If one is in extreme necessity, he has the right to procure for himself what he needs out of the riches of others. Since there are so many people prostrate with hunger in the world, this sacred council urges all, both individuals and governments, to remember the aphorism of the Fathers, "Feed the man dying of hunger, because if you have not fed him, you have killed him," ...
Showing posts with label natural law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural law. Show all posts
Monday, 29 July 2013
Natural Law and Possession According to the Catholic Church: Pope Paul VI (1967)
...every man has the right to glean what he needs from the earth. The recent Council [Vatican II] reiterated this truth: "God intended the earth and everything in it for the use of all human beings and peoples. Thus, under the leadership of justice and in the company of charity, created goods should flow fairly to all."
All other rights, whatever they may be, including the rights of property and free trade, are to be subordinated to this principle.
All other rights, whatever they may be, including the rights of property and free trade, are to be subordinated to this principle.
Natural Law and Possession According to the Catholic Church: Pope John Paul II (1987)
It is necessary to state once more the characteristic principle of Christian social doctrine: the goods of this world are originally meant for all. The right to private property is valid and necessary, but it does not nullify the value of this principle. Private property, in fact, is under a "social mortgage," which means that it has an intrinsically social function, based upon and justified precisely by the principle of the universal destination of goods.
Natural Law and Possession According to the Catholic Church: the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas (2)
In this sense, the possession of all things in common and universal freedom are said to be of the natural law, because, to wit, the distinction of possessions and slavery were not brought in by nature, but devised by human reason for the benefit of human life.
Summa Theologica, Ia IIae q. 94 a. 5.
(Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province, London: R. & T. Washbourne, Ltd., 1915, pt. 2, 1st pt., q. 90-114, pp. 49-51.)
Natural Law and Theft According to the Catholic Church: the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas
In case of need all things are common property, so that there would seem to be no sin in taking another's property, for need has made it common.
... Hence whatever certain people have in superabundance is due, by natural law, to the purpose of succoring the poor. ... ...it is lawful for a man to succor his own need by means of another's property, by taking it either openly or secretly; nor is this properly speaking theft or robbery.
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It is not theft, properly speaking, to take secretly and use another's property in a case of extreme need: because that which he takes for the support of his life becomes his own property by reason of that need.
In a case of a like need a man may also take secretly another's property in order to succor his neighbor in need.
... Hence whatever certain people have in superabundance is due, by natural law, to the purpose of succoring the poor. ... ...it is lawful for a man to succor his own need by means of another's property, by taking it either openly or secretly; nor is this properly speaking theft or robbery.
...
It is not theft, properly speaking, to take secretly and use another's property in a case of extreme need: because that which he takes for the support of his life becomes his own property by reason of that need.
In a case of a like need a man may also take secretly another's property in order to succor his neighbor in need.
Summa Theologica, IIa IIae q. 66 a. 7.
(Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province, New York: Benziger Brothers, 1918, pt. 2, 2nd pt., q. 47-79, pp. 232,233.)
Natural Law and Possession According to the Catholic Church: the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas
Now according to the natural law all things are common property ...
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Community of goods is ascribed to the natural law, not that the natural law dictates that all things should be possessed in common, and that nothing should be possessed as one’s own: but because the division of possessions is not according to the natural law, but rather arose from human agreement which belongs to positive law, as stated above (Q. LVII, AA. 2, 3). Hence the ownership of possessions is not contrary to the natural law, but an addition thereto devised by human reason.
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Community of goods is ascribed to the natural law, not that the natural law dictates that all things should be possessed in common, and that nothing should be possessed as one’s own: but because the division of possessions is not according to the natural law, but rather arose from human agreement which belongs to positive law, as stated above (Q. LVII, AA. 2, 3). Hence the ownership of possessions is not contrary to the natural law, but an addition thereto devised by human reason.
Summa Theologica, IIa IIae q. 66 a. 2.
(Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province, New York: Benziger Brothers, 1918, pt. 2, 2nd pt., q. 47-79, pp. 223-225.)
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