A prominent theme of both Jewish and Christian Scripture is what to do when confronted with evil. Saint Paul suggests an “eye for an eye,” (misquoted often enough, if not misapplied greatly) isn’t appropriate or effective:
113. Saint Paul bade the Romans not to repay evil for evil (cf. Romans 12:17), not to seek revenge (v. 19), and not to be overcome by evil, but instead to “overcome evil with good” (v. 21). This attitude is not a sign of weakness but of true strength, because God himself “is slow to anger but great in power” (Nahum 1:3). The word of God exhorts us to “put away all bitterness and wrath and wrangling and slander, together with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31).
The citations from Saint Paul are from the apostle’s advice for holiness, the urging that his communities have set aside ways from their days as pagans and non-believers. Given his own witness in giving and receiving evil, we can attend carefully as we expect first century believers did.
You can check the full document Gaudete et Exsultate on the Vatican website.
Catholic Sensibility 