PART THREE
LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION TWO
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
CHAPTER TWO
"YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF"
ARTICLE 5
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
Legitimate defense
2263
The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to
the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes
intentional killing. "The act of self-defense can have a double effect:
the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor.
. . . The one is intended, the other is not."65
2264
Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality.
Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to
life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is
forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:
- If a man in
self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful:
whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be
lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the
act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since
one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.66
2265 Legitimate defense can be not
only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives
of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust
aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who
legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel
aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their
responsibility.
2266
The efforts of the state to
curb the spread of behavior harmful to people's rights and to the basic
rules of civil society correspond to the requirement of safeguarding the
common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to
inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense.
Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by
the offense. When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it
assumes the value of expiation. Punishment then, in addition to
defending public order and protecting people's safety, has a medicinal
purpose: as far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the
guilty party.67
2267 Assuming that the guilty
party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the
traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the
death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending
human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non-lethal means are
sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor,
authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping
with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity
to the dignity of the human person.
Today, in fact, as a consequence of the
possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by
rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm -
without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming
himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an
absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."68
Peace
2302 By recalling the commandment,
"You shall not kill,"94 our Lord asked for peace of heart and
denounced murderous anger and hatred as immoral.
Anger is a desire for revenge. "To
desire vengeance in order to do evil to someone who should be punished
is illicit," but it is praiseworthy to impose restitution "to correct
vices and maintain justice."95 If anger reaches the point of
a deliberate desire to kill or seriously wound a neighbor, it is gravely
against charity; it is a mortal sin. The Lord says, "Everyone who is
angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment."96
2303
Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred of the neighbor
is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor
is a grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm. "But I say
to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that
you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven."97
2304
Respect for and development of human life require peace. Peace is not
merely the absence of war, and it is not limited to maintaining a
balance of powers between adversaries. Peace cannot be attained on earth
without safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication among men,
respect for the dignity of persons and peoples, and the assiduous
practice of fraternity. Peace is "the tranquillity of order."98
Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity.99
2305
Earthly peace is the image and
fruit of the peace of Christ, the messianic "Prince of Peace."100
By the blood of his Cross, "in his own person he killed the hostility,"101
he reconciled men with God and made his Church the sacrament of the
unity of the human race and of its union with God. "He is our peace."102
He has declared: "Blessed are the peacemakers."103
2306 Those who renounce violence
and bloodshed and, in order to safeguard human rights, make use of those
means of defense available to the weakest, bear witness to evangelical
charity, provided they do so without harming the rights and obligations
of other men and societies. They bear legitimate witness to the gravity
of the physical and moral risks of recourse to violence, with all its
destruction and death.104
Avoiding war
2307
The fifth commandment forbids the intentional destruction of human life.
Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all war, the Church
insistently urges everyone to prayer and to action so that the divine
Goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war.105
2308
All citizens and all
governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war.
However, "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."106
2309
The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration.
The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions
of moral legitimacy. 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 modem
means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
These are the
traditional elements enumerated in what is called the "just war"
doctrine.
The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs
to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the
common good.
2310
Public authorities, in this case, have the right and duty to impose on
citizens the obligations necessary for national defense.
Those who are sworn to serve their
country in the armed forces are servants of the security and freedom of
nations. If they carry out their duty honorably, they truly contribute
to the common good of the nation and the maintenance of peace.107
2311
Public authorities should make equitable provision for those who for
reasons of conscience refuse to bear arms; these are nonetheless obliged
to serve the human community in some other way.108
2312
The Church and human reason both assert the permanent validity of the
moral law during armed conflict. "The mere fact that war has
regrettably broken out does not mean that everything becomes licit
between the warring parties."109
2313
Non-combatants, wounded soldiers, and prisoners must be respected and
treated humanely.
Actions deliberately contrary to the law
of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are the orders
that command such actions. Blind obedience does not suffice to excuse
those who carry them out. Thus the extermination of a people, nation, or
ethnic minority must be condemned as a mortal sin. One is morally bound
to resist orders that command genocide.
2314
"Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole
cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and
man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation."110 A
danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those
who possess modern scientific weapons especially atomic, biological, or
chemical weapons - to commit such crimes.
2315
The accumulation of arms strikes many as a paradoxically suitable
way of deterring potential adversaries from war. They see it as the most
effective means of ensuring peace among nations. This method of
deterrence gives rise to strong moral reservations. The arms race
does not ensure peace. Far from eliminating the causes of war, it risks
aggravating them. Spending enormous sums to produce ever new types of
weapons impedes efforts to aid needy populations;111 it
thwarts the development of peoples. Over-armament multiplies
reasons for conflict and increases the danger of escalation.
2316 The
production and the sale
of arms affect the common good of nations and of the international
community. Hence public authorities have the right and duty to regulate
them. The short-term pursuit of private or collective interests cannot
legitimate undertakings that promote violence and conflict among nations
and compromise the international juridical order.
2317
Injustice, excessive economic
or social inequalities, envy, distrust, and pride raging among men and
nations constantly threaten peace and cause wars. Everything done to
overcome these disorders contributes to building up peace and avoiding
war:
- Insofar as men
are sinners, the threat of war hangs over them and will so continue
until Christ comes again; but insofar as they can vanquish sin by
coming together in charity, violence itself will be vanquished and
these words will be fulfilled: "they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more."112
