Ccc #2448

[Ave Maria]

The right to the communication of the truth is not unconditional. Everyone must conform his life to the Gospel precept of fraternal love. This requires us in concrete situations to judge whether or not it is appropriate to reveal the truth to someone who asks for it.

Hey everyone! What does this mean? Does this mean that we may refrain from telling something out of love for someone? I'm not asking if this means we can lie to someone out of love because I am thinking we can never lie to someone but does this mean we can refrain from telling something out of love?

 

[Called2Grace]

I think so. That is how I would interperate it. I wish I could think of some examples though

 

[Globalnomad]

The textbook example for this is: if you are hiding a Jew in the attic, and the Nazi patrol omes by and asks you: do you have any Jews hidden in the house....

 

[JesusPower]

You should never lie or refrain from telling someone the truth about the God. If he opened a door for you to witness to someone about him the you should not deny that person. It may be their last chance to hear about salvation.
Pro

 

[Servus Iesu]

A woman who is bleeding and clearly quite frightened runs past you, fleeing as quickly as possible. A few seconds later a man runs up to you holding a bloody knife, "Which way did that woman go?"

 

[Vedant]

The textbook example for this is: if you are hiding a Jew in the attic, and the Nazi patrol omes by and asks you: do you have any Jews hidden in the house....

Very good!

 

[alkan]

Exactly

Several people of influence, some Preists forged doccuments of baptism for Jews so that they would not be persecuted. All the same kind of thing.

 

[Iluminatius]

The right to the communication of the truth is not unconditional. Everyone must conform his life to the Gospel precept of fraternal love. This requires us in concrete situations to judge whether or not it is appropriate to reveal the truth to someone who asks for it.

Hey everyone! What does this mean? Does this mean that we may refrain from telling something out of love for someone? I'm not asking if this means we can lie to someone out of love because I am thinking we can never lie to someone but does this mean we can refrain from telling something out of love?

Actually it's paragraph 2488.

And I think that we can find the anwser to its meaning a bit further in CCC:

2489 Charity and respect for the truth should dictate the response to every request for information or communication. The good and safety of others, respect for privacy, and the common good are sufficient reasons for being silent about what ought not be known or for making use of a discreet language. The duty to avoid scandal often commands strict discretion. No one is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not have the right to know it.

2490 The secret of the sacrament of reconciliation is sacred, and cannot be violated under any pretext. "The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore, it is a crime for a confessor in any way to betray a penitent by word or in any other manner or for any reason."

2491 Professional secrets - for example, those of political office holders, soldiers, physicians, and lawyers - or confidential information given under the seal of secrecy must be kept, save in exceptional cases where keeping the secret is bound to cause very grave harm to the one who confided it, to the one who received it or to a third party, and where the very grave harm can be avoided only by divulging the truth. Even if not confided under the seal of secrecy, private information prejudicial to another is not to be divulged without a grave and proportionate reason.

2492 Everyone should observe an appropriate reserve concerning persons' private lives. Those in charge of communications should maintain a fair balance between the requirements of the common good and respect for individual rights. Interference by the media in the private lives of persons engaged in political or public activity is to be condemned to the extent that it infringes upon their privacy and freedom.

So there are four situations when the truth should not be revealed:

- when it may cause needless harm or evil
- when it brakes the secret of the sacrament of reconciliation
- when it brakes the proffesional secret
- when it concerns an intimate matter