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PACIFISM

The doctrine that all war is inherently wrong and, among Christians, that warfare is forbidden by the Gospels. The position of the Catholic Church is that war is, indeed, undesirable and that sinful passions give rise to war, but not all armed conflict is necessarily sinful and Christians may engage in a just war. (Etym. Latin pacificare, to make peace.)

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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