Chapter III — On the Commandments concerning our neighbor

§ 1. On the fourth commandment

1. What does the fourth commandment — Honor thy father and thy mother — order us?

The fourth commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother," orders us to respect our father and our mother, to obey them in all that is not sin, and to help them in their spiritual and temporal needs.

2. What does the fourth commandment forbid us?

The fourth commandment forbids us to offend our parents with words, with deeds, and in any other way.

3. Under the name of father and mother, what other persons does this commandment include?

Under the name of father and mother this commandment also includes all superiors, both ecclesiastical and secular, whom we must therefore obey and respect.

4. Whence comes to parents the authority to command their children, and the obligation of children to obey them?

The authority parents have to command their children, and the obligation of children to obey them, come from God, who established and ordained the family, that in it man may find the first means necessary for his material and spiritual perfection.

5. Have parents duties toward their children?

Parents have the duty of loving, nourishing, and maintaining their children, of providing for their religious and civil education, of giving them good example, of keeping them away from occasions of sin, of correcting them for their failings, and of helping them to embrace the state to which they are called by God.

6. Has God given us the example of a perfect family?

God has given us the example of a perfect family in the Holy Family, in which Jesus Christ lived subject to the Most Holy Mary and to Saint Joseph until the age of thirty, that is, until He began to exercise the mission entrusted to Him by the Eternal Father, of preaching the Gospel.

7. If families lived alone, separated from one another, could they provide for all their material and moral needs?

If families lived alone, separated from one another, they could not provide for their needs, and it is necessary that they be united in civil society, in order to help one another for the perfection and the common happiness.

8. What is civil society?

Civil society is the union of many families dependent on the authority of a head, to help one another in common to attain mutual perfection and temporal happiness.

9. Whence comes to civil society the authority that governs it?

The authority that governs civil society comes from God, who wills that it be constituted for the common good.

10. Is there an obligation to respect and obey the authority that governs civil society?

Yes, all those who belong to civil society have the obligation to respect and obey authority, because it comes from God, and because so is required by the common good.

11. Must all the laws imposed by civil authority be respected?

All the laws that civil authority imposes must be respected, provided that they are not contrary to the law of God, according to the command and example of our Lord Jesus Christ.

12. Besides respect and obedience to the laws imposed by authority, have those who form part of civil society other duties?

Those who form part of civil society have, besides the obligation of respect and obedience to the laws, the duty of living in concord and of laboring, each with his own means and powers, that society may be virtuous, peaceful, well-ordered, and prosperous to the common advantage.

§ 2. On the fifth commandment

13. What does the fifth commandment — Thou shalt not kill — forbid?

The fifth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," forbids putting to death, beating, wounding, or doing any other harm to our neighbor in the body, whether by ourselves or by means of others; likewise, offending him with injurious words and wishing him ill. In this commandment God also forbids the putting of oneself to death, that is, suicide.

14. Why is it a grave sin to kill one's neighbor?

Because the killer rashly usurps the right that God alone has over the life of man; because he destroys the security of human society; and because he takes from his neighbor life, which is the greatest natural good he has on earth.

15. Are there cases in which it is lawful to kill one's neighbor?

It is lawful to kill one's neighbor when one fights in a just war; when one carries out, by order of the supreme authority, the death sentence in punishment of some crime; and finally when it is a matter of necessary and legitimate defense of life against an unjust aggressor.

16. Does God, in the fifth commandment, also forbid harming the spiritual life of our neighbor?

Yes, God in the fifth commandment also forbids harming the spiritual life of our neighbor by scandal.

17. What is scandal?

Scandal is any word, deed, or omission that is an occasion to others of committing sins.

18. Is scandal a grave sin?

Scandal is a grave sin, because it tends to destroy the greatest work of God, which is redemption, by the loss of souls; it gives our neighbor the death of the soul, taking from him the life of grace, which is more precious than the life of the body; it is the cause of a multitude of sins. Therefore God threatens the scandalous with the severest punishments.

19. Why, in the fifth commandment, does God forbid the putting of oneself to death, that is, suicide?

In the fifth commandment, God forbids suicide because man is not master of his life, just as he is not of the lives of others. The Church, moreover, punishes the suicide with the deprivation of ecclesiastical burial.

20. Is the duel also forbidden in the fifth commandment?

Yes, in the fifth commandment the duel is also forbidden, because the duel partakes of the malice of suicide and homicide, and any one who voluntarily takes part in it, even as a mere spectator, is excommunicated.

21. Is the duel also forbidden when the danger of death is excluded?

This duel is also forbidden, because not only may we not kill, but we may not even voluntarily wound ourselves or others.

22. Can the defense of one's honor excuse the duel?

No: because it is not true that the offense is repaired by the duel; and because honor cannot be repaired by an unjust, unreasonable, and barbarous action, such as the duel is.

23. What does the fifth commandment order us?

The fifth commandment orders us to forgive our enemies and to wish well to all.

24. What must one do who has harmed his neighbor in the life of the body, or in that of the soul?

One who has harmed his neighbor must not merely confess it, but must also repair the harm done, by making good to his neighbor the damages caused, by retracting the errors taught, and by giving good example.

§ 3. On the sixth and ninth commandments

25. What does the sixth commandment — Thou shalt not commit impure acts — forbid us?

The sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not commit impure acts," forbids us every act, every look, every discourse contrary to chastity, and infidelity in marriage.

26. What does the ninth commandment forbid?

The ninth commandment expressly forbids every desire contrary to the fidelity which the spouses have sworn to each other in contracting marriage; and it also forbids every culpable thought or desire of an action forbidden by the sixth commandment.

27. Is impurity a great sin?

It is a most grave and abominable sin before God and men; it debases man to the condition of brutes, drags him into many other sins and vices, and provokes the most terrible punishments in this life and in the next.

28. Are all the thoughts that come into our minds against purity sins?

The thoughts that come into our minds against purity are not in themselves sins, but rather temptations and incitements to sin.

29. When are bad thoughts sins?

Bad thoughts, even when they are ineffectual, are sins when we culpably give them occasion, or consent to them, or expose ourselves to the proximate danger of consenting to them.

30. What do the sixth and ninth commandments order us?

The sixth commandment orders us to be chaste and modest in acts, in looks, in bearing, and in words. The ninth commandment orders us to be chaste and pure also inwardly, that is, in the mind and the heart.

31. What is it fitting for us to do in order to observe the sixth and ninth commandments?

To observe well the sixth and ninth commandments, we must pray often and from the heart to God; be devoted to the Virgin Mary, Mother of purity; remember that God sees us; think of death, of the divine punishments, and of the passion of Jesus Christ; guard our senses; practice Christian mortification; and frequent the sacraments with the due dispositions.

32. What must we flee in order to keep ourselves chaste?

To keep ourselves chaste it is fitting to flee idleness, bad companions, the reading of bad books and newspapers, intemperance, the gazing at indecent images, licentious entertainments, dangerous conversations, and all the other occasions of sin.

§ 4. On the seventh commandment

33. What does the seventh commandment — Thou shalt not steal — forbid us?

The seventh commandment, "Thou shalt not steal," forbids the taking and retaining unjustly of another's goods, and the doing of any other harm to our neighbor in his goods in any other way.

34. What does it mean to steal?

It means to take unjustly another's goods against the will of the owner, when, that is, he has every reason and right not to wish to be deprived of them.

35. Why is stealing forbidden?

Because one sins against justice and does injury to one's neighbor by taking and retaining, against his right and his will, what belongs to him.

36. What are the goods of another?

They are all that belongs to one's neighbor, who has the ownership or the use of them, or who holds them in trust.

37. In how many ways is another's goods taken unjustly?

In two ways: by theft and by robbery.

38. How is theft committed?

Theft is committed by taking secretly the goods of others.

39. How is robbery committed?

Robbery is committed by taking violently and openly the goods of others.

40. In what cases may one take the goods of others without sinning?

When the owner is not opposed, or when he unjustly does not wish it — as would happen in the case of one in extreme need — provided he take only what is strictly necessary to relieve his urgent and extreme need.

41. Is it only by theft and robbery that one harms one's neighbor in his goods?

One also harms him by fraud, by usury, and by any other injustice against his goods.

42. How is fraud committed?

Fraud is committed by deceiving one's neighbor in commerce by false weights, measures, or coins, and by bad merchandise; by falsifying writings and documents; in sum, by practicing deception in purchases, in sales, and in any other contract, and also when one will not give the just and agreed-upon amount.

43. In what way is usury committed?

Usury is committed by exacting without lawful title an unlawful interest for a sum lent, taking advantage of another's need and ignorance.

44. What other injustices are committed against the goods of one's neighbor?

By causing him unjustly to lose what he has; by damaging him in his possessions; by not working according to one's duty; by maliciously not paying debts and due wages; by wounding or killing animals belonging to him; by spoiling things received in custody; by preventing anyone from making a just gain; by abetting thieves; and by receiving, hiding, or buying stolen goods.

45. Is stealing a grave sin?

It is a grave sin against justice when the matter is grave, since it is a most important thing that the right which each has to his own goods be respected, and this for the good of individuals, of families, and of society.

46. When is the matter of theft grave?

It is grave when a considerable thing is taken, and also when, although a thing of little moment is taken, one's neighbor suffers grave harm thereby.

47. What does the seventh commandment order us?

The seventh commandment orders us to respect the goods of others, to give just wages to workmen, and to observe justice in all that concerns the property of others.

48. Does one who has sinned against the seventh commandment need only confess it?

One who has sinned against the seventh commandment does not need only to confess it, but must do what he can to restore the goods of others and to make good the damages.

49. What is the making good of damages?

The making good of damages is the compensation that must be given to one's neighbor for the fruits and gains lost on account of the theft and other injustices committed to his harm.

50. To whom must the stolen goods be restored?

To him from whom they were stolen; to his heirs, if he is dead; and if this is truly impossible, the value must be given out for the benefit of the poor and of pious works.

51. What must one do when one finds something of great value?

One must use great diligence to find the owner, and faithfully restore it to him.

§ 5. On the eighth commandment

52. What does the eighth commandment — Thou shalt not bear false witness — forbid us?

The eighth commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness," forbids us to testify falsely in court: and it forbids also detraction or back-biting, calumny, flattery, rash judgment and suspicion, and every kind of lie.

53. What is detraction or back-biting?

Detraction or back-biting is a sin which consists in making known, without just cause, the sins and defects of others.

54. What is calumny?

Calumny is a sin which consists in maliciously attributing to one's neighbor faults and defects that he does not have.

55. What is flattery?

Flattery is a sin which consists in deceiving someone by speaking falsely well of him or of others, with the aim of having some advantage from it.

56. What is rash judgment or suspicion?

Rash judgment or suspicion is a sin which consists in judging or suspecting evil of others without just foundation.

57. What is a lie?

A lie is a sin which consists in asserting as true or as false, by words or by deeds, what one does not believe to be such.

58. Of how many kinds is a lie?

A lie is of three kinds: jocose, officious, and harmful.

59. What is the jocose lie?

The jocose lie is that by which one lies in jest, and without prejudice to anyone.

60. What is the officious lie?

The officious lie is the assertion of what is false for one's own or another's utility, without prejudice to anyone.

61. What is the harmful lie?

The harmful lie is the assertion of what is false to the prejudice of one's neighbor.

62. Is it ever lawful to tell a lie?

It is never lawful to tell a lie, neither in jest, nor for one's own or another's advantage, since it is a thing evil in itself.

63. What sin is a lie?

The lie, when it is jocose or officious, is a venial sin; when it is harmful, it is a mortal sin, if the harm it causes is grave.

64. Is it always necessary to say everything as one thinks it?

It is not always necessary, especially when the one who questions has no right to know what he asks.

65. Does one who has sinned against the eighth commandment need only confess it?

One who has sinned against the eighth commandment does not need only to confess it, but is also obliged to retract whatever he said calumniating his neighbor, and to repair, in the best way he can, the damages he has caused him.

66. What does the eighth commandment order us?

The eighth commandment orders us to tell the truth in time and place, and to interpret in a good sense, as far as we can, the actions of our neighbor.

§ 6. On the tenth commandment

67. What does the tenth commandment — Thou shalt not desire another's goods — forbid us?

The tenth commandment, "Thou shalt not desire another's goods," forbids the desire to deprive others of their goods, and the desire to acquire goods by unjust means.

68. Why does God also forbid the desire of another's goods?

God forbids us the disordered desires of another's goods, because He wills that we be just also inwardly and keep ourselves ever more distant from unjust works.

69. What does the tenth commandment order us?

The tenth commandment orders us to be content with the state in which God has placed us, and to bear with patience poverty, when God wills us in that state.

70. How can the Christian be content in the state of poverty?

The Christian can be content even in the state of poverty by considering that the greatest good is a pure and tranquil conscience, that our true country is heaven, and that Jesus Christ made Himself poor for love of us and has promised a special reward to all those who bear poverty with patience.