You Shall Not Bear False Witness (Catechism Series Part 38) Auspice Maria Ep 68

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Welcome back to the Auspice Maria podcast. I'm Bishop James Ruggieri of the Diocese of Portland in Maine, and we continue our series on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We are making our way through the Ten Commandments. This week we address the Eighth Commandment, Living in the Truth. I'll be talking about paragraphs 2464 to 2513 during this podcast episode. But as always, I'd like to begin with a prayer asking the Holy Spirit, our advocate, to intercede for us, open our hearts and minds, and to help us to better understand this wonderful, wonderful gift of the commandments that the Lord has given to us.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Gracious and merciful God, all merciful, all just, all good, all loving, pour out your Holy Spirit into our hearts, inspire us, open our minds to better understand what is your holy will, and also to better love your law. And we ask you to again inspire us and lead us forward in faith always as we listen to this podcast today. We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

So in this episode we continue our journey through Part Three of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Life in Christ. We're still in Section 2, the Ten Commandments, and Chapter 2, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." We now come to the Eighth Commandment, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." It's taken from Exodus chapter 20, verse 16, and also another version is found in Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 20.

The Catechism immediately gives us the larger meaning of this commandment. The Eighth Commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with others. So this is about much more than telling a lie. It really concerns our entire relationship, our entire relationship with truth.

Jesus tells us why truth matters so deeply. He says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." That's taken from John's Gospel, chapter 14, verse 6. For the Christian, truth is not merely an idea. Truth has a face. Truth is revealed fully in Jesus Christ. The Catechism says that in Christ, "the whole of God's truth has been made manifest," and that the disciple comes to know "the truth that will make you free." That's from paragraph 2466, and a scriptural reference to John chapter 8, verse 32.

Now, that connection between truth and freedom is very important. We cannot live well if we do not know what is true: the truth about God, the truth about ourselves, the truth about the human person, the truth about good and evil, and the truth about our relationships with one another. When truth is distorted, freedom itself becomes distorted.

The Catechism teaches that every person naturally seeks truth and has a moral obligation to pursue it, especially religious truth. This teaching draws directly from the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, Section 2, which teaches that because of their dignity as persons, men and women are bound to seek the truth and to live according to it once it is known. Truth, then, is not merely something we know; it is rather something we live.

The Catechism calls truthfulness a virtue, showing oneself true in deeds and truthful in words, guarding against duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy. That's from paragraph 2468. So there should be unity between who I am, what I say, and how I live.

Now, this has profound consequences for relationships. Trust is one of the foundations of communion. Families, friendships, parishes, workplaces, and societies cannot flourish when people no longer trust one another. And the Catechism observes that human beings could not live together without mutual confidence that people are telling the truth. That's from paragraph 2469, and a reference to the great theologian St. Thomas Aquinas.

For the Christian, truth also means witness. Jesus tells Pilate that he came into the world to testify to the truth, John 18, verse 37. The Christian bears witness not only through words, but through life itself, from paragraph 2472. And at its most heroic, this becomes martyrdom, the supreme witness to the truth of faith. But most of us will witness to truth in much more ordinary circumstances: by speaking honestly, keeping promises, refusing gossip, admitting mistakes, resisting exaggeration, and refusing to manipulate people for our own purposes.

The Catechism becomes particularly concrete when it speaks about the reputation of others. It names rash judgment, detraction, and calumny. Rash judgment means assuming another person's fault without sufficient evidence. Detraction means revealing another person's real faults to people who have no legitimate reason to know them. And calumny goes further. It means saying something false that harms another person's reputation.

This is enormously relevant in the age of social media. Something may be true and still not be ours to publish, to share. A person's weakness, sin, mistake, or private difficulty does not automatically become public property because we know about it. Before posting, forwarding, repeating, or commenting, perhaps we should ask: Is it true? And do I have a right to share it? Does the other person deserve privacy? Will this serve charity and justice, or simply damage a reputation? These are excellent questions to ask today, out of respect for the truth and also other people's dignity.

And when we damage another person through falsehood or unjust disclosure, the Catechism teaches that forgiveness alone does not eliminate our responsibility. Reparation may be required. That's from paragraph 2487. So if I damage someone's reputation publicly, I have an obligation to correct what I said publicly. Conversion sometimes requires us to repair what our words have broken.

And St. Augustine gives us the Catechism's classic definition of lying: "A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving." Again, citing St. Augustine directly, this is found in paragraph 2482. The Catechism teaches that lying is intrinsically opposed to truth and damages both justice and human communion.

But this raises an important question: Does everyone always have a right to know every truth? The answer is no. The Catechism says very clearly, "The right to the communication of the truth is not unconditional," paragraph 2488. Charity, safety, privacy, the common good, and the legitimate rights of others sometimes require silence or discreet language. No one is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not have the right to know it.

This is a classic example. Think, for example, of people who hid Jewish people during the Nazi persecution, knowing that surrendering them would lead to imprisonment or death. Or, for example, think of Immaculee Ilibagiza, who survived the Rwandan genocide, hidden with seven other women in a pastor's small bathroom, while killers search for them. She tells about this incredible story of survival in this book, Left to Tell. The murderer at the door has no moral right to information that will enable him to kill the innocent.

The Church does not therefore say that truth becomes unimportant, nor does she teach that an evil situation simply turns lying into something good. Rather, the communication of truth must be governed by justice and charity. When another person has no right to information, we may remain silent, refuse to answer, or use prudent and discreet language rather than betray an innocent person.

This distinction becomes especially important today because we live within an enormous communications environment. The social media, the availability to information is extensive. And so it's interesting because when the Catechism was published, the internet was only beginning to enter ordinary life. Social media as we know it did not yet exist. Artificial intelligence capable of generating persuasive text, images, audio, and video was still beyond ordinary experience. Yet the principles of the Catechism are remarkably relevant. It says that the media must serve the common good, and that society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice, and solidarity. In this interesting, it's a reference to the Decree on the Media of Social Communications from the Second Vatican Council, Inter Mirifica, and it's a reference to sections 5 and 11. And it's also in paragraphs, you'll find it in 2493 and 2494.

The Catechism also warns against disinformation and manipulation of public opinion. Pope Leo XIV develops this teaching directly for the age of artificial intelligence in his encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas. He writes that digital platforms and AI can "blur the boundaries between truth and falsehood," and that artificial intelligence has become a powerful amplifier of disinformation, including the manipulation of images and video. That's in Magnifica Humanitas, paragraph 132. Pope Leo therefore calls truth a common good and urges verification, responsible argumentation, serious journalism, critical thinking, and education in the wise use of digital tools. Again, references from Magnifica Humanitas, paragraphs 132 and 137.

So this should make every Christian pause before clicking share. Technology can amplify truth. It can teach, communicate the Gospel, connect people, translate languages, preserve knowledge, and reveal aspects of creation previously hidden from us. So I'm not saying technology is all bad, but the same technology can fabricate, manipulate, impersonate, distort, and overwhelm us with information that only appears true.

So the Christian response is neither fear nor naivete. It is discernment. We verify. We slow down. We ask who created something, whether the source is trustworthy, whether an image is authentic, and whether forwarding it serves truth and charity. We slow down, verify, ask the proper questions. Let's not be so curious to share or not be so zealous to share information that we're just not sure of. Again, asking the questions: Does this really have to be shared? Is it just to share this?

So finally, the Catechism ends this commandment somewhere we might not expect, with beauty. In paragraph 2500, truth is beautiful in itself. A beautiful line. Truth is beautiful in itself. Creation communicates something of the Creator. The order and beauty of the world can lift the mind toward God. Human art also has the capacity to give form to truth and to make visible something that words alone cannot express. Sacred art has a particular vocation: to lead us toward the mystery of God, to prayer, adoration, and love. The Second Vatican Council teaches similarly that sacred art should turn human minds devotedly toward God. And that's found in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, sections 122 to 127. So truth, goodness, and beauty really belong together because they have their source in God.

So the Eighth Commandment asks more of us than simply, "Did I tell a lie?" It asks, "Am I a truthful person?" Do my words build trust? Do I protect the reputation of others? Do I know when to speak and when charity requires silence? Do I repair damage caused by my words? Do I consume media responsibly? Do I verify before I share? Do I use technology to illuminate truth rather than distort it?

Jesus Christ is the way and the truth and the life. To follow him, therefore, is to become a person increasingly capable of living the truth. So let us ask the Lord for truthful hearts, disciplined tongues, prudent judgment, courage to bear witness, reverence for the reputation of others, and wisdom in the digital world. In an age when truth can so easily be manipulated, one of the most powerful forms of Christian witness may simply be this: to love the truth, to speak it with charity, and to live it with integrity.

Thank you so much for listening to the Auspice Maria podcast. And again, as always, I'd like to just end by asking our Blessed Mother Mary for her intercession as we pray. 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.