SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
202. The seventh commandment is: Do not steal.
203. In the seventh commandment it is commanded to respect the goods of one’s neighbor and to pay the debts.
The seventh commandment commands us:
Give to each one his own and respect the other; not have disorderly love for temporal goods; avoid idleness, gluttony and all that leads to theft; make good use of the goods that the Lord has given us, providing work, assistance and alms to the poor.
Honesty is the basis of social welfare.
The descriptions of thief, cheat, etc., are dishonorable.
We must try to behave in such a way that our conscience can never reproach us.
Thieves are punished by divine and human laws; if they escape the punishments of men, they will not escape the punishments of God.
204. In the seventh commandment it is forbidden to take away or retain what is foreign against the will of its owner, and to cause damage to the property of one’s neighbor.
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Ways of unjustly harming others in their property:
Remove or retain what belongs to others against the will of its owner
Not paying debts, being able to.
Promote unnecessary or unfair litigation.
Not working employees and workers due time.
Pay employers less than fair, exploiting workers.
Damage other people’s property.
Hurting or killing other people’s animals.
Let the commissioned things be spoiled.
Receive, hide or buy a stolen thing.
Committing fraud and Illicit usury
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Fraud is committed:
Deceiving one's neighbor in commerce, with false weights, measures or coins, and with damaged goods, falsifying deeds and documents, cheating in purchases and sales or in any other contract, refusing to give what is just or agreed.
Usury is committed when an illicit interest is demanded without legitimate title for some amount borrowed, abusing the necessity or ignorance of the person receiving the borrowed money.
Theft is the hidden taking of other people's property.
Rapine is taking the property of others violently and manifestly.
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Extreme Need and Fair Compensation
Excuse of the sin of theft, extreme or almost extreme necessity, and just compensation.
Extreme or almost extreme need is when there is a proximate and certain danger to life or to another very serious evil.
In this case, if there is no other means of remedying the need, only what is strictly necessary can be taken to get rid of the danger.
For fair compensation, it is necessary that the debt be certain, that no more is taken than what is owed and that there is no other remedy to collect, without serious inconvenience.
To avoid the danger of making a mistake, it is advisable not to use the right compensation until after having counseled with the confessor.
In the two cases cited, one does not take what is foreign, but one's own; for in case of extreme necessity all things are common; and in the case of just compensation, one takes one's own.
It is not considered theft to eat some fruit in someone else's field, as long as it is not taken [out of that place].
Nor is it generally considered theft to go and look for firewood in other people's forests, provided that the trees are not spoiled.
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What sin theft is
Stealing is a serious or minor sin, depending on the value of the stolen thing and the damage that has been caused.
It is a grave sin when something of importance is stolen or a neighbor is seriously harmed. [ex. when a cheap clock is stolen but it is a memory of a deceased husband]
You may seriously harm your neighbor, even by taking away things of little value.
It is a relatively serious matter to rob one person what he ordinarily earns in a day.
In the thefts that children, who live in a family, make to their parents, double the amount is required to reach mortality.
When it reaches a certain amount of importance, it is always a mortal sin, even if it is stolen from the State or from very rich people.
St. Alphonsus Liguori fixed this amount at 15 francs; but in those times the coin had a much higher value than it is now. [Nowadays it is fixed in 6 euros, year 2025]
Petty theft is a serious sin:
1. When one intends to arrive at an amount of importance.
2. Even without this intention, if added in the space of two months the small theft comes to constitute an amount of importance, it is a grave sin.
3. When there is a conspiracy, that is, when several, by common consent, unite to steal or harm their neighbor in something of importance.
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Restitution
205. A person who has in his possession the property of others must, in addition to confessing his sin, make reparation as far as possible and as soon as possible for the evil caused.
Whoever has stolen or harmed his neighbor's property, if he can, must make restitution and compensate for the damage caused.
Restitution must be made to the owner or his heirs; if this is not possible, restitution must be made to the poor or to a pious work, for which it is advisable to consult the confessor.
When restitution is for a thing of little value, it may be made to the poor or to a pious work, if in doing so to the owner himself, even if it is known who he is, it offers some inconvenience.
Restitution can and almost always must be made secretly; one can use another person he trusts.
He who finds a thing of some value, must make due inquiry to find the owner, and deliver it to him; if you can't find it, you can keep it to yourself.