Day 314: Goods of Others

The seventh commandment forbids theft, that is, usurping another's property against the reasonable will of the owner. There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods. This is the case in obvious and urgent necessity when the only way to provide for immediate, essential needs (food, shelter, clothing . . .) is to put at one's disposal and use the property of others. CCC 2408

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the Seventh Commandment on not stealing from others. Theft not only involves the obvious, the unjust taking of someone else's property, but also includes any manner of cheating or deceiving others to obtain or deny what is rightfully owed or not of one's possession. We should not only respect our neighbor's dignity and rights, but also "the virtue of temperance, so as to moderate attachment to this world's goods" (CCC 2407) and be more like Christ, who "though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor" (2 Cor 8:9).

The Catechism Compendium summarizes Church teaching on all that is forbidden by the Seventh Commandment:

Above all, the seventh commandment forbids theft, which is the taking or using of another’s property against the reasonable will of the owner. This can also be done by paying unjust wages; by speculation on the value of goods in order to gain an advantage to the detriment of others; or by the forgery of checks or invoices. Also forbidden is tax evasion or business fraud; willfully damaging private or public property; usury; corruption; the private abuse of common goods; work deliberately done poorly; and waste. (#508)

The Catechism Companion Vol III has some good commentary on this:

If you are stranded in the mountains and come upon a cabin and you are freezing and hungry, you can use the cabin, the fireplace, or other resources that are there in order to save your life. "Finders keepers" is not Church teaching. If someone dropped something, for instance, you are not justified in keeping it. In order to be free, people have to be people of virtue. They have to realize there is a higher law than just the civil law. (p. 144)