Thank God the Jews in Nazi Germany were first disarmed so they could only repel their aggressors with "moderation"- Yeah that worked out real well for them.
Gun control: Church firmly, quietly opposes firearms for civilians
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church's position on gun control is not easy to find; there are dozens of speeches and talks and a few documents that call for much tighter regulation of the global arms trade, but what about private gun ownership?
The answer is resoundingly clear: Firearms in the hands of civilians should be strictly limited and eventually completely eliminated.
But you won't find that statement in a headline or a document subheading. It's almost hidden in a footnote in a document on crime by the U.S. bishops' conference and it's mentioned in passing in dozens of official Vatican texts on the global arms trade.
The most direct statement comes in the bishops' "Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice" from November 2000.
"As bishops, we support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer -- especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children or anyone other than the owner -- and we reiterate our call for sensible regulation of handguns."
That's followed by a footnote that states: "However, we believe that in the long run and with few exceptions -- i.e. police officers, military use -- handguns should be eliminated from our society."
That in turn reiterates a line in the bishops' 1990 pastoral statement on substance abuse, which called "for effective and courageous action to control handguns, leading to their eventual elimination from our society."
On the world stage, the Vatican has been pushing for decades for limitations not just on conventional weapons of warfare, such as tanks and missiles, but also for stricter limitations on the illegal and legal sale, trade and use of small firearms and weapons, said Tommaso Di Ruzza, the expert on disarmament and arms control at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Di Ruzza told Catholic News Service that the Vatican is one of just a handful of states that would like to see small arms and weapons included in the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, which would better regulate the flow of conventional arms.
He said while many countries are open to limits on larger weapons systems, most nations aren't interested in regulating small arms even though they "cause more deaths than all other arms (conventional and non-conventional) together."
The Vatican's justice and peace council is working to update its 1994 document, "The International Arms Trade," to further emphasize the importance of enacting concrete controls on handguns and light weapons, he said.
The current document calls on every nation and state "to impose a strict control on the sale of handguns and small arms. Limiting the purchase of such arms would certainly not infringe on the rights of anyone."
The more weapons there are in circulation, the more likely terrorists and criminals will get their hands on them, the document said.
The Catholic Church recognizes that "states will need to be armed for reason of legitimate defense," as Pope Benedict XVI said in a message to a Vatican-sponsored disarmament conference in April 2008.
However, armed defense is something appropriate for nations, not for all individual citizens in a state where rule of law is effective, said Di Ruzza.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, individuals have a right and a duty to protect their own lives when in danger, and someone who "defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow."
How that "lethal blow" could be licitly wielded is unclear, but the catechism clarifies that repelling the aggressor must be done "with moderation" in order to be "lawful" in the eyes of the church; using "more than necessary violence" would be unlawful, it says.
According to the catechism, the right to use firearms to "repel aggressors" or render them harmless is specifically sanctioned for "those who legitimately hold authority" and have been given the duty of protecting the community.
Di Ruzza said that in "a democracy, where there is respect for institutions (of law), the citizen relinquishes his right to revenge onto the state," which, through its law enforcement and courts system, aims to mete out a fair and just punishment.
"There is a sort of natural right to defend the common interest and the common good, and in 1791 (when the United States passed the Second Amendment), my right to have a weapon served the common good because there wasn't an army; the democratic institutions were young and a little fragile, and I could have been useful in a time of war as a soldier," said Di Ruzza.
But once a nation has a functioning army, police force and court system, "do I still serve the common good with my gun or do I put it at even greater danger?" and promote a lawless kind of "street justice where if you steal my car, I shoot you," he asked.
The Vatican's justice and peace council's 1994 document said, "In a world marked by evil and sin, the right of legitimate defense by armed means exists," but, Di Ruzza said, it wasn't lauding the potential of weaponry as much as it was lamenting the existence of arms in an imperfect world.
Nations have a duty, the document said, to reduce if not eliminate the causes of violence.
And as Pope Benedict wrote in his message to the disarmament conference, no reduction or elimination of arms can happen without eliminating violence at its root.
Every person "is called to disarm his own heart and be a peacemaker everywhere," the pope said.
Comments (64)
Thank God the Jews in Nazi
By Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Thank God the Jews in Nazi Germany were first disarmed so they could only repel their aggressors with "moderation"- Yeah that worked out real well for them.
Guns
By Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, January 18, 2011
I don't think Americans are going to give up their guns to anybody no matter what. Self protection is a basic God-given right. And the founding fathers were VERY CLEAR in their writings regarding the right of the citizens to bear arms. That is the only protection against the tyrannical thugs in power now all over the world at the top level, including this country. The scum at the top have no borders, they're all in it together and they want this country to fall.
When the time comes, we'll all know it, and there will be nothing left to lose by practicing those rights in every way possible.
Tyranny
By Tom Villemure (not verified) on Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The 2nd Amendment not only allows us to protect ourselves from thugs and criminals, it also allows us to protect ourselves from tyranny. Thomas Jefferson was clear on this. The tyranny of holocausts, purges, inquisitions, government incompetence (remember Hurricane Katrina? the LA Riots?), and foreign invaders.
Of course I would be happy to live in a world in which evil didn't exist, in which all people were loving and caring, and in which violence was unheard of. However, in the real world that we live in I cannot ask to leave the weak defenseless to the depravity of evildoers.
Guns are not evil - even if we outlaw them there will still be evildoers intent on mayhem and capable of violence. Leaving people defenseless is immoral.
Guns in America - Cause and Effect
By Jerry D (not verified) on Tuesday, January 18, 2011
I agree with you the more people have the need to own guns for self defense is an indication there are problems with a society.
Conservatives disagree with your implication that the solution is to ban guns from law abiding citizens. We believe societal problems do not come from the existence of guns, but by immorality. We believe that the important factor is not "gun deaths" but the rate of violent crime and believe the rate would increase if law abiding citizens were left defenseless. We believe self reliance is a good trait for society rather than having a culture of helplessness.
When utopia arrives, guns will be too dangerous to have around.
church and government
By Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The church is in bed with the government as its always been and people better wake up to the fact that the church has been lying to them for the past 2000 yrs. just ask for the truth and see where it gets you
family primary unit of society
By Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Since the family is the primary cell of society it makes sense that families have the first right of self defense. I have coworker who lives in a rural area - if there was an intruder, the police or sheriff would never get to their house in time to stop a crime. This family has guns and I support their right to have one. If I lived an isolated existance like that, as a single female - I would have one too - they are a great equalizer.
Sam Colt
By Armed Liberal (not verified) on Tuesday, January 18, 2011
"If I lived an isolated existance like that, as a single female - I would have one too - they are a great equalizer."
That's similar to the old saying, "God made man, but Samuel Colt made them equal".
To those who don't know Samuel Cold invented the first practical revolver handgun in 1836.
As far as the police not getting there in time in a rural setting the same is often true in a suburban or urban setting as in another old saying,
"When seconds count the police are only minutes away".
Primacy of the Family
By Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Thanks Colt. I will remember that saying. This article fits the pattern that I see of Catholic beaurocrats taking a statement based on an ideal world: ie, one with effective policing so there is no need of guns and to use it to form daft policies. They give no thought to the poor stiffs who have to deal with the negative side effects of said daft policies.
Read more at www.uscatholic.org
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