Roman Catholic teachings on pacifism and Just War

Roman Catholic teachings on pacifism and Just War are founded on faith and reason. The Catholic Church believes by faith that violence is a work of the flesh, opposed to the fruits of the Holy Spirit; and the church believes by reason that every person has the human right to self-defense, which includes national self-defense. The conditions for legitimate defense by military force include: 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; and the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated - the power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
The church does not teach pacifism, since it is regarded as an ideology, and the church does not teach people to make war, since it regards every person to have the duty to avoid war and arms race and the duty to resist unjust orders. Everyone involved in and affected by war must be respected, because of the permanence of the moral law. This means wars that indiscriminately destroy cities and vast areas with their inhabitants are a crime, including the use of atomic, biological, and chemical weapons.
The church teaches that war can be caused by economic and social injustices and inequalities, which can be alleviated by prayer and penance, and that peace is tranquility of order - the work of justice and fruit of charity - not pacifism, nor the absence of war or the maintenance of balance of power between enemies. As such, the state has the right and duty - within the bounds of reason - to regulate weapons, including gun control, since the production and sale of weapons affect society and since hobbies like gun collection cannot justify actions that promote violence and compromise peace.

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