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Chapter 32. Eighth Commandment: Tell the Truth • 437
• The natural law requires all people to speak and live by the truth in
words and deeds.
• “The golden rule [‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you’] helps one discern, in concrete situations, whether or not it
would be appropriate to reveal the truth to someone who asks for
it” (CCC, no. 2510).
• The right to know the truth is not absolute. Charity and justice gov-
ern what may be communicated. People’s safety, respect for privacy,
and the common good are reasons for being silent or using discreet
language about what should not be known.
• “No one is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not have
the right to know it” (CCC, no. 2489).
• Members of the media have the responsibility to always be at the
service of the common good.
• In the assembling and publishing of the news, the moral law and
the lawful rights and human dignity of men and women should
be upheld.
• “Arising from talent given by the Creator and from man’s own
effort, art is a form of practical wisdom, uniting knowledge and
skill, to give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to
sight or hearing. To the extent that it is inspired by truth and love of
beings, art bears a certain likeness to God’s activity in what he has
created” (CCC, no. 2501).
• “An offense committed against the truth requires reparation” (CCC,
no. 2509).
MEDITATION
Truth is more than an idea. It reveals goodness and beauty. This is what
moved Pope Paul VI to speak of the “inherent attractiveness of Gospel
truth.” Love beholds truth as a revelation of beauty. Once it is known
and loved, truth is meant to be practiced. St. Ignatius offered this wise
advice regarding the need to foster truth:
Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable
interpretation to another’s statement than to condemn it. But if