CHAPTER 10

Chapter 10

Respect
For Justice
and Truth
Understanding Justice
The cardinal virtue of justice means to give to
God and other people what is due to them by
right.

Justice is governed by three commandments:

Seventh: “You shall not steal”
Tenth: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods”
Eighth: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”

Understanding Justice
 What is the common good?
The “sum total of social conditions that allow people, either as groups
or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily”
(Gaudium et Spes, 26, quoted in CCC, 1906).

Understanding Justice
Four Categories of Justice
1. Commutative: Respects the equal human dignity of others involved
in the exchange of goods, services, and even ideas.
2. Distributive: Seeks to ensure that all people have fair access to the
goods of creation.
3. Legal: Governs what individuals owe a society as a whole.
4. Social: An overarching term that includes the other types of justice.

Understanding Justice
Understanding Justice
 Social Justice
The form of justice that
applies the Gospel message
of Jesus Christ to the
structures, systems, and
laws of society in order to
protect the dignity of
persons and guarantee the
rights of individuals.

The Social Justice Doctrine of the Church

Social Justice Doctrine of the
Catholic Church

Principles Guidelines
Criteria for for
for
Judgment
Reflection Action
The Social Justice Doctrine of the Church
Seven Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

1. Life and Dignity of the Human Person

2. Call to Family, Community, and Participation
3. Rights and Responsibilities
4. Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
5. The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
6. Solidarity
7. Care for God's Creation

The Social Justice Doctrine of the Church

Coveting outlaws the following:
• Greed: Desire to accumulate unlimited goods.
• Avarice: The passionate desire for riches and the
power that comes from them.
• Envy: Sadness over another person’s possessions
and the inordinate desire to get the possessions
for oneself, even using unjust means.

The Allegory of Avarice

Jacopo Ligozzi (1547-1627
The Seventh and Tenth Commandments
 What did Jesus say about wealth?
Gospel Passage Message about Wealth
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and
give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,
follow me.”
Matthew 19:24 “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a
needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Luke 12:15 Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for
though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the
other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and mammon.”

The Seventh and Tenth Commandments

Assignment
Some have called
covetousness the sin of all
sins because desiring
something for yourself that
belongs to another could
lead to the temptation of
committing the other sins;
theft, adultery, killing, lying.
Do you agree that
covetousness is the most
serious sin? Support your
answer with three examples.
 Vices against the Virtue of Truth
Duplicity: being deceptive or
misleading
Simulation: hiding something by
pretense
Hypocrisy: false claim of having
admirable principles, beliefs, or
feelings
James Tissot (1836-1902), “Curses Against the Pharisees

The Eighth Commandment

The gravity of a lie depends on four
factors (CCC, 2484):
1. The nature of the truth that it distorts
2. The circumstances
3. The intentions of the one who lies
4. The harm suffered by the victims of the lie

The Eighth Commandment

Sins against Eighth Commandment
• False witness and perjury
• Failing to respect the reputation of others
• Encouraging others to do evil
• Boasting and bragging
• Irony

The Eighth Commandment

The sacramental seal refers to the secrecy priests
are bound to keep regarding any sins confessed to
them.

It would be a serious offense for a

priest-confessor to reveal in any
way anything he heard in the
confessional.

The Eighth Commandment

Responsibility of the News Media
Citizens have the right to
information based on
truth, freedom, and the
virtues of justice and
solidarity. Because the
media have a powerful
role in forming public
opinion, they have a duty
to communicate relevant
information honestly.
The Eighth Commandment
Responsibility of the Government

Government officials
must also defend and
safeguard the just and
free flow of
information. They
must protect the rights
of citizens to their
good names and to
privacy.
The Eighth Commandment
 Art Reflects Life and Truth
“Through the profound emotional
encounter with art we engage with Truth
incarnated in a way that is below and
beyond analysis and explication. This
encounter with Truth is valid at the
deepest level of our humanity, and when
we participate in this a little corner of our
darkness is enlightened.”
Fr. Dwight Longnecker

Hans III Jordaens, “Kunst- und Raritätenkabinett”, c. 1630

The Eighth Commandment
1. Appreciate the gift of being human.

2. Use your Intellect

3. Look to law to guide your freedom.

4. Imitate Jesus. Nine Steps for

Living a Moral Life
5. Form, inform, and obey your conscience.

6. Repent and seek forgiveness when you sin.

7. Love God above all else.

8. Love yourself.

9. Love your neighbor. What it means to live in Christ

References
• http://www.ncregister.com/blog/longenecker
• https://catholiccharitiescamden.org/principles-of-catholic-social-
teaching/