What Does the Catholic Church Believe? Pt III - War
(The introduction to this series on the teachings of the Catholic Church may be found here. Others in this series include the Catholic Church's teachings on abortion and capital punishment.)
There is perhaps no issue on where the teaching of the Catholic Church is more widely misunderstood than on the subject of war. Depending on one's own biases, the Church is either warmongering or pacifist in nature. Some Popes have called for war, others have called for peace. How does one reconcile what may appear to be contradictory positions on this crucial culture of life issue?
First, we need some understanding of what peace means.
Nations do not make war; people do. If war is made purely out of a desire for vengeance or anger, it is to be condemned as though one were trying to murder one's neighbor. Where the absolute pacifists go wrong is in failing to recognize that war is not always sought with vengeance or base motives in mind; the American entry into the two World Wars is a good example of waging war with justice foremost, whether it stemmed from a desire to protect innocents crossing the seas or from self-defense.
This, rather than technological innovation, is what made the 20th century so bloody. The limited wars of earlier times did not engage entire peoples, nor were propaganda machines so strong as to be able to whip civilian populations into frenzies of hatred toward their enemies. The suicide bomber tactics employed by Islamic terrorists would be utterly unthinkable outside the context of total warfare fanned by total hatred of the enemy. It is this blazing hatred which drives not only more warfare, but more brutality and inhumanity as well.
This is a very important distinction which many of the pacifist view simply fail to understand. Just prior to August 1914, Europe was not at war. However, the machinations undertaken by the nations of Europe to tip the balance of power in their favor meant they were sitting atop a powder keg. The assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne by Serbian anarchists was sufficient to drag the continent and much of the rest of the world into a bloody war the magnitude of which had never been seen. Moreover, it led to a period of peace which proved more explosive than the war had been, leading directly to an even worse catastrophe. Note the importance the Church lends to property rights here---this is no doubt in part because genocide often occurs in times of "peace" and begins with the state confiscating the property of the target people before the assault on their persons, dignity, and lives fully gets underway. Peace is more than the state between wars. It is the condition whereby we may live our lives without war clouds looming over us.
That is the true definition of peace, not a brokered ceasefire while hunkered down awaiting the next wave of attacks.
There is a big difference between "peacemaker" and "peace negotiator" which I feel is often lost. The former presumes power, the latter mere influence. Christ was peacemaker because as God and man he had the power to drive lasting conciliation between creature and Creator and heal the breach riven by The Fall. This was no mere negotiation. Christ used his power to bridge the divide at enormous personal cost, and because he willed it so. We were the beneficiaries of his peacemaking, yet we did nothing to earn it, aid it, nor bring it to fruition. He had ample justification to hate us, to wage war upon us with raging water or falling fire, and yet he gave his own life for ours.
It should also be noted that in so doing Jesus was regarded widely as a troublemaker, a disturber of the delicate "peace" which existed between Herod's Jews and Pilate's Roman legions. Peacemaking is not comfort-making. Neither is it driven by lack of power or will, nor by fear.
Pacifists within our societies serve the admirable role of keeping our consciences sharp and awake to the danger of loving the supposed glories and honors of war too much. The emphasize the injustice and tragedy which must invariably follow in war's wake. However, please note the clause, "provided they do so without harming the rights and obligations of other men and societies."
Protest the Iraq War as you like. Organize demonstrations. Write your congressman.
But do not harass military recruiters. Do not spit upon soldiers. Do not sabotage military equipment. Do not sap the will of our people to fight whom we must in order to safeguard our liberty, our property, our lives.
Charity begins at home. It begins with your neighbors, who share not the pacifist's calling to absolute nonviolence and who bleed and die that they might practice their calling freely, until the day when that luxury is held by all, and not simply because the yoke placed upon us by our enemies allows no movement to strike them.
Our soldiers lay down their lives for us even as Christ did. Will those who profess peace and charity toward all despise them for their sacrifice?
If so, they ask their brethren to risk slavery and death where they will not hazard humility and gratitude.
This is wise counsel. Once the dogs of war have been unleashed, you never know who they'll bite.
Some emphasize the "all peace efforts" part here a bit too much. Once war mobilization begins, war has begun. It is the height of folly to refuse to prepare for war. The initial diplomatic maneuvering also serves the purpose of buying time to mobilize, increasing deterrence of the enemy. Had the Allies put less faith in negotiation and more in preparation, Hitler never would have crossed the Rhine, nor entered Poland, for fear of the Allies' response. Instead, he mobilized, we hoped, and most of Europe was trod under the Nazi jackboot.
Here is the meat of "just war" doctrine, which is the heart of Western warfare.
Note that it does not require avoidance of warfare at all cost, nor acceptance of any proffered means of securing the peace, such as "convert to Sharia law" or "withdraw utterly from the Middle East."
Note also the role of proportionate response. It would not be just, for example, for Iran to wipe the nation of Israel off the map with nuclear weapons unless Israel deployed similar weapons against Iran. This is a point which rather gets lost on anti-Western commentators, who seem to believe that the rules for just war apply only to America and her allies.
Please note also that proportionate response likewise that great evils may require great destruction to eliminate them. Millions lost their lives in horrific ways in World War II. Given the brutality of the Nazis and Japanese, firebombing Dresden and nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki were deemed just by most historians and commentators of the day, although we still find proportionality discussed heatedly in many quarters. Consensus does not preclude dissent.
This is a very important passage. Catholics are required to meet their obligation to defend their nation, not excluded from it. They must do so honorably and in the service of freedom. So doing, they are a force for good. This is a paragraph to quote repeatedly to those who have lost all proportion in their desire for peace, a desire none share more than the soldier called upon to fight to attain it.
Students of military history and veterans know that there are no braver men than combat medics, who risk all that their armed comrades do while saving lives. They are universally respected and widely held in awe. Many are committed pacifists. This is one excellent way to reconcile one's commitment to life with one's duty to country. Men such as these are also in constant demand.
There is no army on Earth which takes greater pains to reduce the loss of innocent life or the property of innocents than the American army. To see these brave soldiers reviled for being willing to risk life and limb to preserve the architecture defiled by their enemies is to know what an exalted station the profession of arms has attained within our lifetimes. Scrupulous application of minimal force has become the American way of war, and America the light of the world in this regard as in so many others.
In the West, we have the Geneva Conventions to govern the rules of war and act to prevent the worst evils of it. Unfortunately, we Americans never fight anyone who honors such restrictions, and routinely see our prisoners subjected to torture, humiliation, and execution.
There is perhaps no greater crime than the mass slaughter of a people. Had genocide been practiced by the Egyptians or Babylonians against the Jews, one wonders what shape God's plan would have taken, or what He may have done to preserve His chosen people and to punish their enemies.
One must not lose sight of the fact that genocide may also be directed against one's own people, as has been the norm in Communist states. It is never justified, and those who profess admiration for the alleged "social justice" practiced in such regimes must not turn their eyes from the grave injustices implementing such schemes required and perpetuated. Peace on Earth is not the peace of the grave.
This is one which hits right at the heart of the Western way of war, with its precision strikes against military targets. During World War II, such precision was not possible, and the annihilation of whole cities was practiced. There is much debate to this day over the necessity and propriety of such actions, but the Catholic position based on this experience is clear.
In the military art, this has also created a host of problems, not least of which is the enemy which hasn't so much been beaten as neutralized. The Iraq War saw an Iraqi army defeated within hours, yet the insurgency today is to a significant extent fueled by Iraqi veterans who were unharmed and hardly inconvenienced by the American campaign. How does one encourage a defeated enemy to give up the battlefield when they are not weary of it?
This passage reminds me that the Catholic Church serves the world, not just our piece of it. While I note that America has the world's greatest armed forces, and the most weapons, she also spends far more on social spending than defense, while simultaneously shouldering the defense burden of the entire Western world. This paragraph does not seem to me to be aimed at America as a consequence.
There is no doubt that arms races are destabilizing in the long run, and that the deterrent impact is only as good as the opposing sides' R&D lifecycles are long. That said, nuclear weapons are a far better deterrent than spears, and I believe the saying that the greatest peacemaker of the 20th century was in fact Strategic Air Command.
This strikes me as rather noncontroversial; my libertarian streak does not extend so far as private armies equipped with private nukes.
Summary
The Catholic Church's position on war is consistent with its pro-life positions and simultaneously pragmatic and idealistic.
Peace is not the absence of war, but rather a stable state of charity toward one's neighbors not predicated upon the belief that one could win a decisive war at acceptable cost. Balance of power politics does not yield peace, nor do diplomatic negotiations per se, nor does the accumulation of lethal arms. It arises from leaders who respect the dignity of their neighbors, who act with Christian humility for the betterment of their people, and who refrain from waging war as a first resort.
How the Church views a particular conflict's participants depends on whether they wage a just or unjust war. Fighting to protect innocents, to end evil, or in self-defense may be considered waging a just war, provided one's military response is proportionate, humane, reasonably likely to succeed.
War should be avoided if at all possible, though not at the expense of genocide, slavery, or similar great evils being loosed. War should not be embraced as a first or primary option, as wars invariably result in injustice and suffering, nor should they be entered into in a desire for vengeance nor to vent hatred of one's neighbors.
Military service is an honorable profession when soldiers wage just wars in a just fashion. Nations have a right to self-defense and their citizens an obligation to their self-defense. Where conscience prohibits violent action in defense, one is still obligated to assist one's neighbors in this valiant and noble effort.
War will not be vanquished until Christ's return; until then, it is to be waged sparingly, justly, and with least possible harm to life, dignity, and property.
Implications
Unlike abortion, the Catholic Church does not prohibit warfare, nor excommunicate those who practice it. War is a dangerous beast, but a useful one when evil force must be met by force.
American history in particular is rife with examples of such noble crusades as find favor with the Church under Just War doctrine.
America did not enter the First World War until the Germans began to practice unrestricted submarine warfare against the Triple Entente and neutral powers. Targeting innocent civilians for destruction at sea was an evil act which offended the conscience of the Wilson Administration and many Americans. The American entry into the war had the further positive impact of ending the bloody stalemate on the Western Front and bringing hostilities to a close by November 1918. As a result of her noble efforts, America took the lead at the peace table, and the Versailles Treaty bore the indelible stamp of her idealism.
America's entry into the Second World War is a good example of a just war through self-defense. Despite numerous provocations, the United States entered the war only after her Pacific fleet was largely destroyed in the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, and once Nazi Germany honored her Axis pact by likewise declaring war on America. America's actions during the war were controversial, but given the atrocities routinely committed by the Axis powers and the genocide underway in Germany in particular, even such actions as the firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are morally licit in the eyes of many.
The War in Iraq, a contemporary controversy, likewise holds up well to just war scrutiny. Saddam Hussein continued to attack American forces in the region in violation of the Gulf War ceasefire; harbored terrorists targeting American civilians; both possessed and had used in the past weapons of mass destruction aimed at indiscriminate death-dealing; was actively seeking the genocide of the Marsh Arabs and the Kurds; and had attempted the assassination of George H.W. Bush some months prior. The invasion itself was carried out with an eye toward eliminating death and injury to Iraqi noncombatants. It was swift, surgical, and restrained, even when conducted under the expectation that Hussein would employ nerve gas against the advancing Americans.
The War in Iraq is also an example of Catholic teaching that war is an unpredictable engine of misery and suffering. Despite the best intentions and unprecedented performance of American armed forces in Iraq, unforeseen situations such as the Iranian-backed insurgency, the last-minute decision of the Turks to not allow an invasion from their soil, Hussein releasing murderers and other violent criminals from Iraqi jails on the eve of the invasion and the criminal actions of troops at Abu Ghraib prison (who violated the Geneva Conventions repeatedly in their treatment of enemy POWs) all demonstrate that war may be waged, but not always controlled, even by the best military force the world has yet seen.
The Catholic Church's teaching on war is amply reflected in the American experience of it, as typified by Gary Jacobson's "A Combat Soldier's Prayer":
There is perhaps no issue on where the teaching of the Catholic Church is more widely misunderstood than on the subject of war. Depending on one's own biases, the Church is either warmongering or pacifist in nature. Some Popes have called for war, others have called for peace. How does one reconcile what may appear to be contradictory positions on this crucial culture of life issue?
First, we need some understanding of what peace means.
2302 By recalling the commandment, "You shall not kill,"94 [Matthew 5:21] 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 [St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II,158,1 ad 3.] 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 [Matthew 5:22]
Nations do not make war; people do. If war is made purely out of a desire for vengeance or anger, it is to be condemned as though one were trying to murder one's neighbor. Where the absolute pacifists go wrong is in failing to recognize that war is not always sought with vengeance or base motives in mind; the American entry into the two World Wars is a good example of waging war with justice foremost, whether it stemmed from a desire to protect innocents crossing the seas or from self-defense.
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 [Matthew 5:44-45]
This, rather than technological innovation, is what made the 20th century so bloody. The limited wars of earlier times did not engage entire peoples, nor were propaganda machines so strong as to be able to whip civilian populations into frenzies of hatred toward their enemies. The suicide bomber tactics employed by Islamic terrorists would be utterly unthinkable outside the context of total warfare fanned by total hatred of the enemy. It is this blazing hatred which drives not only more warfare, but more brutality and inhumanity as well.
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 [St. Augustine, De civ. Dei, 19,13,1:PL 41,640]Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity.99 [Cf. Isa 32:17; cf. GS 78 §§ 1-2]
This is a very important distinction which many of the pacifist view simply fail to understand. Just prior to August 1914, Europe was not at war. However, the machinations undertaken by the nations of Europe to tip the balance of power in their favor meant they were sitting atop a powder keg. The assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne by Serbian anarchists was sufficient to drag the continent and much of the rest of the world into a bloody war the magnitude of which had never been seen. Moreover, it led to a period of peace which proved more explosive than the war had been, leading directly to an even worse catastrophe. Note the importance the Church lends to property rights here---this is no doubt in part because genocide often occurs in times of "peace" and begins with the state confiscating the property of the target people before the assault on their persons, dignity, and lives fully gets underway. Peace is more than the state between wars. It is the condition whereby we may live our lives without war clouds looming over us.
That is the true definition of peace, not a brokered ceasefire while hunkered down awaiting the next wave of attacks.
2305 Earthly peace is the image and fruit of the peace of Christ, the messianic "Prince of Peace."100 [Isa 9:5]By the blood of his Cross, "in his own person he killed the hostility,"101 [Eph 2:16 J.B.; cf. Col 1:20-22]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 [Eph 2:14] He has declared: "Blessed are the peacemakers."103 [Matthew 5:9]
There is a big difference between "peacemaker" and "peace negotiator" which I feel is often lost. The former presumes power, the latter mere influence. Christ was peacemaker because as God and man he had the power to drive lasting conciliation between creature and Creator and heal the breach riven by The Fall. This was no mere negotiation. Christ used his power to bridge the divide at enormous personal cost, and because he willed it so. We were the beneficiaries of his peacemaking, yet we did nothing to earn it, aid it, nor bring it to fruition. He had ample justification to hate us, to wage war upon us with raging water or falling fire, and yet he gave his own life for ours.
It should also be noted that in so doing Jesus was regarded widely as a troublemaker, a disturber of the delicate "peace" which existed between Herod's Jews and Pilate's Roman legions. Peacemaking is not comfort-making. Neither is it driven by lack of power or will, nor by fear.
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 [Cf. GS 78 § 5]
Pacifists within our societies serve the admirable role of keeping our consciences sharp and awake to the danger of loving the supposed glories and honors of war too much. The emphasize the injustice and tragedy which must invariably follow in war's wake. However, please note the clause, "provided they do so without harming the rights and obligations of other men and societies."
Protest the Iraq War as you like. Organize demonstrations. Write your congressman.
But do not harass military recruiters. Do not spit upon soldiers. Do not sabotage military equipment. Do not sap the will of our people to fight whom we must in order to safeguard our liberty, our property, our lives.
Charity begins at home. It begins with your neighbors, who share not the pacifist's calling to absolute nonviolence and who bleed and die that they might practice their calling freely, until the day when that luxury is held by all, and not simply because the yoke placed upon us by our enemies allows no movement to strike them.
Our soldiers lay down their lives for us even as Christ did. Will those who profess peace and charity toward all despise them for their sacrifice?
If so, they ask their brethren to risk slavery and death where they will not hazard humility and gratitude.
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 [Cf. GS 81 § 4]
This is wise counsel. Once the dogs of war have been unleashed, you never know who they'll bite.
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 [GS 79 § 4]
Some emphasize the "all peace efforts" part here a bit too much. Once war mobilization begins, war has begun. It is the height of folly to refuse to prepare for war. The initial diplomatic maneuvering also serves the purpose of buying time to mobilize, increasing deterrence of the enemy. Had the Allies put less faith in negotiation and more in preparation, Hitler never would have crossed the Rhine, nor entered Poland, for fear of the Allies' response. Instead, he mobilized, we hoped, and most of Europe was trod under the Nazi jackboot.
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 modern 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.
Here is the meat of "just war" doctrine, which is the heart of Western warfare.
Note that it does not require avoidance of warfare at all cost, nor acceptance of any proffered means of securing the peace, such as "convert to Sharia law" or "withdraw utterly from the Middle East."
Note also the role of proportionate response. It would not be just, for example, for Iran to wipe the nation of Israel off the map with nuclear weapons unless Israel deployed similar weapons against Iran. This is a point which rather gets lost on anti-Western commentators, who seem to believe that the rules for just war apply only to America and her allies.
Please note also that proportionate response likewise that great evils may require great destruction to eliminate them. Millions lost their lives in horrific ways in World War II. Given the brutality of the Nazis and Japanese, firebombing Dresden and nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki were deemed just by most historians and commentators of the day, although we still find proportionality discussed heatedly in many quarters. Consensus does not preclude dissent.
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 [Cf. GS 79 § 5]
This is a very important passage. Catholics are required to meet their obligation to defend their nation, not excluded from it. They must do so honorably and in the service of freedom. So doing, they are a force for good. This is a paragraph to quote repeatedly to those who have lost all proportion in their desire for peace, a desire none share more than the soldier called upon to fight to attain it.
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 [Cf. GS 79 § 3]
Students of military history and veterans know that there are no braver men than combat medics, who risk all that their armed comrades do while saving lives. They are universally respected and widely held in awe. Many are committed pacifists. This is one excellent way to reconcile one's commitment to life with one's duty to country. Men such as these are also in constant demand.
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 [GS 79 § 4]
There is no army on Earth which takes greater pains to reduce the loss of innocent life or the property of innocents than the American army. To see these brave soldiers reviled for being willing to risk life and limb to preserve the architecture defiled by their enemies is to know what an exalted station the profession of arms has attained within our lifetimes. Scrupulous application of minimal force has become the American way of war, and America the light of the world in this regard as in so many others.
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.
In the West, we have the Geneva Conventions to govern the rules of war and act to prevent the worst evils of it. Unfortunately, we Americans never fight anyone who honors such restrictions, and routinely see our prisoners subjected to torture, humiliation, and execution.
There is perhaps no greater crime than the mass slaughter of a people. Had genocide been practiced by the Egyptians or Babylonians against the Jews, one wonders what shape God's plan would have taken, or what He may have done to preserve His chosen people and to punish their enemies.
One must not lose sight of the fact that genocide may also be directed against one's own people, as has been the norm in Communist states. It is never justified, and those who profess admiration for the alleged "social justice" practiced in such regimes must not turn their eyes from the grave injustices implementing such schemes required and perpetuated. Peace on Earth is not the peace of the grave.
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 [GS 80 #3] 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.
This is one which hits right at the heart of the Western way of war, with its precision strikes against military targets. During World War II, such precision was not possible, and the annihilation of whole cities was practiced. There is much debate to this day over the necessity and propriety of such actions, but the Catholic position based on this experience is clear.
In the military art, this has also created a host of problems, not least of which is the enemy which hasn't so much been beaten as neutralized. The Iraq War saw an Iraqi army defeated within hours, yet the insurgency today is to a significant extent fueled by Iraqi veterans who were unharmed and hardly inconvenienced by the American campaign. How does one encourage a defeated enemy to give up the battlefield when they are not weary of it?
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 [Cf. Paul VI, PP 53] it thwarts the development of peoples. Over-armament multiplies reasons for conflict and increases the danger of escalation.
This passage reminds me that the Catholic Church serves the world, not just our piece of it. While I note that America has the world's greatest armed forces, and the most weapons, she also spends far more on social spending than defense, while simultaneously shouldering the defense burden of the entire Western world. This paragraph does not seem to me to be aimed at America as a consequence.
There is no doubt that arms races are destabilizing in the long run, and that the deterrent impact is only as good as the opposing sides' R&D lifecycles are long. That said, nuclear weapons are a far better deterrent than spears, and I believe the saying that the greatest peacemaker of the 20th century was in fact Strategic Air Command.
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.
This strikes me as rather noncontroversial; my libertarian streak does not extend so far as private armies equipped with private nukes.
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 [GS 78 § 6; cf. Isa 2:4]
Summary
The Catholic Church's position on war is consistent with its pro-life positions and simultaneously pragmatic and idealistic.
Peace is not the absence of war, but rather a stable state of charity toward one's neighbors not predicated upon the belief that one could win a decisive war at acceptable cost. Balance of power politics does not yield peace, nor do diplomatic negotiations per se, nor does the accumulation of lethal arms. It arises from leaders who respect the dignity of their neighbors, who act with Christian humility for the betterment of their people, and who refrain from waging war as a first resort.
How the Church views a particular conflict's participants depends on whether they wage a just or unjust war. Fighting to protect innocents, to end evil, or in self-defense may be considered waging a just war, provided one's military response is proportionate, humane, reasonably likely to succeed.
War should be avoided if at all possible, though not at the expense of genocide, slavery, or similar great evils being loosed. War should not be embraced as a first or primary option, as wars invariably result in injustice and suffering, nor should they be entered into in a desire for vengeance nor to vent hatred of one's neighbors.
Military service is an honorable profession when soldiers wage just wars in a just fashion. Nations have a right to self-defense and their citizens an obligation to their self-defense. Where conscience prohibits violent action in defense, one is still obligated to assist one's neighbors in this valiant and noble effort.
War will not be vanquished until Christ's return; until then, it is to be waged sparingly, justly, and with least possible harm to life, dignity, and property.
Implications
Unlike abortion, the Catholic Church does not prohibit warfare, nor excommunicate those who practice it. War is a dangerous beast, but a useful one when evil force must be met by force.
American history in particular is rife with examples of such noble crusades as find favor with the Church under Just War doctrine.
America did not enter the First World War until the Germans began to practice unrestricted submarine warfare against the Triple Entente and neutral powers. Targeting innocent civilians for destruction at sea was an evil act which offended the conscience of the Wilson Administration and many Americans. The American entry into the war had the further positive impact of ending the bloody stalemate on the Western Front and bringing hostilities to a close by November 1918. As a result of her noble efforts, America took the lead at the peace table, and the Versailles Treaty bore the indelible stamp of her idealism.
America's entry into the Second World War is a good example of a just war through self-defense. Despite numerous provocations, the United States entered the war only after her Pacific fleet was largely destroyed in the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, and once Nazi Germany honored her Axis pact by likewise declaring war on America. America's actions during the war were controversial, but given the atrocities routinely committed by the Axis powers and the genocide underway in Germany in particular, even such actions as the firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are morally licit in the eyes of many.
The War in Iraq, a contemporary controversy, likewise holds up well to just war scrutiny. Saddam Hussein continued to attack American forces in the region in violation of the Gulf War ceasefire; harbored terrorists targeting American civilians; both possessed and had used in the past weapons of mass destruction aimed at indiscriminate death-dealing; was actively seeking the genocide of the Marsh Arabs and the Kurds; and had attempted the assassination of George H.W. Bush some months prior. The invasion itself was carried out with an eye toward eliminating death and injury to Iraqi noncombatants. It was swift, surgical, and restrained, even when conducted under the expectation that Hussein would employ nerve gas against the advancing Americans.
The War in Iraq is also an example of Catholic teaching that war is an unpredictable engine of misery and suffering. Despite the best intentions and unprecedented performance of American armed forces in Iraq, unforeseen situations such as the Iranian-backed insurgency, the last-minute decision of the Turks to not allow an invasion from their soil, Hussein releasing murderers and other violent criminals from Iraqi jails on the eve of the invasion and the criminal actions of troops at Abu Ghraib prison (who violated the Geneva Conventions repeatedly in their treatment of enemy POWs) all demonstrate that war may be waged, but not always controlled, even by the best military force the world has yet seen.
The Catholic Church's teaching on war is amply reflected in the American experience of it, as typified by Gary Jacobson's "A Combat Soldier's Prayer":
A Combat Soldier's Prayer by Gary Jacobson (c. 2002)
This combat soldier's prayer,
Who has served his time in Hell,
Is may we learn the lessons of war well,
That we not doom future generations,
The same old tales of horror to tell,
To endure what in youth they see mistakenly as glory.
Oh God, do not let our children repeat the same old story.
Make it so that America's babies live to grow old
In this land of the free and the bold.
Help us throw off the shackles of hate that bind
And grow old in a life of a peaceful kind.
Teach us that there is no glory in war,
Nor honor there that brave men should not abhor.
Teach us instead, one for another our brothers to love.
Shower us with thy Celestial message from above,
That we plant seeds of peace evermore
And make war-no-more!
But if I should die on some far, far away battlefield
Know I answered the call
For a grand principle of freedom to yield.
My fervent prayer is that my death may not have been in vain
Fighting for peace and right for the world to attain.
American roses standing by my side on alien soil dying
In the summer of my youth all the leaves around me falling,
Now I'm lying here still, in sunshine and in shadow,
Longing to hear, "brother next door, I love you so."
For moldering in the soft ground,
I feel you living and loving in the world above me
Standing tall because I fought that you might be...
Oh look ye down now, and tell me that you still think of me
Honor my red blood, spilt that others might stand free.
Tell me that I did not give my all for you in vain
That brothers and sisters do not look upon my sacrifice
With hateful, or even worse, uncaring disdain.
Do not forget me when my valley's hushed and white with snow,
Grass growing green in the summer of my meadow
Help me find the peace I lived and died for
Make my lonely grave richer, sweeter be...
That I might too, in your hearts live on, eternally free...
Labels: Catholicism, War
posted by Teflon at 9:27 AM
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