AmericanPapist Comments
Hence, the hired hitman sprang into Catholic culture . . .
hey, albino assassin monks can't exactly help with the outdoor gardening. ;)
In many religious orders physically harming or killing someone are grounds for instant dismissal.
It's also the case that military chaplains are not armed - even when going in harms way.
On the other hand, I've heard of a case in the Spanish civil war where a town's pastor escaped being lynched by a mob of anarchists by brandishing a rifle.
So maybe the distinction here is that of offense vs. defense. Clerics are forbidden to be executioners or soldiers ...i.e. looking for trouble. but as people they still have rights to self-defense (although it would seem such would really only apply if they deem their continued life essential for their flock. In that sense, it's sort of like a shepherd risking his life to fight off the wolf: it doesn't help the flock to just let the wolf eat you - he'll be back and the sheep will not have a guardian. But if one goes down fighting the wolf in a 1:1 exchange, the sheep will be saved albeit at the cost of their shepherd's life.
But that's an extreme example. Most of the time priests options in the face of persecution are either to flee into exile or lay down their lives as martyrs.
I agree with John. What is at issue here is not ordinary, legitimate self-defense or the defense of others, but a cleric's holding an office which involves killing. Of course, under the 1982 Code, clerics are now forbidden to hold any office "which involves the exercise of civil power."
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