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Q.

Dear Father Angelo,

As an assiduous reader of your meritorious column, I thank the Lord for this space, which offers to the public an accessible channel of charity conducted with remarkable grace. I am writing to ask you some questions concerning moral issues related to certain circumstances of daily life. These are widely accepted by Catholics, but I still doubt their licitness, partly because of the absence of an established teaching from the Church.

I turn to you, in the hope that the answer may be useful to other readers as well. Concerning these situations, I would also like to ask you what kind of sin, if they are actually considered sinful, they consist of, whether grave or venial.

1. Outside the case of necessity, is it a sin to perform or enjoy small work or business services on an informal basis, and therefore committing tax evasion, if it is onerous or uneconomic to behave otherwise? Clearly, I am not referring to cases in which the oppression of the poor or the failure of workers to earn wages is at stake, or to truly criminal behaviors. I am thinking of the case, for example, of the student who tutors or the farmer who disposes of some produce from his garden. In these circumstances, the offensiveness of the conduct is minimal, due to the smallness of the economic stakes involved and the fact that the alternative would be, more easily, to abstain from the service than to carry it out in full compliance with the complex regulations; civil law itself does not equate these cases with tax fraud, since they are, if anything, administrative infractions. However, even the benefit derived is not fundamental to survival or to avoid serious harm, which might indicate the duty to abstain. More generally, the meaning question could also refer to other acts that civil law qualifies as disciplinary offenses, but which are, under normal circumstances, harmless (e.g., parking a car in a no-parking zone where it does not cause special nuisance).

2. On holidays, is it permissible, once one has attended Mass, to visit museums, cinemas, theaters, restaurants, shopping malls and other places of entertainment? The Church’s opinion, regarding the performance of activities as such, seems to me to be basically affirmative. But this seems to contradict the need, reiterated by the Catechism, not to encourage Sunday work in any way, except in cases of grave social importance (among which I do not think recreation can be counted). On the other hand, the Italian bishops have spoken out against Sunday openings of stores and supermarkets, whose function, however, is often more essential than that of recreational and cultural activities (one might need to buy something to eat or drink, detergents and other basic necessities). By the way, I think that, in the Italian context, the current legislation, which certainly does not limit the opening hours of establishments, but the working hours do, makes it possible without special difficulties for any employee to participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, be it after vespers on Saturday or throughout Sunday. 

3. Technology makes it particularly easy to illegally access intellectual works covered by copyright: not only film and music products, but also scientific texts of great importance to those engaged in study and research. Probably downloading this content is itself contrary to the seventh commandment, despite the fact that the limits for entering works into the public domain far exceed the life of the author and, at the same time, civil law does not equate violations of copyright law with theft. But I pose the problem of someone who is, for example, a member of a large library, and, in this way, has acquired the right to consult and borrow the works it has: in this case, since he would not pay anything to consult them anyway, could he then, for greater convenience, download them from some “pirate” site? Moreover, in many cases downloading scholarly texts not available in libraries is necessary to carry out one’s research in a reasonable time and without excessive expense: in this case, can the state of necessity be invoked? Consider that a digital copy of a book or film has no additional cost to others for those who disseminate it, nor does acquiring it take it away from others. Moreover, scholarly authors generally receive nothing from their publications, but the proceeds (which exceed, often considerably, the costs of printing and distribution) are entirely allocated to the publisher. The sense of the question obviously extends to more traditional behavior such as photocopying entire books, beyond the legal limits. 

I limit myself to these questions, although the desire to draw on your availability for so many other practical questions would be great.

Life exposes us to serious circumstances in which it is perhaps difficult to escape sin, but it is easy to recognize it; however, we are exposed to many small episodes as well, in which the opposite is perhaps true. I assure you of my prayer, and I hope to have the same from your part.

With my kindest regards,

Giulio

Priest’s Answer

Dear Giulio, 

I have already responded on several occasions in the past on the topics you have posed to me. I will simply describe the Church’s thinking.

1. Concerning the first point: the lawmaker knows from the get go that his laws will not comprehend all possible and imaginable cases. 

This is why St. Thomas says that human laws apply in the ut in pluribus of cases, that is, in the majority of cases.

The wise lawmaker knows that in some cases one will have to deviate from the material observance of the law ne summum ius fiat summa iniuria (to avoid that the extreme observance of the law becomes a great harm).

Therefore, with common sense, one can move with great peace of mind.

2. About the second point: the seventh day God willed it for rest and to satiate our souls with God.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church on the subject of rest and recreation reminds us that “just as God “ceased on the seventh day from all his work” (Gen. 2:2), so too man’s life is punctuated by work and rest. The institution of the Lord’s Day helps to give everyone the opportunity to enjoy sufficient rest and leisure that will enable them to care for family, cultural, social and religious life” (CCC 2184).

Among the things to be done on feast days, the same Catechism first recalls “the worship due to God” and then also the duty to preserve “the gladness proper to the Lord’s Day.”

Finally it mentions the possibility of practicing “works of mercy” and “the necessary relaxation of mind and body” (CCC 2185).

And since it is also right for someone to ensure certain services even on holy days, people who perform these services, both for their personal sustenance and for the collective good, do not sin.

Here are the precise words, “Sanctifying Sundays and holy days requires a common effort. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord’s Day.

Traditional activities (sport, restaurants, etc.), and social necessities (public services, etc.), require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure” (CCC 2187).

3. On the third point: some time ago we expressed the opinion of a tax expert that confirmed that you can download materials from the Internet for strictly personal use (meaning, excluding the possibility of re-selling that material).

I wish you well, bless you and remember you in prayer. 

Father Angelo