, and military personnel must take due care to avoid and minimize indirect harm to civilians;

· Proportionality: in the conduct of hostilities, efforts must be made to attain military objectives with no more force than is militarily necessary and to avoid disproportionate collateral damage to civilian life and property;

· Right Intention: even in the midst of conflict, the aim of political and military leaders must be peace with justice, so that acts of vengeance and indiscriminate violence, whether by individuals, military units or governments, are forbidden." (The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace)

 

For more information on these documents, visit <http://www.nccbuscc.org> (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops), <http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm> (Catechism of the Catholic Church), or <http://www.cin.orglvatiidoc.html> (Second Vatican Council).