As per Chapter 11 of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,
- “The peace of Christ is in the first place reconciliation with the Father, which is brought about by the ministry Jesus entrusted to his disciples and which begins with the proclamation of peace.... Peace is then reconciliation with one's brothers and sisters, for in the prayer that Jesus taught us, the 'Our Father', the forgiveness that we ask of God is linked to the forgiveness that we grant to our brothers and sisters....
“Working for peace can never be separated from announcing the Gospel....Peace is not merely the absence of war, nor can it be reduced solely to the maintenance of a balance of power between enemies.[Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 78: AAS 58 (1966), 1101-1102.] Rather it is founded on a correct understanding of the human person [Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 51: AAS 83 (1991), 856-857.] & requires the establishment of an order based on justice & charity….
"Seeking alternative solutions to war for resolving international conflicts has taken on tremendous urgency today....
“States do not always possess adequate means to provide effectively for their own defence, from this derives the need & importance of international & regional organizations, which should be in a position to work together to resolve conflicts & promote peace [Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 288-289.]....
"A war of aggression is intrinsically immoral....To be licit, the use of force must correspond to certain strict conditions:
'the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave and certain;
all other means… must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
there must be serious prospects of success;
the use of arms must not produce evils & 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'. [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2309.]
"If this responsibility justifies the possession of sufficient means to exercise this right to defence, States still have the obligation to do everything possible 'to ensure that the conditions of peace exist, not only within their own territory but throughout the world'.[Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, The International Arms Trade. An ethical reflection (1 May 1994), ch. 1, 6: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 1994, p. 13.]....
“engaging in a preventive war without clear proof that an attack is imminent cannot fail to raise serious moral & juridical questions. International legitimacy for the use of armed force, on the basis of rigorous assessment & with well-founded motivations, can only be given by the decision of a competent body that identifies specific situations as threats to peace & authorizes an intrusion into the sphere of autonomy usually reserved to a State….
“Every member of the armed forces is morally obliged to resist orders that call for perpetrating crimes against the law of nations & the universal principles of this law.[Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2313.]....
“The principle of humanity inscribed in the conscience of every person and all peoples includes the obligation to protect civil populations from the effects of war....
“The twentieth century bears the tragic mark of different genocides:
from that of the Armenians
to that of the Ukrainians,
from that of the Cambodians
to those perpetrated in Africa
and in the Balkans. Among these,
the Holocaust of the Jewish people, the Shoah, stands out....
The international community as a whole has the moral obligation to intervene on behalf of those groups whose very survival is threatened or whose basic human rights are seriously violated....if all other available means should prove ineffective, it is 'legitimate & even obligatory to take concrete measures to disarm the aggressor'. [John Paul II, Message for the 2000 World Day of Peace, 11: AAS 92 (2000), 363.]....
"Sanctions, in the forms prescribed by the contemporary international order, seek to correct the behaviour of the government of a country that violates the rules of peaceful and ordered international coexistence or that practises serious forms of oppression with regard to its population. The purpose of these sanctions must be clearly defined and the measures adopted must from time to time be objectively evaluated by the competent bodies of the international community as to their effectiveness and their real impact on the civilian population. The true objective of such measures is open to the way to negotiation & dialogue. Sanctions must never be used as a means for the direct punishment of an entire population ....An economic embargo must be of limited duration & cannot be justified when the resulting effects are indiscriminate….
"Any excessive stockpiling or indiscriminate trading in arms cannot be morally justified. Such phenomena must also be evaluated in light of international norms regarding the non-proliferation, production, trade and use of different types of arms....
“Policies of nuclear deterrence, typical of the Cold War period, must be replaced with concrete measures of disarmament based on dialogue and multilateral negotiations….
“'Any act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of entire cities or extensive areas along with their population is a crime against God & man himself. It merits unequivocal & unhesitating condemnation'. [Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 80: AAS 58 (1966), 1104.]….
“Disarmament must include the banning of weapons that inflict excessively traumatic injury or that strike indiscriminately....
“Appropriate measures are needed to control the production, sale, importation & exportation of small arms & light weapons, armaments that facilitate many outbreaks of violence to occur. The sale & trafficking of such weapons constitute a serious threat to peace....
“The use of children & adolescents as soldiers in armed conflicts — despite the fact that their young age should bar them from being recruited —must be condemned....
"Terrorism is one of the most brutal forms of violence traumatizing the international community today....The targets of terrorist attacks are generally places of daily life and not military objectives in the context of a declared war....Nor must we overlook the causes that can lead to such unacceptable forms of making demands. The fight against terrorism presupposes the moral duty to help create those conditions that will prevent it from arising or developing….
“Terrorism is to be condemned in the most absolute terms. It shows complete contempt for human life and can never be justified, since the human person is always an end and never a means....
“It is a profanation & a blasphemy to declare oneself a terrorist in God's name.[Cf. John Paul II, Address to Representatives from the World of Culture, Art & Science, Astana, Kazakhstan (24 September 2001), 5: L'Osservatore Romano, English ed., 26 Sept. 2001, p. 7.]....Martyrdom cannot be the act of a person who kills in the name of God....
"The promotion of peace in the world is an integral part of the Church's mission of continuing Christ's work of redemption on earth....Moved solely by this faith, the Church intends to promote the unity of Christians and a fruitful cooperation with believers of other religions....
“The Church teaches that true peace is made possible only through forgiveness & reconciliation.[Cf. John Paul II, Message for the 2002 World Day of Peace, 9: AAS 94 (2002), 136-137; John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 10: AAS 96 (2004), 121.]....
“Mutual forgiveness must not eliminate the need for justice & still less does it block the path that leads to truth. On the contrary, justice & truth represent the concrete requisites for reconciliation....
“It is through prayer that the Church engages in the battle for peace....
“The World Days of Peace are particularly intense moments of prayer for peace and for the commitment to build a world of peace."
As per recent Pennsylvania Catholic Conference mailings....
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