380. Excessively violent self-defense is unlawful.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 380

Ave Maria series

Why is it permissible to tolerate the killing of another human being in the case of legitimate self-defense?

Someone who is actually attacking the lives of others may and must be stopped, if necessary by killing the attacker himself.  [2263-2265, 2321]

Ferguson, Missouri 2015: America in search for itself. “Nevertheless, legitimate defense must not employ wrong, inappropriately harsh methods“(United States Catholic Catechism for Adults).  …..380

Legitimate defense against aggression is not only a right; for someone who bears responsibility for the lives of others it can even become a duty.  Nevertheless, legitimate defense must not employ wrong, inappropriately harsh methods.

A punishment imposed by the State must satisfy four criteria in order to be appropriate and just:  (1)  It should make amends for the crime.  (2) The State intends thereby to restore public order and to provide for the security of its citizens.  (3)  The punishment should improve the guilty party.  (4)  The punishment corresponds to the seriousness of the crime.

[2263-2265, 2321]

Legitimate defense

2263 The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. "The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor. . . . The one is intended, the other is not." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II,64,7, corp. art.)⁶⁵--Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

2264 Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow: --CCC

If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II,64,7, corp. art.⁶⁶ --CCC

2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility. --CCC

IN BRIEF

2321 The prohibition of murder does not abrogate the right to render an unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. Legitimate defense is a grave duty for whoever is responsible for the lives of others or the common good. –CCC

People  Ferguson, Missouri