The first thing to notice is that this definition emphasizes the moral intentionality of lying; the truth itself is not necessarily contradicted. In the end, then, the current Catechism does not directly address our problem. His adversaries asserted that such a statement was not a lie, inasmuch as it was not at variance with the mind of the speaker. It seems that most moralists have believed that such a necessary lie is moral, but Catholic thinkers have often found the specific explanation troubling, because it appears to subordinate veracity to justice, when both may be considered incommensurable intrinsic goods. It rests in the first place on Holy Scripture. But it does mean that the editors of the Catechism were not prepared to endorse it in an official Catholic reference work. Thus a recent authority defines a lie as a false statement made with the intention of deceiving. Innocent III gives expression in one of his decretals to this interpretation; when he says that Holy Scripture forbids us to lie even to save a man’s life. The words used meant that he had not done it; there were no external circumstances of any sort, no use or custom which permitted of their being understood in any but the obvious sense. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. From the middle of the eighteenth century onwards a few discordant voices have been heard from time to time. and you break your neighbor’s window, the neighbor may run out and demand to know whether you did it. Moreover, some forms of mental reservation appear to uphold veracity only in a technical sense while permitting the communication of a deliberate deception. For example, the Society of Jesus has been especially associated with various doctrines of mental reservation throughout most of its history. I, “De Mendacio”). But if so, it is hard to reach such a conclusion only by denying the intention to deceive. For, when we speak falsely to our murderous thugs, we may at least question whether our intention is to deceive. 10 The Lies Of Mother Teresa. Some intrinsically evil acts are venial sins; other intrinsically evil acts are mortal sins. It is a dilemma, not doubt about it. His treatise has been widely cited ever since, and his viewpoint was endorsed by no less saintly a scholar than Thomas Aquinas. Unfortunately, this makes a presumption that most thinkers would not admit: that the only reason to shy away from the truth is fear of unpleasant consequences. 2. One of the stronger philosophical traditions, endorsed by Aquinas and discussed by Augustine, posits that lying is “deliberately speaking against one’s own mind.” (Throughout this discussion, “speaking” means any sort of communication.) Jacob, Esau, Abraham, Jehu, and the Archangel Raphael made use of them. On these lies, every saint agrees. Robert Royal. Any act that is immoral by its very nature is an intrinsically evil act. Catholic Questions and Answers – One of the best ways to learn is to ask questions. They could only be understood in that obvious sense, and that was their only true meaning. What we primarily intend is to prevent them from doing evil. Romans 3:8). Instead, they knock on the door and simply ask whether their intended victim is within. The definition in the Catechism has the virtue of anchoring a lie in objective reality. His doctrine on this point has been generally followed in the Western Church, and it has been defended as the common opinion by the School men, and by modern divines. Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. Modern philosophers are divided in the same way. Therefore, its very subjectivity renders it morally unhelpful. Still, mental reservation was widely endorsed well into the second half of the 20th century, and many Catholics of my own age were taught it growing up. As it is lawful to kill another in self-defense, so in self-defense it is lawful to tell a lie. Applying this test, we can see what mistrust, suspicion, and utter want of confidence in others would be the result of promiscuous lying, even in those cases where positive injury is not inflicted. In other words, the change in definition does not mean the original formulation was wrong. One of the stronger theological traditions, endorsed by Aquinas and rooted in Augustine, is that lying is speaking deliberately contrary to one’s own mind. Lest the doctrine should be unduly extended to cases to which it does not apply, the gloss warns the student that a witness who is bound to speak the naked truth may not use equivocation. He directs that in difficult cases silence should be observed if possible. In the monumental Summa Theologiae, Thomas states the same position: “Therefore it is not lawful to tell a lie in order to deliver another from any danger whatever. Over the past hundred years there has been a growing movement among moral theologians to tweak the definition of lying as follows: “To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead into error someone who has the right to know the truth.” This very sentence, in fact, is taken from the initial edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2483, 1994 edition). By the late 20th century, however, it was precisely this definition that made it into the Catechism of the Catholic Church (see CCC 2482). The thugs come to the door. By injuring man's relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord. Firmus maintained this resolve even under torture, with the result that he was eventually brought before the emperor himself. In the end, the Catholic Church’s moral theology regarding lying comes down to the first of the moral rules that, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “apply in every case” (paragraph 1789): “One may never do evil so that good may result from it” (cf. This, however, seems to ignore the malice which a lie has in itself, like hypocrisy, and to derive it solely from the social consequence of lying. St. John Chrysostom held that it is lawful to deceive others for their benefit, and Cassian taught that we may sometimes lie as we take medicine, driven to it by sheer necessity. The German Jesuit, Laymann, who died in the year 1625, was of this number. Still, after all the consultation which preceded the few changes that were made, the Catechism represents a considerable weight of ecclesiastical opinion on the side of a definition which incorporates both objective reality and human intentionality: “A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving” (a citation from Augustine), and “To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error” (CCC 2482, 2483). Lying is a sin, lying is intending to deceive someone. Such exceptions may be permitted by the principle of double effect: Just as one can morally kill to defend someone’s life, so one can morally lie for a similar reason. Question: "Is it ever right to lie?" The doctrine which has been expounded above reproduces the common and universally accepted teaching of the Catholic schools throughout the Middle Ages until recent times. Presumably, that intention—if it exists consciously at all—is very secondary. According to the common teaching of St. Thomas and other divines, the hurtful lie is a mortal sin, but merely officious and jocose lies are of their own nature venial. The difficulty of conceptualizing the perfect definition has caused many over the centuries to insist on the existence of the necessary lie. Great and holy thinkers have wrestled with both possibilities, but it is perhaps more logical to take up first the question of the definition of “lying.” By carefully defining our terms, will we find that there is a distinction between speaking falsely and lying, just as there is between killing and murder? But if we ask whether they were right in condemning our own weak and typical lies, only one answer is possible. For Machiavelli, the lie was a tool in the arsenal of the politician, to be used, like truth, if it was deemed helpful to stay in power. There is some difference of opinion among the Fathers of the Christian Church. If, then, we allow the lie of necessity, there seems to be no reason from the theological point of view for not allowing occasional murder and fornication when these crimes would procure great temporal advantage; the absolute character of the moral law will be undermined, it will be reduced to a matter of mere expediency. Asking a friend, family member or secretary to tell a caller you are “not in” is another example of wide mental reservation. When our obligation to protect a secret conflicts with our obligation to tell the truth, the result is a necessary lie—necessary not because it helps us to avoid some potential pain but because it is the only way to preserve justice. Answer: The Bible nowhere presents an instance where lying is considered to be the right thing to do. In other words, we are obliged to tell the truth, and we are also obliged to keep secrets, but there are times when the only way to keep a secret is to lie. But more serious explorations of mental reservation have continued. If your house is situated at the bottom of a large hill, is it wrong to answer the thugs with a vague gesture and the words, “I saw him heading up, moving as fast as he could?” What you really mean is that you told him to run upstairs and hide in the back bedroom. Indeed the pragmatic tendency of the day, which denies that there is such a thing as absolute truth, and measures the morality of actions by their effect on society and on the individual, would seem to open wide the gates to all but injurious lies. Some, however, unduly stretched the doctrine. If silence would be equivalent to giving a sick man unwelcome news that would kill him, it is better, he says, that the body of the sick man should perish rather than the soul of the liar. What means, then, have we for protecting secrets and defending ourselves from the impertinent prying of the inquisitive? , “ Ne quis ” ( causa xxii, q knowingly made to one has! 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