When can a war be called just?
QUESTION: What criteria must a war meet to be called righteous? If a representative of the Church speaks about a particular conflict, can his opinion be called the teaching of the Church?
ANSWER: Theoretically, the criteria for a “righteous” war are relatively easy to define – for this, it is enough to look at the corresponding section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which speaks about the right to self-defense. But when it comes to specific conflicts, it is very, very difficult to call any war righteous.