Is it ever immoral to make restitution?

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According to the Catechism we are obliged to make restitution, but are there ever circumstances where this obligation would cease to exist? For example if the wronged party is an immoral business and restitution given to that party might support the immoral business would the obligation to make restitution cease or would it still be obligated but perhaps in a way that indirectly compensates the business such as sending conscience money in a letter detailing that someone doesn’t approve of the business but nonetheless feels compelled to make restitution to them?

I am in such a situation and am greatly confused about what to do, on the one hand I feel obligated to make restitution, on the other hand I don’t want to support this business because this business is essentially about marketing indecent content at best and sexually explicit content at worst. I feel like this is a Catch-22 situation where I might be sinning no matter what I do! And in regards to this business, I gained access to aspects of its website that were reproduced elsewhere without paying for it; I’ve brought this up in confession and asked the priest for guidance, and he said I didn’t have to make restitution for this, but I don’t know if he is right. Even if I am not obligated here, would it be moral for me (to put my mind at ease) to send conscience money to this business with a letter detailing that I disapprove of what they do and hope they put the money to a moral use? Advice appreciated.
 
AaronsStaff said:
According to the Catechism we are obliged to make restitution, but are there ever circumstances where this obligation would cease to exist? For example if the wronged party is an immoral business and restitution given to that party might support the immoral business would the obligation to make restitution cease or would it still be obligated but perhaps in a way that indirectly compensates the business such as sending conscience money in a letter detailing that someone doesn’t approve of the business but nonetheless feels compelled to make restitution to them?

I am in such a situation and am greatly confused about what to do, on the one hand I feel obligated to make restitution, on the other hand I don’t want to support this business because this business is essentially about marketing indecent content at best and sexually explicit content at worst. I feel like this is a Catch-22 situation where I might be sinning no matter what I do! And in regards to this business, I gained access to aspects of its website that were reproduced elsewhere without paying for it; I’ve brought this up in confession and asked the priest for guidance, and he said I didn’t have to make restitution for this, but I don’t know if he is right. Even if I am not obligated here, would it be moral for me (to put my mind at ease) to send conscience money to this business with a letter detailing that I disapprove of what they do and hope they put the money to a moral use? Advice appreciated.
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Listen to your Priest. Don’t send them $. If immorality is their business, that’s how they’ll use your $ regardless of what you state in your letter.

If you ripped off a crack dealer - used drugs without paying, surely you won’t want to make restitution by sending him the $ at a later date, would you? A better idea would be to donate the $ to a program that helps people get off drugs.

Maybe you could do the same in this case? Or send the $ to help the homeless? That would be a much better way of making restitution IMO.

God bless! 🙂
 
Please talk to your priest/confessor for counsel on this matter.
 
AaronsStaff said:
According to the Catechism we are obliged to make restitution, but are there ever circumstances where this obligation would cease to exist? For example if the wronged party is an immoral business and restitution given to that party might support the immoral business would the obligation to make restitution cease or would it still be obligated but perhaps in a way that indirectly compensates the business such as sending conscience money in a letter detailing that someone doesn’t approve of the business but nonetheless feels compelled to make restitution to them?

I am in such a situation and am greatly confused about what to do, on the one hand I feel obligated to make restitution, on the other hand I don’t want to support this business because this business is essentially about marketing indecent content at best and sexually explicit content at worst. I feel like this is a Catch-22 situation where I might be sinning no matter what I do! And in regards to this business, I gained access to aspects of its website that were reproduced elsewhere without paying for it; I’ve brought this up in confession and asked the priest for guidance, and he said I didn’t have to make restitution for this, but I don’t know if he is right. Even if I am not obligated here, would it be moral for me (to put my mind at ease) to send conscience money to this business with a letter detailing that I disapprove of what they do and hope they put the money to a moral use? Advice appreciated.
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Your priest is right - he is in persona Christi in the confessional. Do not doubt him, and be at peace.
 
I sincerely hope, for your sake, you haven’t ripped off a crack dealer - them’s not nice people!!!

Here’s what to do, if you need to ease your nags - givea donation to an appropriate charity that combats the immorality you have gained from. if no such charity exists, then the probability is that the immorality is more perceived than actual. That tends to be the way these things work: drugs / anti-drugs charity. porn / anti-porn charity, and so on.
 
Your priest has the authority to tell you what to do. He has done so.

It would certainly be immoral if, say, you illicitly accessed a website that served up smut and by so doing accessed material the website owner intended you to pay for. But it would be just as immoral to support that business since it is there to make money from sin.

If you still feel like you need to make a gesture, how about this as an alternative…?

Make an estimate of the monetary cost of what it was you accessed had you done so in a commercially licit way. Estimate only. Don’t go back to the website to find out, as you will be placing yourself in an occasion of sin.

Then, find somewhere that supports those who want to rid themselves of addiction to such material and donate that money to them.

That way you will be down the appropriate amount of money, and the good guys will be up that amount instead of the bad guys.

Think of it this way… if you stole from a thief you should really give the item you stole back to the person HE originally stole it from. In this instance you (presumably) stole from someone who stole morality. Therefore you need to give morality to those who need it.
 
DexUK said:
Your priest has the authority to tell you what to do. He has done so.

It would certainly be immoral if, say, you illicitly accessed a website that served up smut and by so doing accessed material the website owner intended you to pay for. But it would be just as immoral to support that business since it is there to make money from sin.

If you still feel like you need to make a gesture, how about this as an alternative…?

Make an estimate of the monetary cost of what it was you accessed had you done so in a commercially licit way. Estimate only. Don’t go back to the website to find out, as you will be placing yourself in an occasion of sin.

Then, find somewhere that supports those who want to rid themselves of addiction to such material and donate that money to them.

That way you will be down the appropriate amount of money, and the good guys will be up that amount instead of the bad guys.

Think of it this way… if you stole from a thief you should really give the item you stole back to the person HE originally stole it from. In this instance you (presumably) stole from someone who stole morality. Therefore you need to give morality to those who need it.
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This makes a lot of sense, but the trouble is in assessing how much money is an appropriate amount, like it seems to me a sensible way of doing so is thinking about who suffered actual loss and how much the loss was, but in reality, it seems to me that there was no real loss at all because I certainly wouldn’t have paid for access of the site if it was the only option, the material was plainly available from a mere google search. So it seems at the very least it may have been a copyright violation, but in terms of actual loss I really can’t say if any loss occurred at all. I can come up with a worst case scenario estimate which I have done, but determining actual loss if any seems near impossible. If I stole an xbox, the loss is easily discernable, it is the material item or what the person paid to get it and I would be obliged to return it or pay the owner back for it if it’s gone. But in this case, when it concerns intangible property, it is very very hard to discern. My confessor didn’t make any alternative suggestions, it seemed from our conversation in the confessional that he indicated I was not obliged to make restitution for any sort of internet related moral issues regarding restitution. 🤷
 
AaronsStaff said:
My confessor didn’t make any alternative suggestions, it seemed from our conversation in the confessional that he indicated I was not obliged to make restitution for any sort of internet related moral issues regarding restitution. 🤷
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Then please LISTEN TO HIM and stop going around and around about this.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
Then please LISTEN TO HIM and stop going around and around about this.
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There is no harm in doing a voluntary penance, unless to do so would actually to bring one’s own self to unnecessary harm.

To the OP how about this: donate, say, $50 to a chastity support group? Offer the experience of the disadvantage it represents to yourself (i.e it means you can’t spend the money to go out on the town this weekend) to God as an ‘active prayer’ for the benefit of other people who need help or healing in their own struggles against unchastity.

Obviously, I don’t know what your means are: I picked a figure from thin air - it need only be, in my suggestion, something that feels noticeable to you, so if you’re a millionaire, it would clearly not be loose change, and if you’re poor as the proverbial church mouse, then 50c might be felt as keenly. Consider the widow’s mite story in terms of relative value of charity as regards the person donating it…

You should think of this as by no means compulsory, but it seems that you feel like your virtue needs a bit of a boost, so a material but entirely voluntary penance might be the way. You need never tell anyone why you’re doing it - in fact I’d suggest you avoid it, since you wouldn’t want it to become a matter of pride that you’re punishing yourself. This isn’t about you looking good on the outside, but on your interior spiritual growth.
 
DexUK said:
There is no harm in doing a voluntary penance, unless to do so would actually to bring one’s own self to unnecessary harm.

To the OP how about this: donate, say, $50 to a chastity support group? Offer the experience of the disadvantage it represents to yourself (i.e it means you can’t spend the money to go out on the town this weekend) to God as an ‘active prayer’ for the benefit of other people who need help or healing in their own struggles against unchastity.

Obviously, I don’t know what your means are: I picked a figure from thin air - it need only be, in my suggestion, something that feels noticeable to you, so if you’re a millionaire, it would clearly not be loose change, and if you’re poor as the proverbial church mouse, then 50c might be felt as keenly. Consider the widow’s mite story in terms of relative value of charity as regards the person donating it…

You should think of this as by no means compulsory, but it seems that you feel like your virtue needs a bit of a boost, so a material but entirely voluntary penance might be the way. You need never tell anyone why you’re doing it - in fact I’d suggest you avoid it, since you wouldn’t want it to become a matter of pride that you’re punishing yourself. This isn’t about you looking good on the outside, but on your interior spiritual growth.
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He’s got scruples. Believe me, the amount of time he’s already spent fretting and going round and round about this issue has already paid any restitution he might reasonably owe.

If his confessor, who knows him, says he doesn’t owe restitution, I am loathe to suggest differently. Our priests are in persona Christi in the confessional. If my confessor says I’m absolved, and to go in peace, I go in peace!
 
AaronsStaff said:
According to the Catechism we are obliged to make restitution, but are there ever circumstances where this obligation would cease to exist? For example if the wronged party is an immoral business and restitution given to that party might support the immoral business would the obligation to make restitution cease or would it still be obligated but perhaps in a way that indirectly compensates the business such as sending conscience money in a letter detailing that someone doesn’t approve of the business but nonetheless feels compelled to make restitution to them?

I am in such a situation and am greatly confused about what to do, on the one hand I feel obligated to make restitution, on the other hand I don’t want to support this business because this business is essentially about marketing indecent content at best and sexually explicit content at worst. I feel like this is a Catch-22 situation where I might be sinning no matter what I do! And in regards to this business, I gained access to aspects of its website that were reproduced elsewhere without paying for it; I’ve brought this up in confession and asked the priest for guidance, and he said I didn’t have to make restitution for this, but I don’t know if he is right. Even if I am not obligated here, would it be moral for me (to put my mind at ease) to send conscience money to this business with a letter detailing that I disapprove of what they do and hope they put the money to a moral use? Advice appreciated.
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A priest once told me that restitution for something like pornography (and I would imagine prostitution or slavery) is not necessary, since such an activity does not deserve financial incentive.

My advice at this point would be to send a letter, but you are obligated to pay.
 
AaronsStaff said:
This makes a lot of sense, but the trouble is in assessing how much money is an appropriate amount, like it seems to me a sensible way of doing so is thinking about who suffered actual loss and how much the loss was, but in reality, it seems to me that there was no real loss at all because I certainly wouldn’t have paid for access of the site if it was the only option, the material was plainly available from a mere google search. So it seems at the very least it may have been a copyright violation, but in terms of actual loss I really can’t say if any loss occurred at all. I can come up with a worst case scenario estimate which I have done, but determining actual loss if any seems near impossible. If I stole an xbox, the loss is easily discernable, it is the material item or what the person paid to get it and I would be obliged to return it or pay the owner back for it if it’s gone. But in this case, when it concerns intangible property, it is very very hard to discern. My confessor didn’t make any alternative suggestions, it seemed from our conversation in the confessional that he indicated I was not obliged to make restitution for any sort of internet related moral issues regarding restitution. 🤷
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To further add, I would suggest praying for the people who are addicted to porn or involved in the industry.

You don’t need to worry about theft or copyright violations in the spiritual sense because as I mentioned earlier, something like pornography doesn’t deserve compensation.
 
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