Question 483
© Libreria Editrice Vaticana Source: vatican.va
When is it morally permitted to use military force?
Answer
The use of military force is morally justified when the following conditions are simultaneously present: the suffering inflicted by the aggressor must be lasting, grave and certain; all other peaceful means must have been shown to be ineffective; there are well founded prospects of success; the use of arms, especially given the power of modern weapons of mass destruction, must not produce evils graver than the evil to be eliminated.