1. What is the Fifth Commandment?
The Fifth Commandment is: Thou shalt not kill.
2. What are the mortal sins against the Fifth Commandment?
The mortal sins against the Fifth Commandment are:
1) Murder, which is the unjust killing of an innocent person
2) Abortion, which is deliberately causing the death of an unborn baby
3) Suicide, which is taking my own life
4) “Mercy Killing”, which is killing an innocent person who is dying of an incurable disease
5) Causing serious injury or death by criminal neglect
6) Sterilization, which is making the sex organs unfruitful
7) Getting seriously drunk
8) Serious anger and hatred
9) Helping another to commit a mortal sin.
3. Am I ever allowed to kill or use force?
As a private citizen, I am allowed to kill or use force only in self-defense:
1) if it is the only way I can protect my life, and
2) if it is impossible to get the help of a policeman, and
3) if my life is being seriously attacked here and now.
4. Is abortion ever allowed?
Abortion is never allowed, because deliberately to destroy the life of any innocent person, even that of an unborn baby, is murder.
Any Catholic who knowingly and willingly has anything to do with an abortion is automatically excommunicated from the Church. See Lesson 29, question 21.
5. Is suicide ever allowed?
Suicide is never allowed, because my life belongs to God and He alone has the right to take it away. A Catholic who commits suicide while in his right mind loses his right to have a Catholic funeral.
6. Is “mercy killing” ever allowed?
“Mercy killing”, which is the killing of an innocent person dying of an incurable disease, is never allowed, because it is murder. A person who allows himself to be killed in this way is guilty of suicide.
7. Is sterilization ever allowed?
Having the Fallopian tubes or the seminal vescicles tied or cut, or having the uterus removed is always a mortal sin, unless these organs are diseased and are a danger to the whole body.
Women having abdominal operations should be very careful not to let the doctor talk them into being sterilized.
8. Is it a sin to drink alcoholic beverages?
No, it is not a sin to drink alcoholic beverages moderately, that is, if I do not get drunk.
9. What kind of a sin is it to get drunk?
To get slightly drunk is a venial sin; to get seriously drunk is a mortal sin, and I am guilty of any sins I commit while under the influence of alcohol, even though later on I do not remember them.
” And take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life” (Luke 21:34).
10. Am I ever allowed to use dope?
I am allowed to use dope or narcotics only when it is recommended by a competent doctor, and then only in the amount and length of time the doctor prescribes.
11. Are hatred and anger always mortal sins?
Hatred and anger are not mortal sins unless I wish serious harm to my neighbor.
“Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak and slow to anger” (James 1:19).
12. Is there such a thing as sinless anger?
Yes, anger prompted by zeal for justice, honor to God, or some other good end.
For example, Jesus was angry with the buyers and sellers in the temple; a wife is angry with her husband who is drunk; a mother is angry with the disobedience of her child.
13. In what other way can I sin against the Fifth Commandment?
I can also sin against the Fifth Commandment by helping another to commit sin by my sinful words or actions or by giving another whatever is necessary to commit the sin.
“He that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).