YOUCAT Question n. 433 - How should we treat property that belongs to everyone?
(Youcat
answer) Vandalism and deliberately damaging public facilities and common
property are forms of theft, and restitution must be made.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 2409)
Even if it does not contradict the provisions of civil law, any form of
unjustly taking and keeping the property of others is against the seventh
commandment: thus, deliberate retention of goods lent or of objects lost;
business fraud; paying unjust wages; forcing up prices by taking advantage of
the ignorance or hardship of another (Cf. Deut 25:13-16; 24:14-15; Jas 5:4; Am
8:4-6). The following are also morally illicit: speculation in which one
contrives to manipulate the price of goods artificially in order to gain an
advantage to the detriment of others; corruption in which one influences the
judgment of those who must make decisions according to law; appropriation and
use for private purposes of the common goods of an enterprise; work poorly
done; tax evasion; forgery of checks and invoices; excessive expenses and
waste. Willfully damaging private or public property is contrary to the moral
law and requires reparation.
Reflecting and meditating
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 1867)
The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are "sins that cry to heaven": the blood
of Abel (Cf. Gen 4:10), the sin of the
Sodomites (Cf. Gen 18:20; 19:13), the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt (Cf.
Ex 3:7-10), the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan (Cf. Ex
20:20-22), injustice to the wage earner (Cf. Deut 24:14-15; Jas 5:4).
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