“YOU SHALL NOT STEAL”

Seven Commandment
Title of the Commandment: “YOU SHALL NOT STEAL”
I. Meaning of the Commandment (Why did God give this
Commandment?)
• The universal catechism (Catechism of the Catholic Church) declared that
the seventh commandment prohibits anyone to take unjustly or keep the
goods of his or her neighbour and not to cheat to him/her in whatever
way with respect to his goods (CCC2401).
• The seventh commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods
of one's neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods.
• It commands justice and charity in the care of earthly goods and the fruits
of men's labor. For the sake of the common good, it requires respect for
the universal destination of goods and respect for the right to private
property.
• Goods of production material or immaterial such as land, factories,
practical or artistic skills, oblige their possessors to employ them
in ways that will benefit the greatest number. Those who hold
goods for use and consumption should use them with moderation,
reserving the better part for guests, for the sick and the poor
(CCC2405).

• Political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate

exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good
(CCC2406).
 II. PROHIBITIONS
STEALING
 The unjust taking or withholding from what rightfully belongs to him, against his will.
 Is theft but implies that something is taken secretly and not only without the owner’s
permission, but without his knowledge.
Examples:
• Stealing Property

The most obvious meaning of the Seven Commandment is a prohibition against

stealing property—and that, in turn, means God sanctifies personal property. Just as we
are forbidden to steal people, we are forbidden to steal what people own.
• Stealing Person’s Intellectual Property

This form of theft includes anything from copying software or films, to downloading
music and movies without paying for them, to stealing a person’s words (plagiarism). 
•Social Corruption

THEFT
 It is usurping another property against the reasonable will of the owner.
 The most general term for taking what belongs to someone else, without the
owner’s consent.
Examples:
•Burglary
•Pick Pocketing
•Shoplifting
•Taking of items from others
Other Examples:
•Deliberate retention of goods or object lent
•Business fraud
• Paying unjust wages
• Forcing up prices by taking advantage of the ignorance or hardship of
another.
• Contriving to manipulate the price of goods artificially
• Appropriation and use for private purposes of the common goods of an
enterprise
• Worked poorly done

• Tax evasion

• Forgery of checks and invoices

• Excessive expense and waste

• Willful damage of private or public property

ROBBERY
 It is an open and forcible taking of another person’s property.
 also theft, but violence or intimidation is used to force the owner to give up what he possesses

Examples:
• Bandits
• Bank robbers
• Hold-uppers
• Looters
FRAUD OR CHEATING
 Taking another’s property by means of trickery or deceit.

Examples:
• Forgery
• Using false weights and measures
• Issuing counterfeit money
• Overcharging
• Bribery
• Adulterating food and other products for sale
• Using dishonest means to escape the obligations of a contract
USURY
 Exacting for a loan of money an interest above the legal and reasonable rate; the usurer
takes advantages of another’s need and fails both in justice and charity.

WILFUL DAMAGE OF ANOTHERS GOODS

Examples:
• Sabotage
• Arson
• Culpable
• Neglect of employers valuable property
• School boy’s pranks as breaking a neighbor’s fence or window
GRAFT AND CORRUPTION
It is the use of dishonest or questionable means for private gain. It
is a general concept describing any organized, interdependent
system in which part of the system is either not performing duties
it was originally intended to, or performing them in an improper
way, to the detriment of the system’s original purpose.
III. What are the Obligations under this Commandment?

• Respect other property

The seventh commandment forbids theft, that is, usurping another's property against the
reasonable will of the owner.

• Respect for the Integrity of creation

The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and
inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future
humanity. Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced
from respect for moral imperatives. Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted
by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including
generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.
• Live up to our agreements and contracts
• Deals honestly in business
• Pay our just debts
• Pay fair wages to our employees
• Do a full day’s work for a full day’s wage
• Return things we have found
IV. What are the issues under this Commandment?
1. What is the doctrine of Universal Destination?
“The goods of creation are destined [divinely planned and purposed] for the whole
human race” (CCC 2402).“God destined the earth and all it contains for all men and all
peoples so that all created things would be shared fairly by all mankind under the
guidance of justice tempered by charity" (Gaudium et Spes, 69).
The original source of all that is good is the very act of God, who created both the
earth and man, and who gave the earth to man so that he might have dominion over it
by his work and enjoy its fruits (Gen 1:28-29). 
The earth, by reason of its fruitfulness and its capacity to satisfy human needs, is
God’s first gift for the sustenance of human life (Centesimus Annus, 31).”
The universal right to use the goods of the earth is based on the principle of the
universal destination of goods. Each person must have access to the level of well-being
necessary for his full development. The right to the common use of goods is the “first
principle of the whole ethical and social order (Laborem Exercens, 19)”
2. Is the Encyclical of Pope Francis, Laudato Si the same as Universal Destination?
Yes, according to Pope Francis “We are not God. The earth was here before us and it has been
given to us. Although it is true that we Christians have at times incorrectly interpreted the
Scriptures, nowadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s
image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination other over the earth
creatures.
3. If there is conflict between Universal Destination and Private Property, which will
prevail?
Universal Destination shall prevail because every human being has the natural right to use
created goods, since God has meant them for all. Hence, in general, these goods are not
directly available in a usable form, man has to obtain and use them through his work. Work
thus becomes the way to acquire property and the means of production.
These two things private property and the common good are not by nature opposed but
complementary. They exist for each other. The common good fosters private property and
private property fosters the common good. It is the same as the relation between individuality
and society: individuality is nourished, not threatened, by social relations, and society is
strengthened, not weakened, by strong individuals.
4. Why is Communism against this Commandment?
Communism is a type of government as well as an economic system (a way of
creating and sharing wealth). In a Communist system, individual people do not own
land, factories, or machinery. Instead, the government owns all the goods.
Communism, in seeking among other things the complete subordination of the
individual to society, denies the right of the person to private ownership of the goods of
production (those used to produce other goods, such as land, certain industries, etc.),
affirming that only the state can possess these goods, as the condition for instituting a
“classless “society.
 WE SHOULD FEAR AND
LOVE GOD SO THAT WE
DO NOT TAKE OUR
NEIGHBOR’S MONEY OR
POSSESSIONS OR GET IN
ANY DISHONEST WAY
BUT HELP HIM TO
IMPROVE AND PROTECT
HIS POSSESSIONS AND
INCOME.