I n the past 30 years or so, Catholic Social Teaching has grown in strength and clarity. They poison human society, and they do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the Creator. We must condemn not only the killing but also the abuse in our homes, the anger in our hearts, and the glorification of violence in movies and music.
Violence is a lie, for it goes against the truth of our faith, the truth of our humanity.
We oppose lawlessness of every kind. Society cannot tolerate an ethic that uses violence to make a point, settle grievances, or help us get what we want. Our society needs both more personal responsibility and broader social responsibility to overcome the plague of violence in our land and the lack of peace in our hearts. VI Those who renounce violence and bloodshed and, in order to safeguard human rights, make use of those means of defense available to the weakest, bear witness to evangelical charity, provided they do so without harming the rights and obligations of other men and societies. They bear legitimate witness to the gravity of the physical and moral risks of recourse to violence, with all its destruction and death.