Day 293: Legitimate Defense

Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone responsible for another's life. Preserving the common good requires rendering the unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. To this end, those holding legitimate authority have the right to repel by armed force aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their charge. CCC 2265

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses legitimate defense in light of the Fifth Commandment. Can we kill to preserve life, including our own, without violating God's commandment? The short answer is yes. However, every effort should be made not to take the life of even an aggressor threatening our own or others, if possible (CCC 2264). What is new in CCC 2267 is the change regarding the death penalty introduced by the late Pope Francis. The discussion is mostly academic to me and will undoubtedly remain so given that I'll never have political power, but I find the death penalty still "an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good". Reparation, rehabilitation, and hopefully, repentance from a Catholic perspective, should always be the primary goals of state-sponsored punishment for offenders. Yet, there are some cases where both are rejected, and the offenders remain a threat to society, including the guards and other inmates (see #469 from Compendium).

The Catechism Compendium summarizes why the legitimate defense of persons and of society is not opposed to the Fifth Commandment prohibition:

Because in choosing to legitimately defend oneself, one is respecting the right to life (either one’s own right to life or that of another) and not choosing to kill. Indeed, for someone responsible for the life of another, legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty, provided only that disproportionate force is not used. (#467)