Gravity of Theft

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I always understood that the gravity of theft depends on various factors such as the value of the object stolen and the subjective harm the theft does to the rightful owner. I was told, for example, that stealing $1 from a billionaire is a venial matter, while stealing the last $1 from a starving farmer in a famine stricken land is grave matter. Then on this forum I encountered the idea, from multiple posters, that all theft, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is always grave matter by its very nature. Can someone provide an answer with authoritative references?
 
Are all sins equally offensive to God? | Catholic Answers’’

Also:Three conditions are necessary for mortal sin to exist:

Grave Matter: The act itself is intrinsically evil and immoral. For example, murder, rape, incest, perjury, adultery, and so on are grave matter.

Full Knowledge: The person must know that what they’re doing or planning to do is evil and immoral. For example, someone steals a postage stamp, thinking that it’s only worth 50 cents. She knows that it’s sinful, but if she’s unaware that the stamp is rare and actually worth a $1,000, she’s not guilty of mortal sin but of venial sin.
 
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I’m not a moral theologian, but might you be mixing up the concepts of grave matter vs. mortal sin? All theft is contrary to the will of God and is a transgression against the dignity of another. Viewed in that light all theft is grave matter, but if the other conditions for commission of a mortal sin are not met, it isn’t gravely sinful.

Ask yourself. Are the people taking food and other necessities from the flooded out merchants in New Orleans during Katrina, or others in other natural disasters where food and water are not available, committing a mortal sin? Stealing is grave in nature, but circumstances lessen the moral culpability.

Just a thought. Don’t have any authoritative references. Do suggest though, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the section on the 7th Commandment.
 
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Right, but there’s two different scenarios here. A sin can be grave matter, but individual culpability determines whether it is a venial or mortal sin for that individual in that particular instance.
I’m looking more at the objective, or intrinsic, gravity of the act of theft itself. In Pianistclare’s example above, let’s say the stamp is actually worth a mere 50 cents. Bob has 10 000 stamps each worth 50 cents. You take one of those 10 000 stamps with full knowledge and full consent… is the theft of such a trivial object grave matter in and of itself?
 
twf said:
Then on this forum I encountered the idea, from multiple posters, that all theft, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is always grave matter by its very nature
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Where are you getting this from?
 
“gotta steal to eat, gotta eat to live, you’re my only friend Abu” - Aladdin
 
I think when someone steals small things, there is a concern about it becoming a habit that could lead to stealing bigger things. A former parish pastor I knew used to often preach against lying, noting that “white lies” were still serious because they lead to bigger lies. The same could be said of stealing small things if you have the full intent to steal them.
 
Watching pay per view content on the internet is a rather new issue. I am unsure about the seriousness of it. The Church has never taught that all theft is grave matter. I hesitate to write about this because someone will get the idea that I am excusing theft.
 
That’s faulty logic. If being “contrary to God’s will” made something a grave matter then every single sin would be a mortal sin.

Even with full knowledge and deliberate consent, committing an act of petty theft against someone who can afford it is not a mortal sin. If you steal a candy bar from a supermarket you will not go to Hell over it.

I am sick of people acting as though all sins are mortal sins; if that were the case then you would be headed for Hell too because everybody has sinned at some point in their lives.
 
No. Anyone who answers with “yes” does not understand what a grave matter is.
 
Stealing is evil. If you steal $.50 from a billionaire because “he won’t miss it” then in my opinion you’ve shown plenty of malice to qualify as mortally sinning.
 
Do you honestly think someone will go to Hell for stealing 50 cents from a rich man? Really?

Your standards are too high, and by your own standards YOU would go to Hell too because there is no way you are without sin.
 
I’m quoting Catholic Encyclopedia now. Anyone who claims petty theft is a mortal sin is disagreeing with the church. Don’t be that guy or gal who claims to be holier than the Church.
The sin of theft is of itself grievous, because it violates the great virtues of justice and charity. St. Paul (1 Corinthians 6:10) enumerates it as one of the transgressions which bars the offender from the kingdom of heaven. Still, as happens with regard to other delinquencies, its guilt may often be venial. This is particularly true when the value of what is filched is inconsiderable, or as the theologians say, is not grave matter.
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http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14564b.htm
 
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Narrow is the gate.

I think theft is against one of the Ten Comandments and I think any theft committed with that kind of cavalier attitude shows more than enough malice to condemn.

Fortunately, we can go to Confession and be absolved of our sins. Unconfessed and unreptented, it is my belief that a cavalier theft of any kind will condemn.
 
Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that the Catholic Encyclopedia was never given the protection of infallibility.
 
BornInMarch said:
That’s faulty logic. If being “contrary to God’s will” made something a grave matter then every single sin would be a mortal sin.

Even with full knowledge and deliberate consent, committing an act of petty theft against someone who can afford it is not a mortal sin. If you steal a candy bar from a supermarket you will not go to Hell over it.

I am sick of people acting as though all sins are mortal sins; if that were the case then you would be headed for Hell too because everybody has sinned at some point in their lives.
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I once made a mistake in confession by stating to a priest that a certain sin the I was confessing was not “serious” - a synonym for mortal. Boy did I get my butt chewed out.

On reflection, taking anything is contrary to the will of God for mankind. I believe what I said was all theft is contrary to the will of God and is a transgression against the dignity of another. I think in God’s eyes, all theft is grave in the light of my original statement. (I agree it may not be grave matter, thus the commission of a theft in that case would not be mortally sinful.)

I prefer this interpretation as it draws a clearly defined line between right and wrong. Your example of simple theft being, not serious, starts to open up to equivocation each and every individual deciding what is not serious wrong, in either civil or spiritual terms. Extending your logic, stealing $100,000.00 from someone like, say Bill Gates, or Warren Buffet, or Donald Trump would not be a mortal sin because they can afford it???

Pretty shaky moral ground if you ask me.
 
The sin of theft is of itself grievous, because it violates the great virtues of justice and charity. St. Paul (1 Corinthians 6:10) enumerates it as one of the transgressions which bars the offender from the kingdom of heaven. Still, as happens with regard to other delinquencies, its guilt may often be venial. This is particularly true when the value of what is filched is inconsiderable, or as the theologians say, is not grave matter.
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Catholic Advent
It is stealing, clever, but still sinful. It is a venial sin if only a few dollars are involved, but this amount coalesses and we might finally have such a cumulative sum as to be mortal sin.Try to instruct your friend against this practice. Fr. Bob Levis
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EWTN - Global Catholic Faith Network

I can keep finding quotes from actual theologians, but I think I made my point. The consensus is that PETTY THEFT IS NOT A MORTAL SIN. Only self-righteous hypocrites, cold-hearted sadists, and people who presume to know better than the actual church clergy think that stealing a 50 cent stamp is something someone will go to Hell for. People for whom going to Heaven isn’t enough; they want everyone else to go to Hell. They think everything, no matter how trivial, is a mortal sin and they like it that way because it makes them feel superior. Yet by their own standards they would never get into Heaven. These types of people, Pharisees, are the worst part of this forum for me and a few times they almost made me doubt God. If I first heard of christianity from the “stealing 10 cents is worthy of eternal hellfire” crowd then I wouldn’t have seen any worth in believing.

Actually try thinking about it for a moment. Imagine a Firefighter or a EMT who devoted his life to helping others and who goes to church regularly and who confessed to all his other sins, but who on occasion stole a ten cent trinket from a store and didn’t confess or feel remorse for it because he didn’t think much of it. Imagine him coming before Jesus after having saved scores of lives, and being told “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for you stole a ten cent trinket!” That sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?

Sorry if I sound angry or bitter, but that’s because I am. Self righteous “everything leads to Hell” people who claim to be Christians have at a few times caused me to seriously doubt my faith. I was able to conclude -with a Priest’s help- that God did in fact exist and that he does in fact love us, but I hate to imagine how many people were driven to atheism after being told that petty theft or mild frustration lead to being tortured forever in Hell.
 
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Yep - there’s seems to be a lot of people who seem to take a sadistic pleasure in the idea that, in their view, the vast majority of Catholics in the pews will be eternally tormented because after 90 years devoutly attending Mass they stole a 50 cent stamp on a bad day… who cares that the Church and moral theologians say they’re wrong? They know best.
 
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