Here in the Midwest, nearly everyone has a friend, relative or acquaintance who enjoys going hunting each fall. Not surprisingly, many people wonder what the Church teaches about this activity, especially since the Fifth Commandment is typically translated as “You shall not kill.” Since hunting sometimes involves killing animals, isn’t it therefore a breaking of that Commandment? Despite it being a common question, we must first understand what that Commandment is, and is not, speaking of.
Commandments one through three are focused on our relationship with God, while four through 10 are focused on our relationship with others. Therefore, the Fifth Commandment does not address our relationship with animals per se, but must be understood as referencing our relationship with other people.
To emphasize this sometimes it is even translated: “You shall not murder” since murder is “the intentional taking of an innocent human life by another human.” But the difficulty with translating it this way is that more than just the act of murder itself is prohibited by the Commandment.
I can “kill” someone with the words I choose to use, or by causing them harm which stops short of ending their life, both of which would be understood as violating the Commandment. Hence the reason why the more general term “kill” is often used.
Christians throughout the centuries, like the original recipients of the Commandments, have understood the distinctions between different kinds of killing and have understood that not all types of killing are prohibited by the Commandment. There are at least three types we can distinguish: of the innocent (murder), of those who pose a threat (such as in war or self-defense), and the killing of animals for sacrifice, food or clothing (slaughter or harvesting). The Commandment itself focuses on the first kind.
Understanding the Fifth Commandment as not referring to the killing of animals not only underscores the unique dignity that human life possesses but is consistent with the basic ethic we see throughout the whole of Scripture — from Genesis 1:28 where Adam and Eve are told “Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all living things … ,” to Acts 10:13 when the voice from heaven says: “’Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’”
Even when it comes to Jesus Himself, Scripture tells us that a “pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” would have been sacrificed (Luke 2:24) when He was presented in the Temple and that His participation in the annual Passover meal meant eating roasted lamb. That killing animals can be morally licit is clear in the Church’s teaching (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2417). Therefore, an activity like hunting poses no moral problem in and of itself.
That being said, the Catechism also reminds us that regardless of the moral legitimacy of taking an animal’s life one must still do so in a respectful manner since they are God’s creatures (CCC, 2418). One must take care to avoid wastefulness, undo cruelty or intentionally causing unnecessary suffering.
If we apply these basic guidelines to hunting, we see that it can be perfectly consistent with the Church’s teaching so long as it is carried out in a responsible manner. In practice this would mean that a hunter makes every reasonable effort to kill game animals humanely, to ensure they are not wasted and to otherwise treat the animals being pursued respectfully, recognizing that they are beautiful gifts from God given for our benefit and entrusted to our stewardship — at times even providing for our needs.
Understood this way, hunting may even help one come to a greater appreciation of the beauty of the whole of God’s creation, the incredible responsibility mankind has in it, as well as gratitude for it. In fact, it might even grant an insight into the Paschal mystery itself — that it is only through a death that we are given the gift of life.