The Law of War

Combatants may not use weapons or other methods of warfare that are considered evil,
such as mass rape, forcing enemy combatants to fight against their own side or using
weapons whose effects cannot be controlled (e.g., nuclear/biological weapons).
World War I
Official Positions
In April 1917, two weeks after the United States Congress declared war on Germany,
Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore, the de facto head of the U.S. Catholic church,
issued a letter that all Catholics were to support the war. The Episcopal bishop of New
York, William Manning said the following:
Our Lord Jesus Christ does not stand for peace at any price ... Every true American
would rather see this land face war than see her flag lowered in dishonor ... I wish to
say that, not only from the standpoint of a citizen, but from the standpoint of a minister
of religion ... I believe there is nothing that would be of such great practical benefit to us
as universal military training for the men of our land.
If by Pacifism is meant the teaching that the use of force is never justifiable, then,
however well meant, it is mistaken, and it is hurtful to the life of our country. And the
Pacifism which takes the position that because war is evil, therefore all who engage in
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