Vengeance

Vengeance is the inflicting of corrective punishment onan offender. We speak of vengeance here, not as an inordinatedesire for revenge, which is always sinful, but as a virtuesubordinate to justice. Vengeance is the virtue which restores the equality of justice upset by an offense. The perfect and permanent establishment of equality of justice will be attained at the end oftime, for God says (Heb. 10:30): “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”

Among men, vengeance as a virtue seeks to remove harm done and to prevent its recurrence. It stems from justice, and mustbe suffused with charity. The parent who punishes a disobedientchild exercises vengeance as a virtue; so does a judge in court imposing a suitable penalty. A person sins by excess when he administers vengeance with cruelty or brutality; he sins by deficiency when he is remiss to administer correctives that should be administered.

True vengeance always tends to the prevention of evil. Persons who will not be moved by positive virtue to preserve the equality of justice, must be prevented from doing evil by fear of losing what they love. Now, the things a man loves most in this world are: his life; his bodily safety and comfort; his freedom;his possessions; his country; and, his good name. Hence, civil laws exact vengeance by prescribing for offenders: death, bodily punishment, imprisonment, fines, exile and ignominy. Under fear of such evils, many who would offend are constrained to observe justice. And those who are subjected to the vengeance of the law,are taught themselves, or teach others by what they undergo, that evils are not to be done.

No one justly suffers vengeance save as a punishment for sinful offense. Hence, vengeance never afflicts those whose offense is involuntary, and therefore not sinful. Hardship, indeed,may come heavily upon a person without fault on his part; such hardship is, under God’s providence, always medicinal, and hasin view the greater good or higher merit of him who suffers it. Andin matters spiritual, no one is ever punished without fault. Among men, certain hardships are sometimes inflicted (such, for instance,as disqualification for an office because of a parent’s fault),and indeed public order sometimes requires such things. But these hardships are not really the effects of vengeance at all.