ARTICLE 5
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
2258"Human life is sacred because from itsbeginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in aspecial relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is theLord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstanceclaim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being."56
The witness of sacred history
2259In the account of Abel's murder by his brother Cain,57Scripture reveals the presence of anger and envy in man, consequences oforiginal sin, from the beginning of human history. Man has become the enemy ofhis fellow man. God declares the wickedness of this fratricide: "What haveyou done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. Andnow you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive yourbrother's blood from your hand."58
2260The covenant between God and mankind is interwoven withreminders of God's gift of human life and man's murderous violence:
The Old Testament always considered blood a sacred sign of life.60This teaching remains necessary for all time.
2261Scripture specifies the prohibition contained in thefifth commandment: "Do not slay the innocent and the righteous."61The deliberate murder of an innocent person is gravely contrary to the dignityof the human being, to the golden rule, and to the holiness of the Creator. Thelaw forbidding it is universally valid: it obliges each and everyone, always andeverywhere.
2262In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recalls thecommandment, "You shall not kill,"62 and adds to it theproscription of anger, hatred, and vengeance. Going further, Christ asks hisdisciples to turn the other cheek, to love their enemies.63 He didnot defend himself and told Peter to leave his sword in its sheath.64
Legitimate defense
2263The legitimate defense of persons and societies is notan exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent thatconstitutes intentional killing. "The act of self-defense can have a doubleeffect: the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor. .. . The one is intended, the other is not."65
2264Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle ofmorality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right tolife. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forcedto deal his aggressor a lethal blow:
2265Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a graveduty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of thecommon good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm.For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right touse arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to theirresponsibility.
2266The efforts of the state to curb the spread of behaviorharmful to people's rights and to the basic rules of civil society correspond tothe requirement of safeguarding the common good. Legitimate public authority hasthe right and duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of theoffense. Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced bythe offense. When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it assumes thevalue of expiation. Punishment then, in addition to defending public order andprotecting people's safety, has a medicinal purpose: as far as possible, it mustcontribute to the correction of the guilty party.67
2267Assuming that the guilty party's identity andresponsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of theChurch does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the onlypossible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, nonlethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people'ssafety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as theseare more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are morein conformity to the dignity of the human person.
Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has foreffectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offenseincapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him thepossibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of theoffender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.NT
Intentional homicide
2268The fifth commandment forbidsdirect andintentional killing as gravely sinful. The murderer and those who cooperatevoluntarily in murder commit a sin that cries out to heaven for vengeance.68
2269The fifth commandment forbids doing anything with theintention ofindirectlybringing about a person's death. The moral lawprohibits exposing someone to mortal danger without grave reason, as well asrefusing assistance to a person in danger.
Unintentionalkilling is not morally imputable. But one is notexonerated from grave offense if, without proportionate reasons, he has acted ina way that brings about someone's death, even without the intention to do so.
Abortion
2270Human life must be respected and protected absolutelyfrom the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a humanbeing must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is theinviolable right of every innocent being to life.71
2271Since the first century the Church has affirmed themoral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remainsunchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an endor a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:
2272Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a graveoffense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to thiscrime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortionincurs excommunicationlatae sententiae,"76 "bythe very commission of the offense,"77 and subject to theconditions provided by Canon Law.78 The Church does not therebyintend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity ofthe crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put todeath, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.
2273The inalienable right to life of every innocent humanindividual is aconstitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:
2274Since it must be treated from conception as a person,the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far aspossible, like any other human being.
Euthanasia
2276Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deservespecial respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives asnormal as possible.
2277Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasiaconsists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons.It is morally unacceptable.
Suicide
2280Everyone is responsible for his life before God who hasgiven it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We areobliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and thesalvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God hasentrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.
2281Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of thehuman being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to thejust love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustlybreaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies towhich we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for theliving God.
2282If suicide is committed with the intention of settingan example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal.Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.
Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship,suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committingsuicide.
2283We should not despair of the eternal salvation ofpersons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God canprovide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for personswho have taken their own lives.
II. RESPECT FOR THE DIGNITY OF PERSONS
Respect for the souls of others: scandal
2284Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads anotherto do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor's tempter. Hedamages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death.Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately ledinto a grave offense.
2285Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of theauthority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized. Itprompted our Lord to utter this curse: "Whoever causes one of these littleones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a greatmillstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of thesea."85 Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature oroffice are obliged to teach and educate others. Jesus reproaches the scribes andPharisees on this account: he likens them to wolves in sheep's clothing.86
2286Scandal can be provoked by laws or institutions, byfashion or opinion.
2287Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a waythat it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible forthe evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged. "Temptations to sinare sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come!"89
Respect for health
2288Life and physical health are precious gifts entrustedto us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account theneeds of others and the common good.
Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help inthe attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity:food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and socialassistance.
2289If morality requires respect for the life of the body,it does not make it an absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tendsto promote thecult of the body, to sacrifice everything for it's sake,to idolize physical perfection and success at sports. By its selectivepreference of the strong over the weak, such a conception can lead to theperversion of human relationships.
2290The virtue of temperance disposes us toavoid everykind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Thoseincur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own andothers' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.
2291Theuse of drugs inflicts very grave damage onhuman health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is agrave offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are scandalouspractices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they encouragepeople to practices gravely contrary to the moral law.
Respect for the person and scientific research
2292Scientific, medical, or psychological experiments onhuman individuals or groups can contribute to healing the sick and theadvancement of public health.
2295Research or experimentation on the human being cannotlegitimate acts that are in themselves contrary to the dignity of persons and tothe moral law. The subjects' potential consent does not justify such acts.Experimentation on human beings is not morally legitimate if it exposes thesubject's life or physical and psychological integrity to disproportionate oravoidable risks. Experimentation on human beings does not conform to the dignityof the person if it takes place without the informed consent of the subject orthose who legitimately speak for him.
Respect for bodily integrity
2297Kidnappingandhostage taking bringon a reign of terror; by means of threats they subject their victims tointolerable pressures. They are morally wrong.Terrorismthreatens,wounds, and kills indiscriminately; it is gravely against justice and charity.Torturewhich uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish theguilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for theperson and for human dignity. Except when performed for strictly therapeuticmedical reasons, directly intendedamputations,mutilations,andsterilizationsperformed on innocent persons are against the morallaw.90
Respect for the dead
2299The dying should be given attention and care to helpthem live their last moments in dignity and peace. They will be helped by theprayer of their relatives, who must see to it that the sick receive at theproper time the sacraments that prepare them to meet the living God.
2300The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect andcharity, in faith and hope of the Resurrection. The burial of the dead is acorporal work of mercy;91 it honors the children of God, who aretemples of the Holy Spirit.
Peace
2302By recalling the commandment, "You shall notkill,"93 our Lord asked for peace of heart and denouncedmurderous anger and hatred as immoral.
Angeris a desire for revenge. "To desire vengeance in order todo evil to someone who should be punished is illicit," but it ispraiseworthy to impose restitution "to correct vices and maintainjustice."94 If anger reaches the point of a deliberate desire tokill or seriously wound a neighbor, it is gravely against charity; it is amortal sin. The Lord says, "Everyone who is angry with his brother shall beliable to judgment."95
2303Deliberatehatredis contrary to charity.Hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred ofthe neighbor is a grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm."But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven."96
2304Respect for and development of human life requirepeace. Peace is not merely the absence of war, and it is not limited tomaintaining a balance of powers between adversaries. Peace cannot be attained onearth without safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication among men,respect for the dignity of persons and peoples, and the assiduous practice offraternity. Peace is "the tranquillity of order."97 Peaceis the work of justice and the effect of charity.98
2305Earthly peace is the image and fruit of thepeaceof Christ, the messianic "Prince of Peace."99 By theblood of his Cross, "in his own person he killed the hostility,"100he reconciled men with God and made his Church the sacrament of the unity of thehuman race and of its union with God. "He is our peace."101He has declared: "Blessed are the peacemakers."102
2306Those who renounce violence and bloodshed and, in orderto safeguard human rights, make use of those means of defense available to theweakest, bear witness to evangelical charity, provided they do so withoutharming the rights and obligations of other men and societies. They bearlegitimate witness to the gravity of the physical and moral risks of recourse toviolence, with all its destruction and death.103
Avoiding war
2307The fifth commandment forbids the intentionaldestruction of human life. Because of the evils and injustices that accompanyall war, the Church insistently urges everyone to prayer and to action so thatthe divine Goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war.104
2308All citizens and all governments are obliged to workfor the avoidance of war.
However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is nointernational authority with the necessary competence and power, governmentscannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts havefailed."105
2309The strict conditions forlegitimate defense bymilitary force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such adecision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one andthe same time:
- the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nationsmust be lasting, grave, and certain;
- all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to beimpractical or ineffective;
- there must be serious prospects of success;
- the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evilto be eliminated. The power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily inevaluating this condition.
The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to theprudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.
2310Public authorities, in this case, have the right andduty to impose on citizens theobligations necessary for national defense.
Those who are sworn to serve their country in the armed forces are servantsof the security and freedom of nations. If they carry out their duty honorably,they truly contribute to the common good of the nation and the maintenance ofpeace.106
2311Public authorities should make equitable provision forthose who for reasons of conscience refuse to bear arms; these are nonethelessobliged to serve the human community in some other way.107
2312The Church and human reason both assert the permanentvalidity of themoral law during armed conflict. "The mere factthat war has regrettably broken out does not mean that everything becomes licitbetween the warring parties."108
2313Non-combatants, wounded soldiers, and prisoners must berespected and treated humanely.
Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universalprinciples are crimes, as are the orders that command such actions. Blindobedience does not suffice to excuse those who carry them out. Thus theextermination of a people, nation, or ethnic minority must be condemned as amortal sin. One is morally bound to resist orders that command genocide.
2314"Every act of war directed to the indiscriminatedestruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crimeagainst God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation."109A danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those whopossess modern scientific weapons especially atomic, biological, or chemicalweapons - to commit such crimes.
2315Theaccumulation of arms strikes many as aparadoxically suitable way of deterring potential adversaries from war. They seeit as the most effective means of ensuring peace among nations. This method ofdeterrence gives rise to strong moral reservations. Thearms race doesnot ensure peace. Far from eliminating the causes of war, it risks aggravatingthem. Spending enormous sums to produce ever new types of weapons impedesefforts to aid needy populations;110 it thwarts the development ofpeoples.Over-armament multiplies reasons for conflict and increasesthe danger of escalation.
2316Theproduction and the sale of arms affect thecommon good of nations and of the international community. Hence publicauthorities have the right and duty to regulate them. The short-term pursuit ofprivate or collective interests cannot legitimate undertakings that promoteviolence and conflict among nations and compromise the international juridicalorder.
2317Injustice, excessive economic or social inequalities,envy, distrust, and pride raging among men and nations constantly threaten peaceand cause wars. Everything done to overcome these disorders contributes tobuilding up peace and avoiding war:
IN BRIEF 2318"In [God's] hand is the life of every living thingand the breath of all mankind" (Job12:10). 2319Every human life, from the moment of conception untildeath, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake inthe image and likeness of the living and holy God. 2320The murder of a human being is gravely contrary to thedignity of the person and the holiness of the Creator. 2321The prohibition of murder does not abrogate the rightto render an unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. Legitimate defense is agrave duty for whoever is responsible for the lives of others or the commongood. 2322From its conception, the child has the right to life.Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a"criminal" practice (GS27 # 3), gravely contrary to themoral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for thiscrime against human life. 2323Because it should be treated as a person fromconception, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healedlike every other human being. 2324Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives,is murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to therespect due to the living God, his Creator. 2325Suicide is seriously contrary to justice, hope, andcharity. It is forbidden by the fifth commandment. 2326Scandal is a grave offense when by deed or omission itdeliberately leads others to sin gravely. 2327Because of the evils and injustices that all war bringswith it, we must do everything reasonably possible to avoid it. The Churchprays: "From famine, pestilence, and war, O Lord, deliver us." 2328The Church and human reason assert the permanentvalidity of the moral law during armed conflicts. Practices deliberatelycontrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes. 2329"The arms race is one of the greatest curses onthe human race and the harm it inflicts on the poor is more than can beendured" (GS81 # 3). 2330"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall becalled sons of God" (Mt5:9).
