San Beda University-Rizal Senior High School
In moral
THEOLOGY 4
BATCH REVIEWER
Prepared and Compiled by 12-STEM 4, St. Hugo
ETHICS AND MORAL
THEOLOGY
What is Moral Theology?
“Christian ethics is that branch of
theology that studies human acts so as to
direct them to a loving vision of God
seen as our true happiness and final end.
This vision is attained by means of grace,
the virtues and the gifts, in the light of
revelation and reason.” This is the
definition of Servais Pinckaers O.P.,
rooted in the tradition of St Thomas
Aquinas.
Other definitions speak of “the moral law,
its imperatives and obligations”, or
“human acts as conformed to duty” or
“how Christian faith should shape
Christian life” as central in Christian
ethics. What advantages has Pinckaers’
definition over these others?
Moral theology is not merely philosophy
or philosophical ethics. It differs from the
moral writings of the great philosophers –
Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Kierkegaard, etc., in
that it starts from and continually
dialogues with Revelation. It is not merely
man working out how he should live his
life: What sort of a being is the human
person? What ought I to do? What can I
hope for? It includes this, but it is based
upon God's answers to man's questions.
God Himself has revealed to us certain
fundamental values, aims and laws
through the life of Christ, through the
Scriptures and the Church.
theology we are imbibing this divine
wisdom, applying it to daily life, but also
challenging it with novel situations. We
want to understand more deeply the
universal laws written into the human
constitution by God the Creator. Then,
by acting in accord with our given
nature, and God's will for us, we can fulfil
the purpose for which God created us.
What are the sources for the study of
Moral Theology?
As with Catholic theology in general,
moral theology is rooted in the sources of
Revelation (Scripture and Tradition) as
interpreted by the Church’s Magisterium.
But because moral theology applies the
principles flowing from Revelation to
many practical areas of life, in its
application it must draw upon various
human sciences (medicine, psychology,
philosophy, economics etc.)
DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON &
HUMAN FREEDOM
“The dignity of the human person is
rooted in his or her creation in the image
and likeness of God. Endowed with a
spiritual and immortal soul, intelligence
and free will, the human person is
ordered to God and called in soul and in
body to eternal beatitude.” CCC 1699-
1715
I. CREATION
In Genesis 1:26 in the Old Testament,
after ordering the chaos and bringing
forth the vegetation, fish, birds and
animals, God resolves to create a being
different from all of these:
"Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness; and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the
birds of the air, and over the cattle, and
over all the earth. So God created man
in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he
created them. And God blessed them
and said: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill
the earth and subdue it; and have
dominion over the fish of the sea and
over the birds of the air and over every
living thing that moves upon the face of
the earth."
This text gives us some fundamental
orientations for moral theology. Man is
different from the animals. He is given
stewardship of the earth. He is created in
two modalities, two sexes, male and
female: both are in God's image, and
they are complementary to one
another.
Man's likeness to God is rooted in his
spiritual nature. Unlike the animals, he is
an immortal spirit capable of knowing
and loving his Creator.
Human beings enjoy a twofold dignity:
1. Firstly, we have an intrinsic dignity as
human beings, made in the image and
likeness of God. Alone of all creation,
and different from the animal kingdom,
we have the capacity to know
God and to share the immortal divine life.
This dignity is made even more evident
by the fact of the Incarnation. God
could not become incarnate in a cow or
an ape, because they are not capable
of being inwardly divinized. But man is,
and when Christ rose from the dead and
ascended into heaven, it was our human
nature that he took into the Godhead, so
to speak. At the resurrection of the body
on the Last Day, our human flesh will
somehow be reconstituted, glorified, to
share with our souls in beatitude.
In this sense, Christianity is a very
materialistic, body-oriented religion,
compared to the eastern religions where
the physical world is but illusion. The
Incarnation and bodily Resurrection of
the Word brings home to us the fact that
God plans to redeem our bodies as well
as our souls.
"Every human being is therefore
intrinsically valuable, surpassing in dignity
the entire material universe, a being to
be revered and respected from the very
beginning of its existence." (W.E.May,
p.23) It follows that a human being
cannot therefore be treated as an
object of use, or merely as a means to an
end. The only adequate response to the
immense value of each human being, is
that of love.
2. Secondly, there is a dignity which man
can acquire as he grows: the dignity of
intelligent and free persons who freely
choose to shape their lives and actions in
accord with the truth. Vatican II teaches
that: "The highest norm of human life is
divine law - eternal objective and
universal - whereby God orders, directs
and governs the entire universe, and all
the ways of the human community
according to a plan conceived in
wisdom and love." (DH 3) As man lives
according to the divine truth, he grows in
stature and dignity.
II. HUMAN FREEDOM
Freedom exists on various levels. In
physical terms it means freedom from
coercion and constraint, such as the wild
animals enjoy, "Born free." In social terms
it means the absence of social demands
and restrictions, thus the freedom to do
as one pleases. Inevitably life in family or
community demands some sacrifice of
this freedom in order to accommodate
the needs of others.
 Personal freedom concerns the inner
man: his ability to shape his own life, free
from psychological determinisms and
limiting phobias.
It is a freedom to love the good, to be at
peace, to shape one's own life in
accordance with truth.
Since the days of the French Revolution
(1789), "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" has
been the cry of our age. The cry was for
freedom from the oppression and
inequality of the Ancien Régime, but the
result was terrible bloodshed,
dictatorship and the Terror.
The cry of peoples for political freedom,
for independence and self-
determination, has been one of the
hallmarks of our age: the Czechs from
Habsburg Vienna, Indians from London,
the South African blacks from apartheid,
Balts from Moscow, Kosovans from
Belgrade, East Timorese from Indonesia.
But what to do once freedom has been
achieved? How to organize a State that
is just and benevolent? That is often more
difficult than the independence struggle.
The use and preservation of freedom
may prove more problematic than
obtaining it.
The right to religious and personal
freedom was recognized in the Vatican
II document Dignitatis Humanae, and in
such texts as the U.N. Declaration on
Human Rights (1948). However to every
right there is a corresponding duty. The
right to freedom entails the duty to use
our freedom responsibly, the duty to seek
the truth, and the duty to ensure the
proper freedom of others.
Freedom is a gift, but it is also a task. We
need "freedom from our own inauthentic
selves: inner liberation from ignorance,
fears, anxieties, evil inclinations, bad
habits, prejudices, psychic compulsions,
obsessions and the like. Then we can
think about freedom from undue
pressures from others: like useless
regulations, bad example, threats, unjust
social structures and so on." (Lobo,
p.318). Inner freedom is the most basic,
but it usually requires some degree of
external freedom in order to realize it.
Freedom from is not an end in itself. It
leads on to freedom for: freedom for the
good, the true and the beautiful, for the
love of God and the service of others.
Freedom must be in the truth and for the
truth, not freedom from the truth.
"You will know the truth, and the truth
shall set you free" said Jesus. "If the Son
shall make you free, you shall be free
indeed." Jesus is the example of the
supremely free man, untouched
by external pressures. He is able to break
down all the communication barriers. He
is not afraid to associate with the
unclean, to touch the lepers, to
command the forces of nature, to take
authority over the devils. He does not
mince his words to the mighty of the
land, nor does he dilute truth to curry
favor with his listeners. He is deeply
compassionate to sinners, yet his
compassion is not soft but always
challenges us to reform.
Christian freedom is first and foremost the
liberation from sin and evil: the freedom
which reconciliation with God brings, to
live in grace and share God's life. This
brings in its train the liberation from
poverty, oppression and disease, from
many physical and social evils, as human
beings in new-found solidarity work to
construct the Kingdom of God.
The freedom to sin is an illusory freedom,
because it diminishes our freedom for the
future. The man who mutilates himself by
severing his own fingers, deprives himself
of many abilities in the future: he will
never be able to hold certain tools, grasp
things, play many musical instruments
etc. What sane man would do such a
thing? Yet similarly, whoever mutilates his
own personality by miserliness, for
example, robs himself of much friendship
and joy - the joy of generously helping
others in need and experiencing their
gratitude, the sense of having
completed worthwhile acts of charity in
the world, the satisfaction of the divine
blessing.
The choice of evil itself limits our future
freedom. Human relationships become
constrained, we lose our inner peace.
Think of the liar, who has told so many
different versions of events to different
people that he is constantly trying to
worm out of tricky situations or the
adulterer, anxious lest word of his
misdeeds gets back to his wife, should
some past mistresses choose to take her
revenge.
The criminal can never fully trust his
underworld collaborators, because they
may kill him for the booty, or turn informer
to the police. In each case, the
wrongdoer’s freedom of operation is
severely limited. And can they sleep
easily at night?
DECALOGUE
(1st-3rd Commandments)
LOVE OF GOD
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT (CCC 2083-
2141)
'I am the Lord your God, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage. You shall have no
other gods before me. You shall not
make for yourself a graven image, or any
likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath;
you shall not bow down to them or serve
them.' (Ex. 20:2-5)
The First Commandment instructs us to
love God above all created persons and
things, and with all dimensions of our
being. Of course, love cannot be
commanded. It is an invitation. This is a
merciful ordinance, enjoined upon us by
our Creator. Only He can fully satisfy the
yearnings of the human heart for a love
which never fails. There is a "God-shaped
hole" inside each one of us. Some
attempt to fill up that inner longing with
pleasures and entertainments, drugs or
possessions, fame or power. We may
anaesthetize the pain of being human
by denial of the truth, but we shall not
find satisfaction.
The Creator made us in his own "image
and likeness", to be with the Holy Trinity
for evermore. Only if we love Him and
grow to be like Him, can we share His
perfect fulfilment and joy for all eternity.
We must not expect God to change to
suit our tastes.
The First Commandment is to love God
above all created things. Because He is
infinite and almighty, and gave us life
itself, He is entitled to claim first place in
our lives, in a way no lover or political
messiah ever can. In an analogy to the
solar system, He is the sun, we are but
planets, and if we allow our lives to
revolve around Him we shall find our true
purpose. In contrast, the unconverted
person either behaves as if he himself
were the sun and expects everybody
else to revolve around him; alternatively,
he idolizes his girlfriend or career or
money, and goes into orbit like a moon
around them as planet.
The First Commandment helps to liberate
us from all idolatries and all lesser gods. It
commands us to fix our hearts where
they will not be disappointed and frees
us from worshipping all that cannot
satisfy.
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT (CCC
2142-67)
'You shall not take the name of the Lord
your God in vain.' (Exod. 20:7.)
The Jews did not and still do not
pronounce the sacred name God
revealed to Moses, the tetragrammaton
(four letters) YHWH. Some of them were
scandalized at the Jerusalem Bible's free
use of this as Yahweh. In an strictly
orthodox synagogue, Gentiles may not
even be allowed to look at the scrolls on
which the sacred name is written. It is
never pronounced. The reader will
always substitute Adonai (my lord) or
Elohim (god pl.) for the name of God. The
Jews were used to circumlocutions like El-
Shaddai (the Almighty) or El-Elyon (the
Most High) out of reverence for the
sacred name.
The pronunciation of YHWH is uncertain.
In Jesus' time, only the Jewish High Priest
uttered the Sacred Name, on one or two
occasions per year in Temple worship. It
was passed down in the oral tradition of
the priestly and scribal circles, and is now
lost.
In the New Testament the most sacred
name is Jesus, Yeshua or Yehoshua,
which means "Yahweh saves" - since He
is the one who is to save his people from
their sins, as Gabriel said at the
Annunciation. Few habits are more
objectionable than using the Holy Name
as a casual swear word. This is blasphemy
in the strict sense, much worse than bad
language which involves the crude
sexual terms. It is something which
Christians should constantly protest
against, just as Muslims would protest if
the name of Allah were used as a swear
word.
To say "Oh, God!" as a prayer at a time of
shock or danger is justifiable. But to keep
saying "Oh, God!" casually is venially
sinful, and gives bad example. We should
only invoke God in prayer, blessing or
adoration, not as a casual exclamation.
Perhaps this was why an older
generation favoured "By Jove!" and "Eee,
by gum!"
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT (CCC 2168-
95)
'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it
holy.
Six days you shall labour, and do all your
work;
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the
Lord your God;
in it you shall not do any work.' (Ex. 20:8-
10)
"Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, it
is the day of Christians, it is our day,"
wrote St Jerome. "It is Easter which returns
week by week, celebrating Christ's
victory over sin and death, the fulfilment
in Him of the first creation, and the dawn
of the 'new creation'. It is domingo (Sp.),
domenica (It.), κυριακη (kyriake, Gk.) -
the Lord's day. In Russian it is
воскресенье (voskresenye), literally
"resurrection". And in Polish, niedziela, "no
work"
In Hebrew the verb shabbat means "to
rest." The Saturday Sabbath begins at
sunset on Friday. In the main Jerusalem
market you can watch the Hasidic rabbis
come round to make sure the stallholders
have ceased trading and have
everything packed away before the
Sabbath begins. They don't mince their
words with any who are slow about
closing . . .
The Jewish Sabbath marks the seventh
day when God "rested" (Gen.2:2) from his
work of creation, to contemplate joyfully
its beauty. "God blessed the seventh day
and made it holy,” thus endowing time
itself with a kind of "sacred architecture."
The Sabbath interrupts the often
oppressive rhythm of work and expresses
the dependence of man and the
cosmos upon God. The seventh day
consecrated to God is a constant
reminder to man that the universe and
history belong not to him, but to his
Maker. Unless man remembers this, he
cannot properly serve in the world as a
co-worker with the Creator.
We know from the Gospels that Jewish
Sabbath regulations were detailed and
onerous. Orthodox Judaism today
continues the tradition derived from the
Pharisees: no use of motor vehicles or
electricity switches, no carrying things
from house to house, unless the entire
area is fenced in by wire as a single
dwelling.
DECALOGUE
(4th – 10th Commandments)
FAMILY AND SEXUAL ETHICS
The family is the "original cell of social life"
(CCC 2207). The authority, stability and
relationships formed within the family,
give a young person the foundations for
"freedom, security and fraternity" within
society. "Family life is an initiation into
society."
When family life is healthy, the whole of
society is likely to be healthy. But when
family life is sick, that disease slowly
affects the entire society and the
Church. The family is the natural unit or
cell for bringing children into the world,
and rearing them in the love of God and
their neighbour. To be human was, until
recently, to have been begotten by man
and woman. Even now, someone has still
to supply the gametes!
The whole of Catholic sexual ethics has
this purpose: to strengthen and protect
family life and love, to build relationships
which are permanent, stable and loving,
and which afford human happiness and
fulfilment according to God's will for us.
The Family in God's Plan
The Bible begins with the creation of
Adam and Eve for one another, and the
command: Go forth and multiply. It ends
with the wedding feast of the lamb. The
marriage theme runs consistently
through the entire Scripture.
CCC 2201 points out that "the consent of
the spouses" is the bedrock of marriage
and family life. It lists two purposes: "the
good of the spouses and the procreation
and education of children." Notice that
the family comes prior to any State or
public body. The family enjoys God-
given rights, which the State must
respect, does not bestow and cannot
withdraw.
The Christian family is "the domestic
Church", ecclesiola domestica (CCC
2204). The father is called to exercise a
priestly role for the benefit of his wife and
children. He has spiritual responsibility for
the welfare of their souls. CCC 2205 calls
for daily family prayer and meditation on
the Scriptures. The crisis in the Church
today is not fundamentally a crisis of
vocations to the priesthood: it is a crisis of
Catholic family life.
The essential qualities of Christian
marriage
According to Augustine God instituted
marriage for three reasons: proles, fides,
sacramentum i.e. the good of offspring,
the blessing of mutual fidelity and love,
and indissolubility following from its
sacred symbolism, signifying the union of
Christ with his Church. Natural marriage
enjoys the first two goods, but only
Christian marriage has the third, and is
raised to a new degree of excellence by
it.
Trent listed three reasons for marriage;
firstly, the association and
companionship, mutual help in facing
the trials of life and old age; secondly the
purpose of procreation, to raise up
children, especially in the true faith;
thirdly, as a remedium concupiscentiae,
a remedy for concupiscence which
allows one to avoid sins of lust.
In Casti Connubii (1930) Pius XI went
further. He included conjugal love as
part of the good of fidelity. This love must
go beyond mutual help and have as its
primary purpose that the spouses help
each other grow in virtue and holiness.
He did not see marriage as incidental
only to offspring, but implied that
Christian marriage is in itself a vocation
and way of holiness.
Vatican II in GS 47-52 presented an
integrated view of marriage and family.
They are a "community of love."
Conjugal love "is uniquely expressed
and perfected through the marital act."
The fruitfulness of marriage is the
fulfilment of this act.
The Nature and Purpose of Sexuality:
CCC 2331-36
To be human is to exist either as male
or as female. We are sexual beings by
nature, existing in one of these two
modes. Sexuality urges us out of isolation
into the company of others. We find
others attractive; we look for a suitable
and trusted companion. Most of the
human race finds their closest
relationships in family bonds – of love
and of blood. There is an old saying:
'You choose your own friends, but God
gives you your family. Our families
challenge us to love in a more Christ-like
way than do our friends, selected to suit
ourselves.
It is not good for man to be alone. Man
was made for community – family,
friends, social groups. Even the hermit
monk is spiritually bonded to humanity
by his intercessory prayers. Man and
woman were made in the image of
God, the image of the Trinity, the Divine
Community. In the mystery of the
Godhead, the love of the Father and
the Son is so powerful that it is a Third
Divine Person, the Holy Spirit "who
proceeds from the Father and the Son."
"The primordial model of the family is to
be sought in God Himself, in the
Trinitarian mystery of His life. . . The divine
We is the eternal pattern of the human
"we". (JPII, Letter to Families)
In Matrimony, the cooperation of
husband and wife in the creation of new
life mirrors in a dim way the fruitful Divine
Love. Marriage is a covenant in which
man and woman "give themselves to
each other and accept each other."
They form a communion of life and love,
and by their loving can bring into
existence a third person, their child. As
'two become one flesh' in sexual union,
by God's gift a new human being of
infinite value can come into being. That
child will continue to live for all eternity. In
sexual union, therefore, man and
woman become co-creators with God
of a new human life. He infuses an
immortal soul into that which is
conceived. The child bears
characteristics of both its father and its
mother. A child is the greatest gift a
couple can give to one another, and
one of God's greatest gifts to them both.
"The children . . . should consolidate that
[marriage] covenant, enriching and
deepening the conjugal communion of
the father and mother." The family is the
first human society, as we have already
noted.
It follows from this that sexual
intercourse is a most sacred and precious
act, worthy of immense reverence. In its
potential to call into existence a new
human person, destined to live for ever,
it is an act which flows towards the shores
of eternity. Every one of us originates
from such a union of our father and
mother. One commentator noted that
when God wants to breathe new life into
the world or into the Church, He does not
start by forming committees. Instead, He
sends the Holy Spirit and puts a generous
love into the hearts of His sons and
daughters, a love that bears fruit in
offspring. Every baby is a sign of hope for
the future of the world, and of God's
confidence in mankind.
Every new child brings into the world a
particular and unrepeatable "image and
likeness" of God Himself. Therefore, God
is present in human fatherhood and
motherhood in a very special way, as the
source of this "image and likeness of
Himself." This exists primarily in the
immortal soul, secondarily in the genetic
constitution. Begetting is a continuation
of the great act of creation. For this
reason it should take place only in the
graced environment of the Sacrament
of Matrimony.
Man is "the only creature on earth
whom God willed for his own sake." Every
person who exists has been willed to exist
by God. You may have seen the car
sticker: "Drive carefully, most people are
caused by accidents." Amusing, but in
fact totally untrue. We may make
"mistakes", but God does not. "At the
moment of conception itself, man is
already destined to eternity in God" (JP II
ibid.)
Parents desire to have children to start
or to expand their family. But, like God,
they should also will the child for its own
sake. A child is a gift from God, not a
possession of the parents. Every child is
one for whose redemption Christ shed his
blood on the Cross. “A soul is worth a
world.” A child is only on loan for
eighteen years to his/her parents: then
s/he must make his/her own way in the
world.
The Vocation to Chastity:
The primary virtue of Jesus' teaching
was charity. After charity it was chastity
which most sharply distinguished the
early Christians from their heathen
neighbors. Open any tabloid newspaper
to see that the modern world is obsessed
by sex and its abuses. One thinker wrote:
Either a society keeps control of sex, or
sex will take control of that society. If you
want proof of that, look around you.
The Church too is often accused of
being obsessed with sexual sin. In fact,
many pulpits have been remarkably
silent on the subject for years. On the
occasions when the Vatican produces a
document, with say 120 paragraphs of
theology, psychology and pastoral
reflection, the Press reduce it to a banner
headline: 'Pope slams the Pill', or 'Pope
condemns gays'. By carefully ignoring
the other 119 paragraphs, the secular
media give the impression that the
Church is uncaring and condemnatory.
That is why it is important to read
documents like Familiaris Consortio in
their full original version, not by quotation
alone.
Dating: How Far Can We Go?
 This is a common question from
teenagers. In fact the question itself
shows a wrong attitude - a type of
casuistry: what can we do without
sinning seriously? A full-hearted following
of Christ means that we ask: Lord, what
sort of person do you wish me to be? To
be true disciples of Christ we must
behave chastely.
One's actions should be directed by a
pure heart, not by secret lust. The
question itself is often symptomatic of a
mindset which is manipulative: how far
can we exploit the pleasures of each
other's bodies without committing sin?
The attitude is already unchaste.
The question is better phrased as: what
gestures of affection are appropriate for
dating or courting couples? It is difficult
to give exact guidelines. Members of a
much older generation were told that to
kiss for longer than three seconds was a
mortal sin! Whether one was allowed to
resume within a minute or an hour I am
not sure. It sounds rather like the parking
restriction signs.
The important point is that those who
are dating should behave in such a way
as not to provoke sexual arousal of the
other. That is because sexual passions
once aroused have their own inner
dynamic towards intercourse. There are
actually changes in brain chemistry
which diminish the influence of the
rational will, when the male is aroused.
Signs of affection should reflect the true
level of the relationship – holding hands,
dancing, the lighter forms of kissing.
Those touches which lead to arousal of
either sex – close body contact, fondling
the breasts, petting the genitals,
passionate kissing, oral-genital contact –
should be left to within marriage.
Sex is a body language. Other human
gestures also express different levels of
intimacy – the formal handshake, the
hug, the slap on the back, the
continental kiss on both cheeks. For
example, imagine I have spent an hour
telling you how much I hate my cousin
when he suddenly walks into the room. If
I stand up, throw my arms around him
and embrace him warmly, you will rightly
regard me as a two-faced hypocrite. My
inner attitude and my gestures of
greeting (my body language) do not
correspond. The same is true of kisses and
caresses – they are a lie if the friendship is
not deep. Perhaps they are engaging in
mutual pleasure-seeking, an égoisme à
deux with zero commitment. In that case
the couple are doing each other a
disservice.
In a genuine friendship, if the erotic
component is allowed to roar out of
control, the couple will feel passionately
attracted to one another by physical
desire. This may blot out other ways of
growing to know and respect one
another. It substitutes erotic passion for
genuine friendship. Couples who
prematurely engage in intercourse have
then compromised their ability to make
an objective judgement as to whether
they are truly suited as lifelong partners.
Often they move in to live together, using
contraceptives and delaying marriage
to some later date.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE AND HEALTH
Human life is the is the greatest mystery
for all human science because we know
God in an incomplete manner
only. Human life is a “spark” of God’s
nature.
FIFTH COMMANDMENT
'You shall not kill.' (Exod. 20:13)
 The right to human life is the most
fundamental human right. It is the pre-
requisite for all other rights. Unless it is
scrupulously guarded by society,
nobody is safe, and all other human
rights are in jeopardy. Totalitarian
regimes control their subjects by means
of the secret police knocking at the door
at 3 am.
Christian ethics promotes a culture of
life, and opposes a "culture of death".
Life is a divine gift and must be respected
as such. Sadly the loss of the sense of the
Fatherhood of God brings in its train the
trampling-down of the universal
brotherhood of man. One ought to not
annihilate life, but to protect it. One
should not manipulate life, but enhance
it. One must not damage life, but
improve it.
Nevertheless biological human life is not
the ultimate value. It is a fundamental
good, an immense good, but it is not the
only good, nor is it an absolute good
because man is a being-for-eternity. By
martyrdom and self-sacrifice in some
noble cause, men bear witness to the
fact that there exist values greater than
physical life itself: love, truth, faith, justice.
Many in history have chosen to die
fighting, rather than endure defeat, his
honour or slavery. Everybody at some
point must face death. What does it
profit a Christian who renounces his faith
under persecution in order to save his life,
but loses his very soul by his apostasy?
Therefore we speak of human life as a
penultimate, not the ultimate, reality.
When we speak of the sanctity of
human life, therefore, we speak of it in
this context, as a gift from God. Man is
the steward of his bodily life and health,
not the owner. We do not have total
dominion over our own lives or even our
own bodies. We are obliged to care for
our physical and mental health, and to
restore injured health if possible in a
responsible way. (CCC 2288-90) We must
each one day render account to God
for the way in which we have treated our
bodies and minds and those of others.
Suffering And Death (CCC 1006-
1014,1020,1681-1683,2299)
People advocate euthanasia often
because they can see no purpose in
suffering. To them it is irredeemable and
pointless. As Christians know that
suffering can be horrible. It is a most
Christian duty to reduce pain where
possible. Nevertheless we also believe
that suffering can in a mysterious way be
redemptive. This is the message of
Calvary. Jesus did much by his teaching
and healing, but He accomplished most
of all by dying on the Cross.
The incurable sick teach us that we
need to care. They remind us of the most
basic things in life, and give us the
chance to gain our salvation, by 'faith,
fruitful in good works'. Sickness
challenges the community to unite and
show love.
A society which worships health and
strength, youth and power, is often
unwilling to be reminded of suffering and
death. It would like to get rid of the
problem, cleanly and clinically. In doing
so it deprives itself of experiencing one of
the most meaningful parts of life. The
dying sometimes seem able to focus a
'stream of grace' towards those around
them. You yourselves may remember the
things that a dying patient has said to
you, and how it is a privilege to be with
them at that time.
The euthanasiast view sees none of this.
It sees human life as only pleasure and
pain. Pleasure is to be maximized and
pain avoided.
 Deep in our Catholic tradition is the
concept of the bona mors, the good
death, the holy death, the summit and
crown of a good life, prepared for
throughout life. Our society, however,
cannot see the sense in death. Its hope
of eternal life is weak. It wants not the
bona mors (the good death) but the
bella mors (the nice death), rapid, easy
and gentle on the survivors. So death
comes to be closeted away, clinical and
painless.
But the society which sees no meaning
in death risks depriving people of their
own deaths. Christianity sees death as
part of life. Secularism sees death as
something coming after we have lived:
we die after our lives have ended, rather
than experiencing death as a part of life.
The taboo and conspiracy about death
risks depriving people of their own
deaths. The sick person is not told, but
suspects he/she is dying. The family know
but do not want to upset the sick person,
and are too embarrassed to talk about it.
The patient would like to ask, but is afraid
of upsetting the family. Atthis very time
when they need to face death together,
when they could so much support each
other, they are divided by untruth. A
wonderful opportunity is lost.
From the point of view of those caring
for the sick, I want to uphold the right of
the patient to be informed – provided
he/she is in a frame of mind which can
cope with it. We have a right to know we
are dying. We need time to prepare to
meet God, and to settle outstanding
relationships, etc., here on earth.
So while the moral arguments turn on
the issue of when the omission of a
particular treatment is morally right or
wrong, we need a full appreciation of
the Christian mystery to see the
significance of suffering, and how to help
the dying to die.
RESPECT FOR PROPERTY AND SOCIAL
JUSTICE
INTRODUCTION
The Seventh and the Tenth
Commandments both deal with
commands about property. Both
Commandments command us to give to
all men what belongs to them and to
respect their property and belongings.
The Basic Elements of Catholic Social
Teaching
1. SOLIDARITY (Sollecitudo Rei
Socialis, [Pope John Paul II,
1988] 39; Christian Freedom
and Liberation (C.D.F.(1986)
89-91).
Solidarity indicates a link and a
reciprocal obligation between the
individual and society. Man with his
brothers is obliged to contribute to the
common good of society at all its levels.
This duty of solidarity flows from the
dignity of each individual, created in
God's image, and his consequent rights
and duties. No man is an island. Man
grows and develops in relation to others,
and he in his turn must show solidarity
with others.
The principle of solidarity is opposed to
all forms of individualism which denies
man's social nature, and would see in
society only a utilitarian grouping which
balances mechanically the interests of
individuals. 'There is no such thing as
society' is a statement which typifies the
individualist ethos. The principle of
solidarity also denies the tenets of
collectivism (e.g. Marxism) which strips
man of his personal dignity and reduces
him to a mere object of social and
economic processes.
 2. THE COMMON GOOD ( Pacem in
Terris, [Pope John XXIII, 1963] 53-59).
The common good of a State, or of all
humanity, consists in the complex of
institutions and conditions which permit
the individual and smaller social units to
attain their divinely ordered purposes,
collaborating in an ordered manner. We
should act for the common good, not
according to selfish individualism. The
common good usually takes priority over
personal interests.
One can illustrate this by comparing the
State or society to an organism, such as
an olive tree. The individual cells die and
are continually replaced by new ones~
but the organism as a whole lives on.
Moreover, the parts of the tree, its leaves
and roots – are not isolated parts. They
come together to form a whole, greater
than the sum of the parts. Leaves and
roots serve the whole. Similarly, the
individuals in society are not isolated
units but form a spiritual and ethical unity.
They should serve the whole.
Organisms do not let their individual
members perish but feed and protect
them. Only in extreme necessity is one
sacrificed to save the whole. Society too
should not desert or abandon its
members but nourish and care for them.
On the other hand, the individual does
have certain inalienable rights which
society can never override. The dignity of
the person must be protected against all
forms of totalitarianism. Man is never
merely a member of a State or
company. The common good prevails
over the individual good only so far as a
man has obligations towards a certain
social organism i.e. insofar as he is a
member of it, an employee in a factory,
a citizen in a town, a subscriber to an
association. In particular, the common
good of an earthly organisation must
give way to supernatural goods. 'The
supernatural salvation of a single
individual is more precious than the
natural good of the whole universe', St.
Thomas Aquinas (I-II 112,9).
In the ultimate analysis, the purpose of
society is to perfect the human
personality. Human society is for man,
not man for society. Persons are the
active and responsible subj ects of social
life. Society has a divinely willed function,
but only man is willed by God as an end
in himself.
3. The Principle of SUBSIDIARITY
Pope Pius XI gave the classical
definition in 1931:
Just as it is wrong to withdraw from the
individual and commit to a group what
private enterprise and industry can
accomplish, so too it is an injustice, a
grave evil and a disturbance of right
order, for a larger and higher association
to arrogate to itself functions which can
be performed efficiently by smaller and
lower societies. This is a fundamental
principle of social philosophy, unshaken
and unchangeable. Of its very nature
the true aim of all society shouId be to
help members of the social body, but
never to destroy or absorb them.
(Quadragesimo Anno, 79)
Families, local associations and
professional bodies should be allowed to
fulfil their natural roles and not have their
functions taken over by the State. The
principle of subsidiarity emphasises
personal autonomy. It protects the
individual and small group from being
taken over by larger organisms. It
opposes State-centralising tendencies.
Higher social entities (e.g. the State)
should intervene in the affairs of smaller
bodies only when help is needed, or for
largescale tasks which only a larger
organisation can tackle. The State has
the right to intervene in family affairs only
when parents are seriously neglecting or
are incapable of their duties (cf.
Gaudium et Spes, 86, Gravissimum
Educationis, 3). See also Mater et
Magistra 117 & 152 (Pope John XXIII,
1961).
The Question Of Private Property (CCC
2402-2406)
Let us now turn to two practical
problems in the area of social morality.
the first of these is the idea of private
property. Consider this story. A aid the needy: 'You are not making a gift
Benedictine priest was working in a poor
village mission in South America. Most of
his parishioners had very little land. They
often went hungry, suffering malnutrition
and starvation. One day a wealthy
landowner who had large herds of cattle
nearby came up to him angrily to
complain. He'd had one of his cows
stolen and killed for food. He suspected
one of the village families. 'Well,' said the
priest, 'they probably had nothing else to
eat, and were starving. You've got
thousands, and you wouldn't miss just
one.' 'I thought the commandments said
'Thou shalt not steal'' retorted the rich
man, 'but there you go, justifying theft!'
And he marched off in a fury,
threatening to call in the military police,
convinced the priest was a communist
subversive.
On that reckoning the Church Fathers,
like SS. Basil, Ambrose, John Chrysostom
and Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas,
Pope Paul VI and many others would
rank as card-carrying communists.
‘If a person is in extreme necessity, he
has the right to take from the riches of
others what he himself needs’ (Vatican II,
Gaudium et Spes, 69). If life, health or
liberty are dangerously at risk, a man
may take the food, clothing or fuel he
and his family desperately need,
provided there is no other way.
St. Basil (4th century) had some straight
talking for the rich landowners of his day.
He accused them of keeping for
themselves what was intended for the
common good. God is not unjust, he
continued. He has made them rich so
that they may help the poor, and receive
from God the reward of benevolence.
But to fail in this is robbery, even murder.
St Ambrose likewise warned the rich to
of your possessions to the poor person.
You are handing over to him what is his.
For what has been given in common for
the use of all? you have arrogated to
yourself. The world is given to all, not only
to the rich'. (Quoted by Pope Paul VI in
PopuIorum Progressio, 23 (1967))
Hence we are stewards, not possessors.
of this world's goods. Ownership is always
conditional, never absolute. The right to
own property is a secondary right. It is
secondary to the right to life and the
basic needs of others. Our possessions,
talents and time are all given to us for the
building of God's Kingdom. They are not
absolutely ours. Ultimately they are
God's. One day we shall be judged on
how we have used them.
Marxists ought to consider that
common ownership has been practised
longest not under their godless regimes,
but in Catholic monasteries and religious
orders - a voluntary religious communism,
flowing from Christian charity, not Soviet
diktat.
This does not mean, however, that we
follow Marxist theory and abolish private
property. This causes more problems
than it solves. Private property is in
accord with natural and divine law. It is
the normal method by which the world's
goods are shared out. The Church has
vigorously defended the individual's right
to own private property against Marxist
and Socialist schemes for its confiscation.
It may well be that in the Garden of
Eden, before the Fall, there was no need
for private property – everything was
equally shared. Sadly, in this world,
private property is necessary for various
reasons. If everything were held in
common, things would be misused or left
damaged. Quarrels over use would be
frequent. Some people don't work unless
they have to, and many work better if
they have a direct share in the fruits of
their labour.
The right to own some private property
is essential for human freedom. It
guarantees man a personal sphere of
action and independence, in which to
develop, grow, care for a family and
exercise his divinely-given stewardship
and responsibility. Remove this right and
man is left naked before the forces of the
all-possessing totalitarian state. It gives
rise to lively economic exchange.
Providence has divided the riches of
nature unequally among the peoples in
order to encourage the formation of
bonds of love between peoples of
different countries and races. Merchants
should not be ambassadors of greed but
of understanding between peoples. The
institution of private property offers man
the chance of giving unselfishly to others.
For if everything belongs to everyone,
none could practise almsgiving or
lending. State handouts are cold and
impersonal in comparison to personal
charity.
Our usual English error is to regard
property rights as absolute. We forget the
social responsibility inherent in ownership.
'Hands off, it's mine!' Laws are often
made by the rich to protect their
property, at the expense of the poor. Not
so long ago, Englishmen were hanged
for sheepstealing or transported for
stealing loaves of bread, even if their
families were starving. Even today,
modern English law enshrines a weird set
of priorities. Murder a baby in its mother's
womb: nothing can be done. Corrupt a
couple's children with explicit 'sex
education' in some council boroughs:
they have no redress. Seduce a man's
wife and wreck his marriage: perfectly
legal. But steal £10 from a man's wallet,
and you will soon find yourself before the
magistrates. Property is protected. Life,
morality and family are not.
Governments which distribute wealth
unfairly undermine their own authority. By
disobeying God, they reduce their claim
upon the obedience of their citizens.
Aquinas noted that a bad or immoral law
is an act of violence. Grossly unjust
governments are no better than
brigands or pirates (cf. St. Augustine, City
Of God IV, 4 ) .
Labour Over Capital (CCC 2426-2436)
Now let us move on to another area of
social concern: the question of human
work and money. Consider these three
pictures:
- One world: City boardrooms and
stockbrokers' offices, champagne bars
and fat cigars; bowler-hatted gents in
pin-striped suits, carrying the Financial
Times and crowding the Tube trains.
Millions of pounds to be made or lost in a
morning's dealing.
- Another world: the deafening noise of
ring frames spinning in the mill. Oil and
grease, fluff in the air; bales hoisted up
from lorries; feeding armfuls of fibre into
the card; piecing up and doffing and
pushing the full spindles along in little
trucks; the brew-up every two hours and
the Thursday wage-packet.
- A third world: the DHSS queue, the
Jobcentre interview, the fortnightly Giro
in the Post; long, boring, angry days;
staying in bed all morning, with nothing
to get up for, wishing the world would go
away; another quarrel with the wife;
another letter, 'Dear Sir, We regret that at
present we have no vacancies for the
type of employment you are seeking. .
.'.
Three worlds in one. One world divided
by the clash between the forces of
labour and the forces of capital. A
society divided against itself by the sinful
effects of capitalist theory. Can the
insights of Catholic social thought show
us where the modern economic system
has gone wrong? What are the faults of
the theory on which it is based?
Firstly we need to examine the terms
'labour' and 'capital'. 'Labour' means
human work. By work, man shapes the
world around him. He applies his powers
of body and mind to raw matter. All
human wealth and possessions arise
through labour, applied to the earth's
God-given resources. 'It is only by the
labour of working men that states grow
rich' (Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum, 27).
'Capital' signifies property, money,
resources, tools and equipment. All
capital is a result of previous labour.
Much of Britain's wealth results from the
labour of our forefathers.
A working man may store up a little
capital for himself by diligence and thrift.
He invests in new equipment to do a
higher quality and quicker job. Labour
plus extra capital investment here
produce a greater output. Or else a man
may sell his labour for wages. He
becomes an employee. He works with
another's capital and materials. The
owner of capital makes a profit on the
sale of the finished product.
But 'Capital cannot do without labour,
nor labour without capital' (Rerum
Novarum, 15). A machine shop is useless
if no one is prepared to work in it. A joiner
cannot work if he has neither tools nor
wood. Labour and capital have to
cooperate in a just manner for a
peaceful and prosperous society. Marxist
theory is a reaction against the abuses of
liberal capitalism. It wants all capital
taken over by the State and the abolition
of private property. With that, personal
freedom also goes. This attempted
solution creates more problems than it
solves. It also promotes class war and
hatred between the classes who labour
and the property owners. This often ends
in mutual destruction rather than a j ust
distribution.
The worker and employer have to make
a wage contract. Theories of laissezfaire
(free-for-all) capitalism state that market
forces alone – the laws of supply and
demand – should determine wage
contracts. However, if the market is left to
work by itself, the strong can enforce
unjust contracts on the weak. Poor
people have to work or starve. Capitalists
form cartels to keep prices up and
wages down. During the Industrial
Revolution and now in Third World
countries, many capital owners keep
much of the fruit of labour for themselves.
They resist all attempts to legislate about
working conditions, minimum wages,
child labour and social benefits.
Alternatively, exaggerated wage claims
by strong unions can bankrupt a small
company.
 So although during the 1980's and 90's
Western governments have advocated
the free play of market forces, it is worth
remembering that Pope Pius XI roundly
condemned liberal capitalism for
leading to 'the international imperialism
of money'. The Catholic Church
maintains that a free market has to be
governed by certain moral principles.
Otherwise it is a jungle war. A working
man has a right to a family wage. His wife
and children should not be forced to go
out to work. Workers have the right of
free association, the right to form trade
unions to defend their just interests.
Pope John Paul II criticises capitalist
economics for its error of economism in
the encyclical Laborem Exercens. The
error is that labour is treated merely as a
commodity to be bought and sold like
sugar or oil, with no reference to its
human dimension. Human labour is put
on a level with life-less materials. This is to
commit human beings to an
accountant's equation on a par with fuel
costs9 raw materials and profit margins. It
leads to decisions being taken about the
fate of workers purely on the basis of
profit.
But human labour is not an inert 'raw
material'. It is personal. A man puts
himself into his work. Man needs to work
and exercise skill in a craft in order to
achieve a sense of fulfilment and self-
respect as a useful member of the
human community. True, work makes us
sweat. It can be a penance. But it is also
creative, fashioning the world with God
and cooperating with one another. Man
should be ennobled, not degraded, by
his work (or the lack of it).
Laissez-faire liberal capitalism is a theory
of greed made to seem respectable. It
tramples across man's spiritual nature, his
right to work and to a craft. Money and
profit take precedence over truly human
interests. The Pope calls this the error of
practical materialism. It is the reason why
the Western economic system is having
such miserable effects.
On the one hand, the system can lead
to the monotony of the car-assembly
line. Raw materials go into factories and
come out improved: living men enter
and come out degraded by soul-
destroying boredom. Yes, they may
settle for higher wage rates, but does
that morally compensate for spiritual and
mental atrophy?
On the other hand, for the sake of
'efficiency' and 'productivity', the system
has thrown millions onto the dole. A
factory on a three-shift day sacks an
entire staff and switches to continental
12-hour shifts with extra overtime. Family
life is disrupted. Workers are pressured to
work at weekends or they feel they may
be next out. The balance of life is
destroyed for the material profit of a
faceless holdings corporation.
The priority of labour over capital is a
key principle in Catholic social thought.
Humanity comes before profit. Man is
more important than the products he
makes. Man is the subject of work, and
all work is in the service of man. he is not
a mere instrument, a cog in the machine.
The whole purpose of the economy is to
provide him with the essentials of life.
The system should be made for man,
not man fed into the system and chewed
up. But how? The Church supplies only
the underlying principles for socio-
economic life. People must then apply
them in their concrete situation and era.
The Church does not have a fully
worked-out blueprint for British society in
1995. It is up to us all to see how best, by
means of political systems or parties, the
common good can be advanced.
RESPECT FOR TRUTH
INTRODUCTION
The Eighth Commandment commands
us to speak the truth in all things, but
especially in what concerns the good
name and honor of others.
EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
'You shall not bear false witness against
your neighbour.' (Exod. 20:16)
The Nature of Truth
G.K.Chesterton pointed out that the
human mind is a machine for finding out
truth. If it is thwarted in this vital task, it
breaks down or goes awry.
It was Pontius Pilate who famously
asked the Lord: What is Truth? And did
not wait for an answer. The scholastic
answer to Pilate’s question is adaequatio
mentis ad rem, literally “the ad-equation
(correlation) of the mind to the real
thing.” Truth is grasped when the idea in
the human mind accurately corresponds
to the reality outside.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew
language has no abstract concept of
intellectual truth. The nearest term is the
Hebrew word emeth, which denotes
something firm, solid, binding, and
worthy of trust. One can put one’s faith in
the person or thing which possesses
emeth. It will not deceive or let you
down. So truth is a personal quality like
reliability, steadfastness, trustworthiness,
honesty, integrity.
To the classical Greeks, the word for
truth, aletheia, signified reality as
intellectually comprehended.
Etymologically it means “non-
concealment.” Truth to the Greeks was
something known, cognitive rather than
personal.
In the New Testament, these two
approaches flow together. Truth is
intellectual, but also personal, for Jesus is
Truth incarnate: “I am the way, the truth
and the life.” He is “full of grace and
truth” (Jn 1:14) Truth is that which has
certainty and force. It is a living power, a
vital energy: “You will know the truth, and
the truth will set you free.” The Holy Spirit
is the Spirit of truth, who liberates
mankind from sin and the slavery of the
devil, who is “the father of lies.”
Truth is the Gospel, the true teaching or
faith. The Church is the pillar and ground
of truth. In St John aletheia takes on the
specific sense of revelation, divine reality,
authenticity. So truth is not only
intellectual, it is the divinely revealed
reality of the living God. Sin and untruth
are unreality, whereas God is the source
of all truth.
Witnessing to the Truth
As Catholic Christians we believe that,
by no merit of our own, we have been
blessed with unparalleled access to
Divine Truth. Undeserving sinners as we
are, the Lord has been richly generous to
us, and revealed the mysteries of his love,
and his plans for the human race.
Perhaps it is better not to say that “we
have the Truth.” The Truth, who is Christ, is
much greater than we are. Preferably,
then, say that “the Truth possesses us.”
For we are subject to Divine Truth, we
cannot manipulate it. We must serve the
Truth, which is greater than humankind.
The knowledge of Truth brings with it the
duty to teach and spread Truth. He who
knows Truth must speak and act against
error. Truth has its own intrinsic power
which cannot be suppressed. Hence
Christians must be witnesses to the
Gospel. This witness reaches its apex in
those who preferred truth to physical life
itself, and died as martyrs to Christ.

Truthfulness in word requires truthfulness

in deed as well. We have to live out what
we profess with our lips. Otherwise the
world will see us as hypocrites.
Truthfulness is inseparably linked to moral
uprightness. Sinfulness predisposes us to
avoid truth.

Christians do not have a monopoly on

truth. As early as the second century, St
Justin Martyr spoke of “seeds of the
Word” being present in the classical non-
Christian philosophers of his day. The
Church does not possess all Truth. She
does have all that is necessary for
salvation, and has it without error. But
reflections of divine truth can also be
glimpsed in the non-Christian religions.
Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and so on can
sometimes function as a preparation for
the Gospel, in so far as they raise man’s
mind and heart to God and to the
eternal questions of human existence.

For this reason Vatican II spoke of

dialogue with separated Christians and
with non-Christian believers. There are
insights to be gained from them, without
jeopardizing the unique and
irreplaceable revelation, which exists in
the Church’s deposit of faith. Just as
Jesus was willing to speak with the Syro-
Phoenician woman, who persuaded him
to heal her daughter, so the Church may
sometimes learn more about her mission
by dialogue with those of other faiths.

H.R. Niebuhr, “The Meaning of

Responsibility,” from From Christ to the
World. Introductory Readings in Christian
Ethics. Wayne G. Boulton, Thomas
D.Kennedy, and Allan Verhey, eds.
Eerdman’s Publishing Co., Grand Rapids,
MI, 1994.