Listen now | From the audiobook Explanation of Catholic Morals - Chapter 72, "On the Ethics of War," discusses the morality of warfare in a society increasingly familiar with it. It acknowledges the complexity of discerning right and wrong in conflicts, suggesting that war might even be a divine chastisement. Crucially, it asserts that private individuals should generally defer to their country's official stance on the justice of a war, provided their conscience doesn't actively object. Soldiers are bound by strict obedience, and their role in battle is to disable the enemy, which may result in death, but not to kill out of hatred or vengeance, nor to torture or maim. Acts of wanton cruelty are condemned as murder, regardless of the context of war, underscoring that certain moral principles remain inviolable even amidst conflict.