Justice and War.

The Catholic Church distinguishes between two types of justice concerning war: jus ad bellum and jus in bello. Most of the time, when people discuss just-war theory, they mean jus ad bellum (justice before the war). Jus ad bellum refers to those four conditions described by Saint Augustine through which we determine whether a war is just before we go to war. Jus in bello (justice during the war) refers to how the war is conducted once a just war has been started. It is possible for a country to fight a war that meets the jus ad bellum conditions for being just, and yet to fight that war unjustly—by, for example, targeting innocent people in the enemy’s country or by dropping bombs indiscriminately, resulting in the deaths of civilians (commonly known by the euphemism collateral damage). Source

The Church laments all war, war provocations and blood feuds. But if aggrieved nations cannot be dissuaded, and insist on going to war, they must at least agree to abide by the traditional minimal rules for a just war if they are to avoid being considered ethically bankrupt and inhumane.

Just and Unjust War: The Four Conditions for Jus Ad Bellum

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (para. 2309) defines the four conditions that must be met in order for a war to be just as:

the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;

all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;

there must be serious prospects of success;

the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.

Vatican II: “Any act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of entire cities or extensive areas along with their population is a crime against God and man himself. It merits unequivocal and unhesitating condemnation” (Gaudium et Spes, 80), which was quoted again in full in the Catechism (2314). 

“Proportionality means not visiting destruction upon the enemy to a degree that exceeds the amount needed to restore justice. Discrimination refers to not deliberately attacking noncombatants (i.e., discriminating between combatants and noncombatants). The ‘total war’ mentality says that these caveats are not applicable in warfare.” — Cambridge.org

Proportionality does not mean a nation which has been seriously provoked cannot fight to win, nor that it must allow itself to be attacked again and again.

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