War and Legitimate Defense

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solve conflicts between people and nations and it never will be. Pope Pius XII warned, "Nothing is lost by peace; everything is lost by war." War has been one of the greatest threats to the sacredness of life throughout the millennia of human existence. To help states to determine when war is justified, the Church has developed criteria that must be met for a war to be morally permissible. States that ignore or violate these criteria are committing unjustified acts of violence. The state must have a just cause and it must be using war to prevent or correct a grave, public evil. There’s also Comparative justice, which is the good achieved through war must outweigh the loss of life. Also, Only duly constituted publicauthorities may use deadly force or wage war (Legitimate Authority). Another one is the Probability of Success. War may not be used in a futile cause. There is also Proportionality. It is the overall destruction expected from the use of force must be outweighed by the good to be achieved. In particular, the loss of civilian lives must be avoided at all costs. Lastly, there is Last resort. It is the force that may be used only after all peaceful alternatives have been seriously tried and exhausted. Our reason and the Law of Love tell us that it makes more sense to resolve conflicts without using violence. There are times when we may need to defend ourselves against an unjust aggressor. If we must fight to protect ourselves, our direct intention must always be to protect our own life, not to hurt or kill the aggressor. And we must use only the amount of force necessary to protect ourselves and other innocent people. The “Church affirms those who serve in the military to protect the lives of innocents: “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.