The Eighth Commandment

1 Q. What does the Eighth Commandment, Thou shalt not bear false witness, forbid?

A. The Eighth Commandment, Thou shalt not bear false witness, forbids false testimony in a court of justice, and it also forbids backbiting, detraction, calumny, adulation, rash judgement and rash suspicion and every sort of lying.

2 Q. What is detraction or backbiting?

A. Detraction or backbiting is a sin which consists in making known another's sins and defects without sufficient reason.

3 Q. What is calumny?

A. Calumny is a sin which consists in maliciously attributing to another faults and defects which he did not possess.

4 Q. What is adulation?

A. Adulation is a sin which consists in deceiving another by falsely praising him or others for the purpose of profiting thereby.

5 Q. What is rash judgement or rash suspicion?

A. Rash judgement or rash suspicion is a sin which consists in judging or suspecting evil of others without sufficient foundation.

6 Q. What is a lie?

A. A lie is a sin which consists in asserting as true or false by word or act that which one does not believe to be really the case.

7 Q. How many kinds of lies are there?

A. There are three kinds: The jocose lie, the officious lie, and the malicious lie.

8 Q. What is a jocose lie?

A. A jocose lie is that which is told in jest and without injury to anyone.

9 Q. What is an officious lie?

A. An officious lie is a false statement to benefit oneself or another without injuring anyone else.

10 Q. What is a malicious lie?

A. A malicious lie is a false statement made to the injury of another.

11 Q. Is it ever lawful to tell a lie?

A. It is never lawful to tell a lie, neither in joke, nor for one's own benefit, nor for the benefit of another, because a lie is always bad in itself.

12 Q. What kind of sin is a lie?

A. A lie when jocose or officious is a venial sin; but when malicious it is a mortal sin if the harm done is grave.

13 Q. Is it always necessary to say all one's mind?

A. It is not always necessary, especially when he who questions you has no right to know what he demands.

14 Q. Is it enough for him who has sinned against the Eighth Commandment to confess the sin?

A. It is not enough for him who has sinned against the Eighth Commandment to confess the sin; he is also obliged to retract whatever he said when calumniating another, and to repair as far as he can the harm he has done.

15 Q. What does the Eighth Commandment command us to do?

A. The Eighth Commandment commands us to speak the truth at the proper time and place, and, as far as we can, to put a good interpretation upon the actions of our neighbour.

The Tenth Commandment

1 Q. What does the Tenth Commandment, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods, forbid?

A. The Tenth Commandment, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods, forbids the wish to deprive another of his goods and the wish to acquire goods by unjust means.

2 Q. Why does God forbid even the desire of another's goods?

A. God forbids the unregulated desire of another's goods, because He wishes us to be just even in thought and will, and to hold ourselves completely aloof from unjust acts.

3 Q. What does the Tenth Commandment command?

A. The Tenth Commandment commands us to be satisfied with the state in which God has placed us, and to bear poverty patiently should God have placed us in that condition.

4 Q. How can a Christian be content in a state of poverty?

A. A Christian can be content in a state of poverty by reflecting that our greatest good is a pure and peaceful conscience; that our true home is heaven; and that Jesus Christ made Himself poor for love of us and has promised a special reward to those who bear poverty patiently.

The Precepts of the Church

In General

1 Q. Besides the Commandments of God what else must we observe?

A. Besides the Commandments of God we must also observe the Precepts of the Church.

2 Q. Are we obliged to obey the Church?

A. Undoubtedly we are obliged to obey the Church, because Jesus Christ Himself commands us to do so, and because the Precepts of the Church help us to observe the Commandments of God.

3 Q. When does the obligation to observe the Precepts of the Church begin to bind?

A. As a rule the obligation to observe the Precepts of the Church begins to bind us as soon as we come to the age of reason.

4 Q. Is it a sin to transgress a Precept of the Church?

A. Knowingly to transgress a Precept of the Church in grave matter is a mortal sin.

5 Q. Who can dispense from a Precept of the Church?

A. Only the Pope, or one who has received from him the power to do so, can dispense from a Precept of the Church.

6 Q. Name the Precepts of the Church.

A. The Precepts of the Church are: 1. To hear Mass on all Sundays and on Holydays of obligation. 2. To fast during Lent, on Ember Days and appointed Vigils, and not to eat meat on forbidden days. 3. To confess our sins at least once a year, and to receive Holy Communion at Easter each one in his own parish. 4. To contribute to the support of the Church, according to local custom. 5. Not to solemnise marriage at forbidden times, that is, from the first Sunday in Advent until the Epiphany, and from the first day of Lent until Low Sunday.