The Church’s position on war is quite clear.  “To resolve the tensions that arise among different political communities and can compromise the stability of nations and international security, it is indispensable to make use of common rules in a commitment to negotiation and to reject definitively the idea that justice can be sought through recourse to war.

If war can end without winners or losers in a suicide of humanity, then we must repudiate the logic which leads to it: the idea that the effort to destroy the enemy, confrontation and war itself are factors of progress and historical advancement”.

“Not only does the Charter of the United Nations ban recourse to force, but it rejects even the threat to use force. This provision arose from the tragic experience of the Second World War.

During that conflict the Magisterium did not fail to identify certain indispensable factors for building a renewed international order: the freedom and territorial integrity of each nation, defence of the rights of minorities, an equitable sharing of the earth's resources, the rejection of war and an effective plan of disarmament, fidelity to agreements undertaken and an end to religious persecution.”

Peace is central to the spirit of the Gospel and peace is understood as a duty that makes a demand of everyone. However, the world is imperfect and there are often events that trigger conflicts and hostility. These events often are a result of a lack of respect for human dignity. 

Are there, however, any circumstances when the Church thinks that war may be justified? The Church continues to say that from the perspective of the Gospel, violence is never a proper response. “Violence destroys what it claims to defend: the dignity, the life, the freedom of human beings. 

Pope John Paul II boldly proclaimed that war “is always a defeat for humanity”.  Consequently there is an urgent need for Christians and people of goodwill to seek alternatives to war as a solution to international conflict (Corkery 2007).

The Church however recognises that each nation has the right and duty to defend itself against an unjust aggressor. This leads us to the “just war” tradition.

This allows countries to defend themselves if the following conditions exist: “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 moral theory of the "just war" or "limited war" doctrine begins with the presumption which binds all Christians: We should do no harm to our neighbours. Just war teaching has evolved as an effort to prevent war.

Only if war cannot be rationally avoided does the teaching then seek to restrict and reduce its horrors. It does this by establishing a set of rigorous conditions which must be met if the decision to go to war is to be morally permissible. Such a decision, especially today, requires extraordinarily strong reasons for overriding the presumption in favour of peace and against war.

The conditions for a just war are as follows:
Just cause. War is permissible only to confront "a real and certain danger," i.e., to protect innocent life, to preserve conditions necessary for decent human existence and to secure basic human rights.

Competent authority. War must be declared by those with responsibility for public order, not by private groups or individuals.

Comparative justice. In essence: Which side is sufficiently "right" in a dispute, and are the values at stake critical enough to override the presumption against war? Do the rights and values involved justify killing? Given techniques of propaganda and the ease with which nations and individuals either assume or delude themselves into believing that God or right is clearly on their side, the test of comparative justice may be extremely difficult to apply.

Right intention. War can be legitimately intended only for the reasons set forth above as a just cause.

Last resort. For resort to war to be justified, all peaceful alternatives must have been exhausted.

Probability of success. This is a difficult criterion to apply, but its purpose is to prevent irrational resort to force or hopeless resistance when the outcome of either will clearly be disproportionate or futile.

Proportionality. This means that the damage to be inflicted and the costs incurred by war must be proportionate to the good expected by taking up arms.

Just response to aggression must also be discriminate; it must be directed against unjust aggressors, not against innocent people caught up in a war not of their making.

The Council therefore issued its memorable declaration: "Any act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of entire cities or of extensive areas along with their population is a crime against God and man himself. It merits unequivocal and unhesitating condemnation."

While the just war teaching has clearly been in possession for the past 1,500 years of Catholic thought, the "new moment" in which we find ourselves sees the just war teaching and non-violence as distinct but interdependent methods of evaluating warfare.

They diverge on some specific conclusions, but they share a common presumption against the use of force as a means of settling disputes. Both find their roots in the Christian theological tradition; each contributes to the full moral vision we need in pursuit of a human peace.

From Catholic Update's condensation ofThe Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response, the US Bishops' 1983 historic pastoral on war and peace.

The next article will look at the principle of mutual confidence as a means of keeping the peace.

Persons interested in purchasing the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, can contact the Justice Desk, Archbishop’s House – 622-6680. Also on sale at the Justice Desk are the Take a Bite Social Justice Programme on DVD and Responses to 101 Questions on Catholic Social Teaching.