Bribes and corruption

Is it a sin to pay a bribe when nothing gets done without one?

Yes. Under the seventh commandment, the Catechism names as “morally illicit” the “corruption in which one influences the judgment of those who must make decisions according to law”. CCC 2409 In 2015 Francis addressed his call to conversion “to those who either perpetrate or participate in corruption”, and called it “a grave sin that cries out to heaven for vengeance”. Misericordiae Vultus 19

That it is everywhere is the danger, not the excuse. Corruption is “an evil that embeds itself into the actions of everyday life and spreads”, and “if it is not combated openly, sooner or later everyone will become an accomplice to it”. Misericordiae Vultus 19 Its consequences fall “in the main upon the weakest and most marginal members of society”. Ecclesia In America 23 In politics it leaves choices serving “the narrow objectives of those who possess the means to influence these choices”. CSDC 411 And the Catechism names who is guilty of such a system: those who establish “laws or social structures” leading to “social conditions that, intentionally or not, make Christian conduct and obedience to the Commandments difficult and practically impossible” are guilty of scandal. CCC 2286

Where a bribe has taken from someone else what was theirs, the rule is restitution. Those who, “directly or indirectly”, have taken the goods of another must restore them, and so must all who took part or “knowingly benefited”, “in proportion to their responsibility and to their share”. CCC 2412 John Paul II asked that corruption be “denounced and combatted forcefully by those in authority”, with “the generous support of all citizens, sustained by a firm moral conscience”. Ecclesia In America 23

Within the Church, her own law punishes both sides: whoever “gives or promises something so that someone who exercises an office or function in the Church would unlawfully act or fail to act”, whoever accepts, and an officeholder who asks for “additional sums”. Can. 1377

None of these texts takes up the case the question usually means: an official who will not do what he already owes you unless you pay. None says whether paying such a demand is the same act as influencing his judgment. CCC 2409

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. Cf. Deut 25:13-16; 24:14-15; Jas 5:4; Am 8:4-6. The following are also morally illicit: speculation in which one contrives to manipulate the price of goods artificially in order to gain an advantage to the detriment of others; corruption in which one influences the judgment of those who must make decisions according to law; appropriation and use for private purposes of the common goods of an enterprise; work poorly done; tax evasion; forgery of checks and invoices; excessive expenses and waste. Willfully damaging private or public property is contrary to the moral law and requires reparation.

2286

Scandal can be provoked by laws or institutions, by fashion or opinion. Therefore, they are guilty of scandal who establish laws or social structures leading to the decline of morals and the corruption of religious practice, or to "social conditions that, intentionally or not, make Christian conduct and obedience to the Commandments difficult and practically impossible." Pius XII, Discourse, June 1, 1941. This is also true of business leaders who make rules encouraging fraud, teachers who provoke their children to anger, Cf. Eph 6:4; Col. 3:21. or manipulators of public opinion who turn it away from moral values.

2412

In virtue of commutative justice, reparation for injustice committed requires the restitution of stolen goods to their owner: Jesus blesses Zacchaeus for his pledge: "If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." Lk 19:8. Those who, directly or indirectly, have taken possession of the goods of another, are obliged to make restitution of them, or to return the equivalent in kind or in money, if the goods have disappeared, as well as the profit or advantages their owner would have legitimately obtained from them. Likewise, all who in some manner have taken part in a theft or who have knowingly benefited from it - for example, those who ordered it, assisted in it, or received the stolen goods - are obliged to make restitution in proportion to their responsibility and to their share of what was stolen.

1377

§ 1. A person who gives or promises something so that someone who exercises an office or function in the Church would unlawfully act or fail to act is to be punished according to the provision of can. 1336 §§ 2-4; likewise, the person who accepts such gifts or promises is to be punished according to the gravity of the offence, not excluding by deprivation of office, without prejudice to the obligation of repairing the harm.

§ 2. A person who in the exercise of an office or function requests an offering beyond that which has been established, or additional sums, or something for his or her own benefit, is to be punished with an appropriate monetary fine or with other penalties, not excluding deprivation of office, without prejudice to the obligation of repairing the harm.

Misericordiae Vultus Apr 11, 2015
Ecclesia In America Jan 22, 1999

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