Sunday 1 of Advent

Baltimore track

Baltimore Catechism No. 3

Lesson 33 — From the Fourth to the Seventh Commandment

Q. 1273.What are we commanded by the fifth Commandment?

A.We are commanded by the fifth Commandment to live in peace and union with our neighbor, to respect his rights, to seek his spiritual and bodily welfare, and to take proper care of our own life and health.

Q. 1274.What sin is it to destroy one's own life, or commit suicide, as this act is called?

A.It is a mortal sin to destroy one's own life or commit suicide, as this act is called, and persons who wilfully and knowingly commit such an act die in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of Christian burial. It is also wrong to expose one's self unnecessarily to the danger of death by rash or foolhardy feats of daring.

Q. 1275.Is it ever lawful for any cause to deliberately and intentionally take away the life of an innocent person?

A.It is never lawful for any cause to deliberately and intentionally take away the life of an innocent person. Such deeds are always murder, and can never be excused for any reason, however important or necessary.

Q. 1276.Under what circumstances may human life be lawfully taken?

A.Human life may be lawfully taken (1) In self-defense, when we are unjustly attacked and have no other means of saving our own lives; (2) in a just war, when the safety or rights of the nation require it; (3) by the lawful execution of a criminal, fairly tried and found guilty of a crime punishable by death when the preservation of law and order and the good of the community require such execution.