CATHOLIC ETHICS IN TODAY’S WORLD

CHAPTER 7 – JUST WAR

A SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT MATTERS

1. “Peacemaking is not an optional commitment. It is a requirement of our faith. We are called to be

peacemakers, not by some movement of the moment, but by our Lord Jesus.” – UNITED STATES
CATHOLIC BISHOPS, the Challenge of Peace, 1983. Here you have a glimpse right away of the Catholic
Church’s stand on the reality of war.
2. What does the Church teach about war? Is the Church pacifist, that is, it advocates peace at all times?
Can a nation legitimately resort to military force?
3. WAR IN OLD TESTAMENT: While images of war about throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the theme of
peace is prevalent as well. The Bible continually portrays God as desiring his people to live in peace.
The idea of peace trumps over the reality of war.
4. Peace in the Old Testament is always related with the people’s relationship with God. True peace
involves a reciprocal or “two-way” relationship between God and humanity… People cannot experience
this peace apart from faith and obedience to God.
5. The Bible also teaches that justice is a special component of peace. Actually it is a necessary
component. Peace is only possible when people live in right relationship with God and one another.
6. PEACE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: Jesus praises the peacemakers as blessed. Jesus praises those who
work to bring about the overall good of others, those who practice justice in the community.
7. On oppression and violence, Jesus teaches non-violence. It is important to note that Jesus does not
teach his followers to stand by passively while others attack or otherwise take advantage of them. His
message is that through non-violent responses one can shame one’s enemies into a change of heart.
8. HISTORY OF CHURCH’S TEACHINGS ON WAR: St. Ambrose of Milan (397) taught that war can be
justified if its purpose is to defend the weak and oppressed. St. Augustine (430) said that the purpose of
war was to bring about peace. Augustine taught that war can be declared by lawful authority and that it
can be waged only for a just cause. St. Thomas Aquinas (1274) identified three criteria necessary for
justified war. A) First, war must be declared by a sovereign authority; B) The second criterion is just
cause, understood to mean that one nation can legitimately attack another “on account of some fault”
that the perpetrating nation has committed; C) The third criterion is right intention: the purpose for
waging war must be to repress evil and promote the common good. Other notable contributions to the
Just War theory come from Bartholomew de Las Casas (1566), Tommaso Cajetan (1534) and Francisco
de Vitoria (1546). (You can read more about their teachings on this matter).
9. PAPAL TEACHINGS ON WAR AND PEACE: Pope John XXIII maintained that to achieve peace “nations
have to act with justice in their dealings with one another, particularly wealthy nations in relation to
poorer ones; human dignity has to be respected; and a sense of global community and solidarity has to
be maintained.” Pope Paul VI stated that those who want peace must work for justice. Justice includes
recognizing the rights and duties that insure the stability of all social, cultural, and economic
relationships. It also means enabling every nation “to promote its own development in the framework of
cooperation,” free from any economic or political domination. John Paul II addressed the relationship
between justice and peace by focusing on the need for greater international solidarity.
10. Take note of this important quote from JP2: “Never again War! No, never again war, which destroys the
lives of innocent people, teaches how to kill, throws into upheaval even the lives of those who do the
killing and leaves behind a trail of resentment and hatred, thus making it all the more difficult to find a
just solution to the very problems which provoked the war.” There is a collective to avoid war at all cost,
 yet there is a reciprocal responsibility to promote the integral development of all people, the pathway to
true peace.
11. There are still those in the Catholic tradition who maintained that war can be waged as a last resort. The
US Bishops Conference maintains this position. They say that war can be waged for the express purpose
of restraining and protecting society from those who seek to do it harm, and it can only be used as a last
resort.
12. In any case, if there is war, these moral principles according to USCCB should follow the moral principles:
JUS AD BELLUM (the law for going to war) and JUS IN BELLO (the law in war).
13. JUS AD BELLUM’ first principle is Just Cause. The US bishops claim that war is justified ONLY when it is
used to confront a “real and certain danger” to the innocent, when it is used to preserve the conditions
necessary for a decent human existence, or when it is used to protect human rights.
14. The second Jus ad bellum principle is Competent Authority. The war can only be declared by
competent authority, those individuals entrusted with protecting and promoting societal common good.
15. The third Jus ad bellum principle is Comparative Justice. It asks “Which side is sufficiently right in the
dispute, and are the values at stake critical enough to override the presumption in favor of peace?”
16. The fourth Just ad bellum principle is Right Intention. It means that the parties must seek reconciliation
and peaceful resolution to conflict first, only if all of these fail that war can be waged.
17. Other principles that go with these four basic ones are: Last Resort, Probability of Success,
Proportionality
18. In the JUS IN BELLO that is during the war (if there is any) these moral principles should be applied:
Proportionality and Discrimination.
19. The firs JUS IN BELLO principle is Proportionality which means “a nation’s response to aggression must
not exceed the nature of the aggression.” The tactics used by the military must never exceed “what is
necessary” in order to achieve victory.
20. The second Jus in bello principle is Discrimination, that is the ability to actually distinguish who is a
combatant and who is not. It is never morally permissible to intentionally attack the innocent.
21. The USCCB presents not only laws before and during war, but also moral principles to be followed after
a war is won (JUS POST BELLUM). These principles are the following: Vindication of Rights,
Reconciliation and Restoration.
22. The first Jus post bellum principle is Vindication of Rights. It is unjust for the victorious nation to realize
any gains above and beyond the reestablishment of basic human rights.
23. The second Jus post bellum principle is Reconciliation. This principle states that once hostilities have
ended, all parties to a conflict must repent of their actions.
24. The third Just post bellum principle is Restoration. It means that as a matter of justice the victorious
nation has the duty to help return the defeated nation to a functional civil society where all people have
the opportunity to live dignified and meaningful lives.
25. Conclusion: We must recognize the reality of the paradox we face as Christians living in the context of
the world as it presently exists. We must continue to articulate our belief that LOVE IS POSSIBLE AND
THE ONLY REAL HOPE FOR ALL HUMAN RELATIONS, and yet accept that force, even deadly force, is
sometimes justified and that nations must provide for their defense… as a Catholic we recognize that the
Church does not offer a ready-made answers to every question concerning justified war, but we know
that it does provide us a moral framework where we base our personal decisions concerning it.