489. Self-mastery

489. What is involved in the virtue of chastity? 2339-2341 The virtue of chastity involves an apprenticeship in self-mastery as an expression of human freedom directed towards self-giving. An integral and continuing formation, which is brought about in stages, is necessary to achieve this goal.

488. Chastity

488. What is chastity? 2337-2338 Chastity means the positive integration of sexuality within the person. Sexuality becomes truly human when it is integrated in a correct way into the relationship of one person to another. Chastity is a moral virtue, a gift of God, a grace, and a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

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487. Complementarity

YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY

487. What responsibility do human persons have in regard to their own sexual identity? 2331-2336 2392-2393 God has created human beings as male and female, equal in personal dignity, and has called them to a vocation of love and of communion. Everyone should accept his or her identity as male or female, recognizing its importance for the whole of the person, its specificity and complementarity.

486. War

486. What must be done to avoid war? 2315-2317 2327-2330 Because of the evils and injustices that all war brings with it, we must do everything reasonably possible to avoid it. To this end it is particularly important to avoid: the accumulation and sale of arms which are not regulated by the legitimate authorities; all forms of economic and social injustice; ethnic and religious discrimination; envy, mistrust, pride and the spirit of revenge. Everything done to overcome these and other disorders contributes to building up peace and avoiding war.

485. Law

485. In case of war, what does the moral law require? 2312-2314 2328 Even during a war the moral law always remains valid. It requires the humane treatment of noncombatants, wounded soldiers and prisoners of war. Deliberate actions contrary to the law of nations, and the orders that command such actions are crimes, which blind obedience does not excuse. Acts of mass destruction must be condemned and likewise the extermination of peoples or ethnic minorities, which are most grievous sins. One is morally bound to resist the orders that command such acts.

484. Objection

484. In danger of war, who has the responsibility for the rigorous evaluation of these conditions? 2309 This responsibility belongs to the prudential judgment of government officials who also have the right to impose on citizens the obligation of national defense. The personal right to conscientious objection makes an exception to this obligation which should then be carried out by another form of service to the human community.

483. WMD

483. When is it morally permitted to use military force? 2307-2310 The use of military force is morally justified when the following conditions are simultaneously present: the suffering inflicted by the aggressor must be lasting, grave and certain; all other peaceful means must have been shown to be ineffective; there are well founded prospects of success; the use of arms, especially given the power of modern weapons of mass destruction, must not produce evils graver than the evil to be eliminated.