War, Moral Principles, and Contemporary Conflicts

Introduction War presents profound moral challenges, forcing a confrontation with the limits of human reason and conscience. The Catholic Church offers a moral framework rooted in the intrinsic dignity of every human person and the immutable moral law, even in the chaos of conflict. This essay applies these enduring principles to two contentious military episodes of the modern era: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, and Israel’s military campaign in Gaza following Hamas’s attack in October 2023. While the bombings on Japan represent a clear case of intrinsic evil under Catholic doctrine, the Gaza conflict illustrates the complexities of just war reasoning. By engaging these cases, the Church’s moral vision offers guidance on the ethical boundaries of warfare and the responsibilities of combatants to justice and human dignity. Catholic Teaching on Moral Acts and War Catholic moral theology teaches that the morality of any human act depends on three essential co...