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Just War Theory – What the Church Teaches About War

In 1983 in The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response, the US Council of Catholic Bishops wrote "Faith does not insulate us from the daily challenges of life but intensifies our desire to address them precisely in light of the gospel which has come to us in the person of the risen Christ."  "Peace is the fruit of order. Order in human society must be shaped on the basis of respect for the transcendence of God and the unique dignity of each person, understood in terms of freedom, justice, truth and love."  In their pastoral letter the bishops state that in every situation we encounter we must presume peaceful settlement over war. Every nation has a right to defend itself against aggression, but offensive war of any kind is not morally justifiable.  Indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas and their civilian populations is never permitted. 

The ongoing cold war and escalation of nuclear weaponry was the catalyst for the writing of The Challenge of Peace.The bishops state, "The crisis of the moment is embodied in the threat which nuclear weapons pose for the world and much that we hold dear in the world.  We have seen and felt the effects of the crisis of the nuclear age in the lives of the people we serve.  Nuclear weaponry has drastically changed the nature of warfare, and the arms race poses a threat to human life and human civilization which is without precedent."

Ten years later the bishops issued a second letter on the anniversary of their first pastoral letter.  In The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace the bishops renewed their call to peacemaking in a dramatically different world. "The "challenge of peace" today is different, but no less urgent. Although the nuclear threat is not as imminent, international injustice, bloody regional wars and a lethal conventional arms trade are continuing signs that the world is still marked by pervasive violence and conflict."

We strongly urge you to read the US Conference of Catholic Bishops position on war and peace in The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace as well as the other papal documents on Peace listed below.
The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace: US Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's most recent statement on Just War [1993]

World Day of Peace Message 2006: Pope Benedict XVI
Peace is not to be seen “as the mere absence of war, but as a harmonious coexistence of individual citizens within a society governed by justice, one in which the good is also achieved, to the extent possible, for each of them.”

World Day of Peace Messages 1979-2005: Pope John Paul II

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The Catholic Church's Support of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The foundation of all Catholic Social Teaching is the dignity of the human person and the rights that flow from that dignity. In his message for the World Day of Peace, 1 January 1999  Pope John Paul II said:  “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is clear: it acknowledges the rights which it proclaims but does not confer them, since they are inherent in the human person and in human dignity. Consequently, no one can legitimately deprive another person, whoever they may be, of these rights, since this would do violence to their nature. For this same reason, these rights apply to every stage of life and to every political, social, economic and cultural situation. Together they form a single whole, directed unambiguously towards the promotion of every aspect of the good of both the person and society.”

We live in a world where millions of people still do not enjoy their human rights because of poverty, injustice, war and violence.  All people are urged to take some time to reflect, to learn something new about human rights, to share with another your thoughts and ideas, and  to pray - pray that human dignity and human rights will be enjoyed by all. 

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Documents that Express the Social Teachings of the Church

The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace, US Conference of Catholic Bishops - Just War theory   The Gospel of Life  (Evangelium Vitae). Pope John Paul – human dignity and consistent ethic of life   One Hundred Years  (Centisimus Annus), Pope John Paul – human dignity and human rights   The Social Concerns of the Church  (Solicitudo Rei Socialis), Pope John Paul – solidarity and option for the poor   On Human Work  (Laborem Exercens), Pope John Paul – human dignity and right to work   Evangelization in the Modern World  (Evangelii Nuntiandi), Pope Paul VI - need for Christian participation in politics   The Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), Vatican II - role of the Christian in society   Peace on Earth (Pacem in Terris), Pope John XXIII - human rights and the cold war   The Reconstruction of the Social Order  (Quadragesimo Anno), Pope Pius XI - condition of labor