YOUCAT Lesson 380
YOUCAT the catechism
for Catholic youth
380 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
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