CCC 2263
Life in Christ›SECTION TWO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS›CHAPTER TWO YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF›I. Respect for Human Life
The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. "The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor.... the one is intended, the other is not."
Footnotes
- St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II, 64, 7, corp. art.