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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
piracy and restitution	john	Thursday, April 11, 2013
Question: hi i need help with this situation and im finding it hard get through in the past i pirated /downloaded . software , movies, games etc i confessed it i asked the priest what restitution i should make he said i couldnt really make restitution for this but he told me to delete the things which i did , again i asked another priest who said i can do restitution if i want its my choice what i should do . i wasnt to satisfied with that i went again and asked another priest who i explained the situation he basically said i should just do an act of charity for that in a way im not satisfied with this either since ive heard sermons on restitution that who ever steals must pay the owner and must pay the full price or make a firm resolution to pay back in full or as much as possible . so i kinda dont know what i should do ive also been told to do as the confessor has told me . but it feels like the confessors didnt understand really the rules of restitution or something , in a way its quite impossible to completely pay back perfectly the full amount to every person i downloaded stuff but i also dont want to be lax and think its ok theres nothing to worry about
Question Answered by Dear John: It is certain that you should destroy any software, moves, games, etc. that you stole. As for restitution, you can pay the cost of the materials, or as much of the costs you can, to the owners, or if that is not possible you can make donate that amount to charity, or if not able to pay money, you can perform as act of charity. This type of restitution is pretty standard in situations like this. What the priests have told you is the usual advice. As to how much you repay the owners (or do an act of charity) and whether or not you reveal to the owners who you are (and thereby risking prosecution) is up to your circumstances and conscience. There is the notion in moral theology that in situations like this it is not necessary to reveal to the owners who you are if by that you risk prosecution and thereby greatly harming your family. It would be a greater evil to go to prison and leave your family destitute and perhaps homeless than to fail to confess to the owners. In the hierarchy of relative sin, shoplifting (in this case digital shoplifting) is not as great an evil as it would be to confess to the owner, who then may prosecute you, and by that your family is deprived of you because of a prison term or deprived of a livelihood because of loss of job due to the public scandal. Such consequences can break up the family, cause impoverishment, or even homelessness. In other words, shoplifting is rather trivial compared to the catastrophic consequences I described above. This suggests an autonomous restitution as the better course of action. Now, before people take this bit of moral theology and use it as an excuse, this only applies to sins that result in consequences that are far more severe than the sin warrants, such as admitting to shoplifting that causes a family to become impoverished or homeless as a result. This does not excuse failing to act in some way. Autonomous restitution or acts of charity must be done. One needs to follow their conscience. Thus, despite the possible scenario that allows one to not confess their sin to the owners, if confessing to the owners is what you need to do to heal your conscience, then that is what you must do and leave the consequence to God. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

piracy and restitution

john

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Question:

hi

i need help with this situation and im finding it hard get through
in the past i pirated /downloaded . software , movies, games etc

i confessed it i asked the priest what restitution i should make he said i couldnt really make restitution for this but he told me to delete the things which i did , again i asked another priest who said i can do restitution if i want its my choice what i should do . i wasnt to satisfied with that i went again and asked another priest who i explained the situation he basically said i should just do an act of charity for that

in a way im not satisfied with this either since ive heard sermons on restitution that who ever steals must pay the owner and must pay the full price or make a firm resolution to pay back in full or as much as possible . so i kinda dont know what i should do ive also been told to do as the confessor has told me . but it feels like the confessors didnt understand really the rules of restitution or something , in a way its quite impossible to completely pay back perfectly the full amount to every person i downloaded stuff but i also dont want to be lax and think its ok theres nothing to worry about

Question Answered by

Dear John:

It is certain that you should destroy any software, moves, games, etc. that you stole.

As for restitution, you can pay the cost of the materials, or as much of the costs you can, to the owners, or if that is not possible you can make donate that amount to charity, or if not able to pay money, you can perform as act of charity. This type of restitution is pretty standard in situations like this. What the priests have told you is the usual advice.

As to how much you repay the owners (or do an act of charity) and whether or not you reveal to the owners who you are (and thereby risking prosecution) is up to your circumstances and conscience.

There is the notion in moral theology that in situations like this it is not necessary to reveal to the owners who you are if by that you risk prosecution and thereby greatly harming your family. It would be a greater evil to go to prison and leave your family destitute and perhaps homeless than to fail to confess to the owners.

In the hierarchy of relative sin, shoplifting (in this case digital shoplifting) is not as great an evil as it would be to confess to the owner, who then may prosecute you, and by that your family is deprived of you because of a prison term or deprived of a livelihood because of loss of job due to the public scandal. Such consequences can break up the family, cause impoverishment, or even homelessness.

In other words, shoplifting is rather trivial compared to the catastrophic consequences I described above. This suggests an autonomous restitution as the better course of action.

Now, before people take this bit of moral theology and use it as an excuse, this only applies to sins that result in consequences that are far more severe than the sin warrants, such as admitting to shoplifting that causes a family to become impoverished or homeless as a result. This does not excuse failing to act in some way. Autonomous restitution or acts of charity must be done.

One needs to follow their conscience. Thus, despite the possible scenario that allows one to not confess their sin to the owners, if confessing to the owners is what you need to do to heal your conscience, then that is what you must do and leave the consequence to God.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.