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Second Vatican
Council Gaudium et spes 79…
On the subject of war, quite a large number of nations have subscribed
to international agreements aimed at making military activity and its
consequences less inhuman. Their stipulations deal with such matters as
the treatment of wounded soldiers and prisoners. Agreements of this sort
must be honored. Indeed they should be improved upon so that the
frightfulness of war can be better and more workably held in check. All
men, especially government officials and experts in these matters, are
bound to do everything they can to effect these improvements. Moreover,
it seems right that laws make humane provisions for the case of those
who for reasons of conscience refuse to bear arms, provided however,
that they agree to serve the human community in some other way. Certainly, war has not
been rooted out of human affairs. As long as the danger of war remains
and there is no competent and sufficiently powerful authority at the
international level, governments cannot be denied the right to
legitimate defense once every means of peaceful settlement has been
exhausted. State authorities and others who share public responsibility
have the duty to conduct such grave matters soberly and to protect the
welfare of the people entrusted to their care. But it is one thing to
undertake military action for the just defense of the people, and
something else again to seek the subjugation of other nations. Nor, by
the same token, does the mere fact that war has unhappily begun mean
that all is fair between the warring parties. Those too who devote themselves to the military service of their country should regard themselves as the agents of security and freedom of peoples. As long as they fulfill this role properly, they are making a genuine contribution to the establishment of peace. |
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