Catechism: The Seventh Commandment (part 1)
Catechism course notes. Commentary 57 (1) You shall not steal
In the New Testament we read, “You cannot serve both God and money” (Mt 6:24).
In Lk 12:15 we read, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
St Paul wrote in Timothy 6:10: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”
Finally, Heb 13:5 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.”
In the lives of many people, the love of money leads them to cut corners and to be dishonest in things such as business and financial matters in order to enrich themselves.
Jesus said in Luke 16:10, “Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones.”
Evidently, financial honesty is a test of deeper moral reliability. Dishonesty with money often signals a deeper disregard for others' dignity and rights.
Carl Jung the psychologist saw the desire for money and sex as two unacknowledged but potent aspects of the shadow—the repressed, denied, inferior aspects of the psyche. He believed that confronting these themes was essential for psychological wholeness and integration. Jung suggested that, dishonesty with money might be rooted in unresolved inner conflicts to do with such things as security and self-worth.
Psychologist Viktor Frankl stated that when people do not have a sense of ultimate meaning, “The frustrated will to meaning is vicariously compensated for by a will to power, including the most primitive form of the will to power, the will to money.“ When that obsession is at work, people often bend the rules in order to acquire money, which they rationalize and justify, e.g., as occult compensation.
In recent Irish surveys, financial wrongdoing includes such things as falsifying expenses, failing to pay debts, buying stolen good as knock down prices, deliberately overcharging, falsifying tax returns, being dishonest about social welfare payments or tax returns. Relatives may exploit elderly family members financially through abuse of trust—often under the guise of caregiving or support. Another area is contesting a will in order to get more money or property. Shoplifting is a real problem. The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association estimates retail crime costs businesses €1.62 billion annually. Most of us have been the victims of attempted or successful financial scams, many of them perpetrated on the internet. Financial abuse is prevalent enough that nearly a third of adults have encountered it directly or indirectly.
Over the years the Catholic Church has developed its social doctrine. It seeks to apply the Gospel to the complex realities of modern life. It is not a political program but a moral and spiritual framework for building a just society. The Church articulates this doctrine through papal encyclicals, conciliar documents, and the teachings of bishops and theologians. In his recent apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, Pope Leo XIV insists that honesty is not merely a personal virtue but a social imperative. He warns against the temptation to "hide behind old criteria" or "pretend that things are always getting better" when new forms of poverty—like social exclusion, lack of voice, and systemic injustice—are intensifying. The exhortation builds on Pope Francis’s legacy by reaffirming the Church’s preferential option for the poor. Christians must examine their lives honestly to see where they perpetuate injustice. As one Christian writer put it, “Use money, but don’t let money use you.” Leo reaffirms the Church’s role in opposing slavery, defending women, promoting education, and supporting migrants.
It is interesting to note that the Church says that as part of our stewardship for creation, we need to take care not to cause animals unnecessary suffering. In the earlier decades of the 20th century, particularly before Ireland had a fully developed veterinary infrastructure, the army was occasionally tasked with culling infected cattle in Phoenix Park. This was likely due to the park’s proximity to military installations like the Magazine Fort and the Royal Military Infirmary, and the logistical capacity of the army to carry out such operations swiftly and securely. However, because some soldiers took pleasure in causing great suffering to the cows, vets were asked to take over and to kill the animals in a humane way by means of a metal bolt being fired into the cow’s brain, causing immediate unconsciousness.
