There have been modern academic pacifists who, selectively citing Scripture, invoke Christ for their cause and depict all the early Christians as pacifists (until the Church supposedly went “bad,” accepting war). But these claims have been repeatedly answered: and theologians and philosophers such as Reinhold Neibuhr and Elizabeth Anscombe have eloquently critiqued pacifist presumptions. . . .
The pacifist temptation has long been rejected by the Catholic Church, for abundantly sound reasons, drawn from Christian teachings on mercy, compassion, the common good, and authentic peace. In a world where Christians are being savagely tortured, crucified and decapitated, the Church should not succumb to that temptation now.
From First Things.