The Ten Commandments, 4 to 10: love of neighbour

It opens the second tablet and shows the order of love: after God, we honour our parents, who gave us life and handed on to us the knowledge of God. It speaks first to children and parents, but it also covers the wider family, elders and ancestors, teachers, employers, and all who hold rightful authority. It is one of the foundations of the Church's social teaching.

Respect, gratitude and, while they live at home, obedience in all that is for their good or the family's. Grown children still owe honour. As far as they can, they must support their parents in old age, sickness, loneliness or distress, materially and in spirit. Jesus himself recalled this duty (Mark 7:10 to 12).

Parents are the first educators of their children. They are to see them as children of God and respect them as persons. They build a home of tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity and service, where virtues are learnt. Through the grace of the sacrament of Marriage they are the first heralds of the faith for their children, and they should bring them into the life of the Church from their earliest years.

Authority is a service and must respect the dignity of persons and their basic rights, especially of families and the poor. Citizens work with authorities for the common good: paying taxes, voting and defending their country are moral duties. Prosperous nations should welcome, as far as they are able, foreigners who seek security and a livelihood, and immigrants should respect the laws and heritage of the land that receives them. When the State commands what is contrary to the moral order or the Gospel, a citizen is obliged in conscience not to obey.

Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God, and it remains always in a special relationship with him. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning to its end. No one may ever claim the right directly to destroy an innocent human being. The fifth commandment forbids direct and intentional killing as gravely sinful.

Defending one's own life, or the lives of those in one's care, is not murder, even if the aggressor dies, so long as no more force is used than is needed. Those responsible for others may even have a grave duty to defend them. On the death penalty, the Catechism was revised by Pope Francis in 2018: in the light of the Gospel, it is inadmissible, because it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the person, and the Church works for its abolition worldwide.

Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. Since the first century the Church has taught that every procured abortion is a moral evil, and this teaching does not change. Direct euthanasia, ending the life of the sick, disabled or dying, whatever its motive, is also morally unacceptable. But it can be right to stop burdensome or disproportionate treatment, and painkillers may be given even if they may shorten life, as long as death is not intended. Ordinary care is always owed.

We are stewards, not owners, of the life God gives us. Suicide is gravely contrary to right love of self and of neighbour, yet grave anguish, fear or mental illness can lessen a person's responsibility. We should not despair of the salvation of those who have taken their own lives; God can give them the chance of repentance, and the Church prays for them. We must care reasonably for our health and avoid every excess of food, alcohol, tobacco or medicine. The use of drugs, except for real medical need, is a grave offence.

Jesus called for peace of heart and named murderous anger and hatred as sins. Deliberately wishing grave harm to a neighbour is a grave sin; we are to love even our enemies. Peace is more than the absence of war; it is the fruit of justice and of love. Everyone must work to avoid war. A nation may defend itself only under strict conditions, once all peaceful means have failed.

Chastity is the good integration of sexuality within the person, so that our body and spirit are at one and our love is truly given. All the baptised are called to it, each according to their state of life: married people in faithful married love, others in continence. Engaged couples keep for marriage the signs of affection that belong to marriage. Persons with deep-seated same-sex attraction are to be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity, and every unjust discrimination against them is to be avoided; like all Christians, they are called to chastity, helped by friendship, prayer and the sacraments.

It forbids lust, sexual pleasure sought for itself apart from its purposes in marriage, and so masturbation, fornication and pornography. The Church teaches that homosexual acts cannot be approved. It forbids adultery absolutely, since it is an injustice to the spouse and to the children. A sacramental marriage that is ratified and consummated cannot be dissolved by any human power. Separation can sometimes be legitimate, and civil divorce may be tolerated when it is the only way to secure legal rights or the care of children, but a new union while the bond lasts is not permitted.

In marriage, the physical union of husband and wife is a sign and pledge of their spiritual communion and is noble and honourable. Married love has two meanings that must not be separated: the good of the spouses themselves and the gift of new life. It is faithful and lasting, and each marriage act is to remain open to life. So the Church teaches that spacing births by the natural rhythm of fertility is morally right, while contraception is not.

God gave the earth to the whole human race; private property is rightful, but its owner is a steward who should let it serve others too. The commandment forbids theft, keeping what is lent or found, cheating in business, unjust wages, taking advantage of another's need, corruption, tax evasion, waste and wilful damage. Contracts and promises must be kept. Whoever has taken another's goods must make restitution.

Yes. Love for the poor is part of the Church's constant tradition, and by what we do for the poor Christ will recognise his own. The works of mercy, spiritual and corporal, are our response: feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and prisoners, consoling, forgiving. St John Chrysostom warned that not to share with the poor is to steal from them. The commandment also asks respect for the integrity of creation: animals are God's creatures, owed kindness, and may not be made to suffer or die needlessly.

To live in the truth. A lie is speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving; it is the most direct offence against truth. We must also guard others' good name: rash judgement, detraction (revealing faults without real need) and calumny (false accusation) are sins against justice and charity. Every wrong against truth or reputation must be repaired as far as possible. Not every truth must be told to everyone: charity and prudence guard secrets, and the seal of confession is inviolable.

They go to the heart. The ninth forbids consenting to lustful desire and calls for purity of heart, helped by prayer, purity of intention and of sight, and modesty in dress and conduct; the pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8). The tenth forbids greed and envy, sadness at another's good and the wish to have it unjustly; envy often comes from pride and is overcome by rejoicing in another's good. Jesus calls his disciples to poverty of heart, to prefer him to everything, and to trust the Father's providence.