Matthew Plese, "Sins Against the Seventh Commandment Require Restitution"

Sins Against the Seventh Commandment Require Restitution

Sins Against the Seventh Commandment

The Seventh Commandment requires us to abstain from a wide range of activities that violate another person’s personal property. As stated by Canon Francis Ripley in This is the Faith, “In the Fifth and Sixth Commandments, God protects our life and honor; in the Seventh, He places our property and wealth in security.”

Some of the many offenses against the Seventh Commandment include theft, borrowing without the intention of repaying, accepting bribes, not paying just wages in a reasonable time, passing counterfeit money, forgery, usury, wasting time at work, engaging in unlawful strikes, gambling away the family savings, cheating, plagiarism, and violation of copyright laws.

However, such a list is not exhaustive since The Catechism of the Council of Trent even in its time acknowledged that “to enumerate the various other modes of theft, invented by the ingenuity of avarice, which is versed in all the arts of making money, would be a tedious and, as already said, a most difficult task.”
 

Is Stealing a Mortal Sin?

Canon Francis Ripley notes three conditions that affect whether theft is a mortal sin: the value of the thing stolen, the person from whom it was stolen, and the time over which the theft occurred. The value of the thing stolen may be absolutely grave or relatively grave. For absolutely grave value, Moral Theologians “are united in fixing this sum as the equivalent of the weekly wages earned by a person of the middle class of society.” For relative grave value, “theologians fix this amount as the average day’s pay of the victim of the injustice,” as Canon Ripley states. Should either of these conditions be satisfied, the amount constitutes matter for a mortal sin.

He continues by further clarifying, in regards to thefts of small value, that “if the thief has the intention to accumulate a large sum by such thefts,” that it nevertheless is a mortal sin. And likewise, “if several people conspire to a theft, even if the individual thief obtains only a small amount, but the aggregate sum is large, each one would commit a mortal sin.”
 

Restitution Required for Forgiveness

Forgiveness is possible for all sins by virtue of Our Lord’s death on the Cross and through His established means of the Sacrament of Confession. But with sins against the Seventh Commandment, more is required than merely telling our sins in the confessional and expressing our sincere sorrow for them. The Seventh Commandment requires restitution. The Catechism of the Council of Trent unequivocally states: “We now come to the positive part of this Commandment, in which the first thing to be considered is satisfaction or restitution; for without restitution the sin is not forgiven.”

In similar sentiments, Canon Francis Ripley writes: 

“We are bound to restore ill-gotten goods if we are able, or else our sin will not be forgiven. When the theft was a mortal sin, neglect of restitution is also a mortal sin. The obligation is binding until it is fulfilled, and the greater the willful delay, the greater is the sin. Restitution must be made to the owner, if possible, or to his heirs, if he be dead. If neither is possible, it should be given in alms in the name of the owner. Not only must the stolen property be returned, but also the loss resulting from the thief’s actual injustice must be made good.”

Besides the thief, all those who associated with the theft are also bound to make restitution. This includes those who order or persuade others to steal, those who consent to theft, accomplices in the crime, those who are aware of the theft and pretend they know nothing, and those who guard or defend thieves. The Catechism of the Council of Trent also adds, “Children also who steal from their parents, and wives who steal from their husbands are not guiltless of theft.”

As a result, many individuals are guilty of these sins and are bound to restitution – even those who do not commit the actual act of theft. Everyone who is guilty of these sins is bound to perform restitution, with one exception to the rule as Canon Francis Ripley notes: “If it is physically or morally impossible for us to make restitution, the obligation ceases to bind us. But apart from such cases, the sin of theft is not really repented of until restitution has been made, and so it cannot be forgiven.”

If you examine your conscience and believe you need to make restitution for a past sin, do not delay in bringing this matter to a priest.

Total
0
Shares
Total
0
Share