Respecting Persons and Their Goods
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Simplified
Three Virtues (2407)
Economic matters demand:
- Temperance - Which moderates attachments to worldly goods
- Justice - Which preserves the just rights of others
- Solidarity - Oneness with the poor
Theft and Unjust Taking (2408)
Theft is the taking of another's goods against the reasonable will of the owner. No theft exists if the owner's consent can be presumed or his will violates reason. At times, stealing provides for an essential need (food, shelter, clothing) and requires the use of other's goods.
Unjustly taking or keeping goods (even when not against the civil law) violates this commandment. Unjust taking includes unjust wages, business fraud, retaining borrowed or lost items, and unjust pricing.
Eight Other Sins (2409)
Also morally illicit are:
- Speculation which manipulates prices
- Corruption which influences the judgments of authority
- Appropriation of an employer's goods
- Work poorly done
- Income tax evasion
- Forging of checks or invoices
- Excessive expenses and waste
- Destroying public or private property
Promises and Contracts (2410-2411)
Morally just promises and contracts must be kept because social life depends on contracts which are completed in good faith.
Contracts demand commutative justice which safeguards the right of each person. Justice demands that debts and obligations be fulfilled.
Two other forms of commutative justice are:
- Legal justice - What a citizen owes to the community
- Distributive justice - What a community owes its citizens (according to their contributions and their needs)
Need to Restore (2412)
By commutative justice, stolen goods must be returned to the owner. Zacchaeus told Jesus, "If I have defrauded anyone, I restore it fourfold" (Lk 19:8).
Whoever has taken goods, directly or indirectly, must restore them or return an equivalent in money.
Those who participate in a theft must make restitution in proportion to their responsibility.
Chance and Gambling (2413)
Games of chance and betting are not contrary to justice unless they deprive someone of what he needs for himself or his family. A gambling addiction can become enslavement. Cheating or unfair betting is a grave sin unless the matter is insignificant.
Enslaving for Profit (2414)
Any acts for whatever reason, selfish or commercial, which lead to the enslavement of human beings (bought and sold like merchandise) are against human dignity. These acts reduce a person by violence to an object. Paul asks Christian masters to treat a slave "as a beloved brother" (Philem 16).
Stewardship for the Animals (2415-2416)
There must be respect for God's creation (animals, plants, and things). Care for these resources is a moral imperative. Man does not have absolute dominion over creation. He must consider his neighbor and the good of generations yet to be born.
God surrounds animals with his special care, for they give him glory. Thus, men owe them kindness according to the model of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Philip Neri.
Right and Wrong Use (2417-2418)
Because man has stewardship of animals, he can use them for food and clothing, for pets, or for manual work. Medical experimentation on animals (within reasonable limits) is morally acceptable because it helps human life.
Animals must not be made to suffer or to die needlessly. Also, large amounts of money (that should help poor people) should not be used on animals.
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