CSDC 513

Terrorism is one of the most brutal forms of violence traumatizing the international community today; it sows hatred, death, and an urge for revenge and reprisal.¹⁰⁷⁸ Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2297. From being a subversive strategy typical of certain extremist organizations, aimed at the destruction of material goods or the killing of people, terrorism has now become a shadowy network of political collusion. It can also make use of sophisticated technology, often has immense financial resources at its disposal and is involved in large- scale planning, striking completely innocent people who become chance victims of terrorist actions.¹⁰⁷⁹ Cf. John Paul II, Message for the 2002 World Day of Peace, 4: AAS 94AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 94 (2002) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (2002), 134. The targets of terrorist attacks are generally places of daily life and not military objectives in the context of a declared war. Terrorism acts and strikes under the veil of darkness, with no regard for any of the rules by which men have always sought to set limits to conflicts, for example through international humanitarian law; “in many cases, terrorist methods are regarded as new strategies of war”¹⁰⁸⁰ Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 79: AAS 58AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 58 (1966) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1966), 1102.. Nor must we overlook the causes that can lead to such unacceptable forms of making demands. The fight against terrorism presupposes the moral duty to help create those conditions that will prevent it from arising or developing.