The Magisterium has a negative view on the use of nuclear arms. The Magisterium sees nuclear arms as a crime against God and man which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation. A nuclear weapon is a type of explosive weapon that derives its destructive force from nuclear reaction of fission or fusion and has a large enough blast radius to destroy whole cities.
The Church has a long tradition of condemning acts of war that bring widespread, unspeakable suffering and destruction. Bishop Gregory of Belleville states that “Catholic policy makers, military personnel, scientists, academics, advocates, and young people must preach Christ’s gospel of love and make the work of peace a fundamental imperative of their individual vocations.” The Magisterium does not only condemn the use of nuclear arms, but war itself. As Pope Paul VI states, “No more war, war never again!” War is wrong by itself, but adding the use of nuclear arms to an already horrible occurrence, heightens the devastation and destruction of many lives, mostly innocent lives that could not protect themselves from the blast range of the nuclear weapon. Pope John Paul II states in his encyclical that the men who overcome temptation to use nuclear arms and examine their conscience when reconciling the effects of what using a nuclear weapon can do to the world and Jesus’ plan of peace and love, will be blessed forever in the future if they wisely determine to halt the use of nuclear arms.o:p>
Also stated in the Magisterium is the idea that “civilians may not be the object of direct attack, and military personnel must take due care to avoid and minimize harm to innocent civilians. In the conduct of hostilities, efforts must be made to attain military objectives with no more force than is military necessity and to avoid disproportionate collateral damage to civilian life and property.” The Magisterium also outlines the morality of the use of nuclear arms. It states the “moral task today is to proceed with deeper cuts from nuclear weapon funding and ultimately to ban nuclear weapons entirely, not to begin research on new ones.” The Magisterium believes the use of nuclear arms should be forbidden for the mass amount of lives taken by these weapons and the failing to follow Jesus’ message of love and charity. Endnotes United States Conference of Catholic Bishops USCCB Statement on Nuclear Arms Nuclear Arms: Will They Deter or Destruct?
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