504. Under what conditions does the right to private property exist?

504. Under what conditions does the right to private property exist?    

(Comp 504) The right to private property exists provided the property is acquired or received in a just way and that the universal destination of goods for the satisfaction of the basic needs of all takes precedence.

“In brief”

(CCC 2450) "You shall not steal" (Ex 20:15; Deut 5:19). "Neither thieves, nor the greedy, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God" 1 Cor 6:10). 

To deepen and explain

(CCC 2403) The right to private property, acquired or received in a just way, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise. (CCC 1939) The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of "friendship" or "social charity," is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood (Cf. John Paul II, SRS 38-40; CA 10). An error, "today abundantly widespread, is disregard for the law of human solidarity and charity, dictated and imposed both by our common origin and by the equality in rational nature of all men, whatever nation they belong to. This law is sealed by the sacrifice of redemption offered by Jesus Christ on the altar of the Cross to his heavenly Father, on behalf of sinful humanity" (Pius XII, Summi pontificatus, October 20, 1939; AAS 31 (1939) 423 ff).   

Reflection

(CCC 952) "They had everything in common" (Acts 4:32). "Everything the true Christian has is to be regarded as a good possessed in common with everyone else. All Christians should be ready and eager to come to the help of the needy… and of their neighbors in want" (Roman Catechism 1, 10, 27). A Christian is a steward of the Lord's goods (Cf. Lk 16:1, 3). (CCC 226) It means making good use of created things: faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him: My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you. My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you (St. Nicholas of Flue; cf. Mt 5:29-30; 16:24-26).   

(Next question: What is the purpose of private property?)