human life on a previously unimaginable scale. The sense of awe and "fear of the Lord" which former generations felt
in approaching these issues weighs upon us with new urgency. In the words of the Pastoral Constitution:
Men of this generation should realize that they will have to render an account of their warlike
behavior; the destiny of generations to come depends largely on the decisions they make today. [9]
16. Catholic teaching on peace and war has had two purposes: to help Catholics form their consciences and to
contribute to the public policy debate about the morality of war. These two purposes have led Catholic teaching to
address two distinct but overlapping audiences. The first is the Catholic faithful, formed by the premises of the gospel
and the principles of Catholic moral teaching. The second is the wider civil community, a more pluralistic audience, in
which our brothers and sisters with whom we share the name Christian, Jews, Moslems, other religious communities,
and all people of good will also make up our polity. Since Catholic teaching has traditionally sought to address both
audiences, we intend to speak to both in this letter, recognizing that Catholics are also members of the wider political
community
17. The conviction, rooted in Catholic ecclesiology, that both the community of the faithful and the civil community
should be addressed on peace and war has produced two complementary but distinct styles of teaching. The
religious community shares a specific perspective of faith and can be called to live out its implications. The wider civil
community, although it does not share the same vision of faith, is equally bound by certain key moral principles. For
all men and women find in the depth of their consciences a law written on the human heart by God.[10] From this law
reason draws moral norms. These norms do not exhaust the gospel vision, but they speak to critical questions
affecting the welfare of the human community, the role of states in international relations, and the limits of acceptable
action by individuals and nations on issues of war and peace.
18. Examples of these two styles can be found in recent Catholic teaching. At times the emphasis is upon the
problems and requirements for a just public policy (e.g., Pope John Paul II at the U.N. Special Session 1982); at other
times the emphasis is on the specific role Christians should play (e.g., Pope John Paul II at Coventry, England,
1982). The same difference of emphasis and orientation can be found in Pope John XXIII's Peace on Earth and
Vatican II's Pastoral Constitution.
19. As bishops we believe that the nature of Catholic moral teaching, the principles of Catholic ecclesiology, and the
demands of our pastoral ministry require that this letter speak both to Catholics in a specific way and to the wider
political community regarding public policy. Neither audience and neither mode of address can be neglected when
the issue has the cosmic dimensions of the nuclear arms race.
20. We propose, therefore, to discuss both the religious vision of peace among peoples and nations and the
problems associated with realizing this vision in a world of sovereign states, devoid of any central authority and
divided by ideology, geography, and competing claims. We believe the religious vision has an objective basis and is
capable of progressive realization. Christ is our peace, for he has "made us both one, and has broken down the
dividing wall of hostility ... that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and
might reconcile us both to God" (Eph. 2:14-16). We also know that this peace will be achieved fully only in the
kingdom of God. The realization of the kingdom, therefore, is a continuing work, progressively accomplished,
precariously maintained, and needing constant effort to preserve the peace achieved and expand its scope in
personal and political life.
21. Building peace within and among nations is the work of many individuals and institutions; it is the fruit of ideas
and decisions taken in the political, cultural, economic, social, military, and legal sectors of life, We believe that the
Church, as a community of faith and social institution, has a proper, necessary, and distinctive part to play in the
pursuit of peace.
22. The distinctive contribution of the Church flows from her religious nature and ministry. The Church is called to be,
in a unique way, the instrument of the kingdom of God in history. Since peace is one of the signs of that kingdom