CSDC 438

To resolve the tensions that arise among different political communities and can compromise the stability of nations and international security, it is indispensable to make use of common rules in a commitment to negotiation and to reject definitively the idea that justice can be sought through recourse to war.⁹⁰¹ Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 23: AAS 83AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 83 (1991) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1991), 820-821. “If war can end without winners or losers in a suicide of humanity, then we must repudiate the logic which leads to it: the idea that the effort to destroy the enemy, confrontation and war itself are factors of progress and historical advancement”.⁹⁰² John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 18: AAS 83AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 83 (1991) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1991), 816. Not only does the Charter of the United Nations ban recourse to force, but it rejects even the threat to use force.⁹⁰³ Cf. Charter of the United Nations (26 June 1945), art. 2.4; John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 6: AAS 96AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 96 (2004) at vatican.va — list of its scanned parts (2004), 117. This provision arose from the tragic experience of the Second World War. During that conflict the Magisterium did not fail to identify certain indispensable factors for building a renewed international order: the freedom and territorial integrity of each nation, defence of the rights of minorities, an equitable sharing of the earth's resources, the rejection of war and an effective plan of disarmament, fidelity to agreements undertaken and an end to religious persecution.[904 ]