Does picking up money off the ground and not returning it, even if it is very little, count as stealing?

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SaintBenedict

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Does picking up money off the ground and not returning it, even if it is very little, count as stealing?
 
If you know who it belongs to. Or if you are in a store, or a school where you could turn it in. On the road, I don’t know where you would turn it in.
 
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By the way I am just wondering, I did not find any money
 
SaintBenedict said:
Does picking up money off the ground and not returning it, even if it is very little, count as stealing?
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What do you mean by “returning it”? If you randomly find money on the ground to whom would you return it?

If you find money it’s yours to keep unless you find a wallet with identifying information that can lead to returning it to the rightful owner or you saw them drop it and are able to get their attention to return it.
 
you got it for free so give it for free to somebody who really needs it
 
Advice from a random legal website, “Can I keep a bunch of cash that I found?”

Jesus’ parable about the found treasure (Matthew 13:44) and Jesus telling Peter to go fishing in the sea and to use the money he would find in the mouth of a fish to pay their taxes (Matthew 17:27) notwithstanding, according to the Law of Moses, it seems, if you find anything, presumably even money, and you don’t know who it belongs to, you are suppose to take it home and keep it safe until its owner comes looking for it and return it to him. See Deuteronomy 22:1-4.

Concerning deliberate retention of lost objects, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
2409 Even if it does not contradict the provisions of civil law, any form of unjustly taking and keeping the property of others is against the seventh commandment: thus, deliberate retention of goods lent or of objects lost; business fraud; paying unjust wages; forcing up prices by taking advantage of the ignorance or hardship of another.[191]
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If the owner cannot be found, then think of it as God’s way of inducing charity in the finder.
 
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