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 TOPIC 34
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT

References: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2464-2503;

Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, qq. 521-526

Supplementary reading: https://opusdei.org/en/article/t opic-33-the-seventh-and-eighth-commandments/

 THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

A moral upright life Truthfulness Sincerity must be lived Bearing witness

involves commitment – the virtue that inclines us out of love to the Truth
to living & bearing witness to the truth to always tell the truth and with love of the Gospel

Offenses The 8th commandment Cooperation Respect The Virtue

against the Truth also upholds man’s right in sins of detraction for Privacy of Discretion
to honor and good reputation ought to be avoided
 A moral upright life
involves commitment to living
and bearing witness to the truth
“Offenses against the truth express by word or deed
a refusal to commit oneself to moral uprightness.”
CCC 2464

◦ “If you become my disciples, you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Jn 8:32

◦ “I am the truth.”
Jn 14:6

◦ “I have come to bear witness to the truth, and everyone who is of the truth hears my voice…”
Jn 18:37

◦ As God’s image, man has a deep natural inclination to know the truth
and live by it in our relations with others. (Augustine, Thomas, Bernadette Soubirous)

◦ Original sin has wounded our love for the truth by selfishness, self-interest, pride,
which darken our intellect (error) and incline our will to the apparent good (malice)

◦ Christ gives each person by grace to govern his life by the truth.
(e.g. Nicodemus, Good thief)
Truthfulness – the virtue that inclines us
to always tell the truth (cf CCC 2468)

Sincerity with Oneself Sincerity with Others Sincerity with God

• acknowledging the truth • social life would be impossible • who sees everything,
about our conduct (including without mutual trust, or if contracts is never scandalized
inner intentions, thoughts, desires, and agreements are not kept even by our gravest sins
affections) without fear; (CCC 2469) and always ready to pardon,
heal and strengthen us

Three fundamental aspects of truthfulness

Note:
sincerity in Confession and in Spiritual direction --very effective means to grow in simplicity, humility & truthfulness.
 Sincerity must be lived
out of love and with love
(for God and neighbor)

“Veritatem facientes in caritate.”

Speaking the Truth in Love
Eph 4:15

◦ with gentleness, understanding,

manifested especially in fraternal correction
Mt. 18:15

◦ Fraternal Correction
admonishing another person of a fault committed
or of a defect, so he may correct himself,
is a great manifestation of love for the truth
and of charity, and can even be a grave duty.

◦ Examples:
◦ Mk 10:35ff: ambition of James and John
◦ Jn 21:15: Jesus reminds Peter of his triple denial
 Bearing witness
to the Truth
of the Gospel
“Bearing witness to the truth is an act of justice
that establishes the truth or makes it known.”
CCC 2472

◦ the baptized have a divine commission

to bear witness to the Truth who is Christ before men

◦ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all that I have commanded you…”.
Mt 28:18-20; Cf. 1 Cor 5:16-17

◦ “Caritas Christi urget nos.” (the Love of Christ compels us)

2 Cor 5:14

◦ “Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith –bearing witness even
unto death. The martyr bears witness to Christ who died and rose,
to whom he is united by charity.” (martyr < Gr., martur, “witness”)
CCC 2473

◦ strengthened by God’s grace, countless people have suffered the loss of social prestige and
position on account of living their Faith in adverse circumstances
 Offenses
against the Truth
A lie consists in speaking a falsehood
with the intention of deceiving
CCC 2482

◦ Lying is the nature of the devil’s work:

“You are of your father the devil . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies,
he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies’

Jn 8:44

◦ Gravity of the lying depends on

◦ The gravity of the truth it distorts
◦ The intention of the one who tells it
◦ The consequences of the lie

◦ Lying can be a mortal sin

when it gravely injures the virtues of justice and charity.

◦ Aggravating circumstances (cf. CCC 2476)

◦ when it is made publicly
◦ when it is made giving false witness under oath in court
(leads to the condemnation of the innocent, exoneration of the guilty,
and increased punishment of the accused)
Offenses Against the Truth
Vices related to lying

Hypocrisy Flattery
• severely criticized by Jesus • can be grave if what is praised
Mt 23:27 are sinful acts;
• venial, if one’s purpose is to curry favor,
to avoid some evil,
or to obtain legitimate benefits

Boastfulness Flippancy & Loquacity

• sinful even if what one says is true in speech
• does not necessarily offend the truth,
but easily leads to inaccurate statements,
exaggerations, defamation, and calumny
 The 8th commandment
also upholds man’s right
to honor and good reputation
(one’s own and that of others).
One’s honor and reputation
a good more precious than riches, of great importance
for personal, family and social life

Sins against the good reputation of others are:

◦ Reckless Judgement
without sufficient grounds, a supposed moral fault of one’s neighbor
is admitted as true (e.g. judging that someone has acted with bad intentions,
without proof of this).

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned”
Lk 6:37
cf. Catechism, 2477
◦ Defamation
any unjust attack on the reputation of a neighbor

Two kinds:
◦ Detraction or Slander (“speaking badly”)
revealing sins or defects that really exist in a neighbor, without a proportionately serious reason (backbiting)
◦ Calumny consists in attributing false sins or defects to a neighbor.
Note: calumny involves a twofold malice: against truthfulness and against justice
(the greater the calumny and the more widely spread it is, the more serious it is)
 The 8th commandment
also upholds man’s right
to honor and good reputation
(one’s own and that of others).
Note
defamation (whether by detraction or calumny) brings with it
an obligation to use whatever means possible to restore
to others the good reputation that has been unjustly damaged

◦ advisability of not speak carelessly about others (cf. Mt 12:36),

which easily leads to lies (inaccurate or unjust assessments, exaggerations,
and sometimes even calumnies).

◦ need to exercise moderation in using mass media

and to cultivate a healthy critical spirit when receiving news
from newspapers, magazines, TV, etc., as well as from social networks

A naïve or gullible attitude leads to the formation of false judgements

or to the indiscriminate dissemination of unverified content.

◦ with the spread of the internet, social networking and instant messaging,
everyone has a responsibility for the content they create
and/or disseminate
◦ the digital world --a very important field of apostolate for the defense of truth
and making society more Christian.
 Cooperation in sins of detraction
ought to be avoided

the superior anyone who out of fear, negligence or

listening to the defamer those who unthinkingly spread others’
who does not prevent shame,
with pleasure and enjoying insinuations
backbiting about a person does not correct or reject
what he says against the reputation of a 3rd-party.
under his responsibility the defamer or calumniator
 Respect for Privacy

for the good and

respect justice for the sake
safety
due to and charity of the
of one’s
one’s privacy towards persons common good
neighbor
Reason for the duty to keep secrets:
some facts, by their very nature, demand that they remain hidden
 The Virtue of Discretion
to know when to keep silent, when to speak and to whom, and even where to do so

Truthfulness keeps to the just mean
between what ought to be expressed and
what ought to be kept secret.
CCC 2469
The right to the communication Charity and respect for the truth
of truth is not unconditional. should dictate the response to every
request for information or
communication… No one is obliged to
CCC 2488 reveal the truth to someone who has no
right
to know it.
CCC 2489
The secret of the Professional secrets
Sacrament of Reconciliation –e.g., those of political office holders,
is sacred, and cannot be violated under soldiers, physicians and lawyers—or
any pretext. The sacramental seal is confidential information given under
inviolable; therefore, the seal of secrecy, must be kept, save
it is a crime for a confessor in any way
in exceptional cases where keeping the
to betray a penitent by word secret
or in any other manner is bound to cause very grave harm to
or for any reason. the one who confided it,
to the one who received it
or to a third party, and where
CCC 2490 the very grave harm can be avoided
only by divulging the truth
CCC 2491

Even if not confided under the seal of secrecy, private information prejudicial
to another is not to be divulged without a grave and proportionate reason
 TOPIC 34
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT

References: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2464-2503;

Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, qq. 521-526

Supplementary reading: https://opusdei.org/en/article/t opic-33-the-seventh-and-eighth-commandments/