The war between Israel and the United States of America with Iran has raised concerns regarding the legitimate use of military force. 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 …
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.” (CCC, no. 2308)
The Catholic church holds a strong presumption against war and emphasizes the pursuit of peace, with Just War Theory acting as a narrow exception to that presumption rather than a justification for militarism.
On April 15, Auxiliary Bishop James Massa of Brooklyn, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, issued a statement clarifying the Catholic Church’s teaching on just war. The statement came as President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other Trump administration officials have publicly challenged Pope Leo XIV’s calls for peace amid the U.S.-Israel war on Iran and …
Before you can understand the four conditions, you need to understand the posture the Church takes before it even gets to them. The Catechism opens its treatment of war not with permission but with a command: all citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war (CCC 2308). That is not …
In the last year, morning, afternoon, and night consistently brought sobering headlines from Israel and Iran, while war raged on in Russia, Ukraine, Myanmar, and many parts of Africa. Isolationists cautioned against war while hawks urged further intervention, both for US interests. What united much of the news commentary was the tendency to frame the …
