Catholic Word of the Day: UNJUST DAMAGE, 06-26-14

CCDictionary ^ | 06-26-14 | Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary,

[Salvation]

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UNJUST DAMAGE

 

Violating the property of another in some unfair manner without deriving any advantage from the harm caused. The obligation to undo the damage caused binds under the following conditions: 1. the act of damage must be unjust in the strict sense; 2. the action must be the real and effective cause of the damage, so that a accidental cause would not require restitution; 3. the harmful action must be formally sinful, i.e., deliberately unjust.

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

[Salvation]

Accidental or deliberately unjust?

[Salvation]

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[Tax-chick]

3. the harmful action must be formally sinful, i.e., deliberately unjust

This part seems to eliminate most, but not all, "accidents." For example, I'm cutting a limb off a tree on my property, and it falls on your car. Cutting a limb off a tree is not a sinful action, so this doesn't fall in the definition of "Unjust Damage."

On the other hand, if I'm driving drunk and run into your mailbox, I think that would fit the definition - even though I didn't intend to hit your mailbox - because drunk driving is a sin.

[Salvation]

Good analysis.

I was also thinking of posters on FR who may say something about Catholicism out of ignorance and intend to not even hurt Christ or the addressee. On the other hand, there are posers who deliberately know they are slandering or blaspheming either the individual, a saint or the church when they post.

[Tax-chick]

Violating the property is the first part of the definition, so I think it would have to be tangible property, like a car, or intangible property, such as a business's "goodwill" value.

Slander, defamation, detraction, etc., are all a form of damage, but not, I think, included in the specific topic of this definition.