Article Fourth. On One Hearing Detraction

654. How he sins. 1. He who hears one detracting and does not impede the detraction which he can easily impede sins in a twofold way against charity: first, because he does not impede the sin of the detractor by correcting him; then because he does not avert evil from the defamed person. For anyone is bound from charity to avert evil from his neighbor if he conveniently can.

A superior also who hears detraction is bound to impede it from charity; but neither the superior of the one defaming nor the superior of the one defamed is bound to impede it from justice: not the superior of the one defaming, because he must only correct his subject, but not watch over the good of others; not the superior of the one defamed, because by reason of his office he must take care only of the spiritual good, not of the temporal good, of his subjects.

Therefore anyone, even a private person, in grave matter is of himself bound under grave obligation from charity to impede detraction; yet in order that to hear and not impede one detracting be a grave sin, it is required: a. that the other certainly and unjustly detract: for it can happen that there is present a just cause of narrating the vices of another, which cause must be supposed in a grave and God-fearing person; b. that there be certain hope of impeding the detraction: for it often happens that from correction the detractor is rather excited to increasing the detractions; c. that the detraction can be impeded without grave inconvenience. An inconvenience of this kind would be insults which he fears, or great shame which the one impeding the detraction must suffer.

Hence private persons are almost always excused from mortal sin if because of negligence, shame, or fear they do not impede detraction; and they are excused from every sin if they fear lest the detractor break forth into greater things or lest they themselves gravely offend him. A fortiori they lack every fault who, noticing the detraction, depart, turn the conversation elsewhere, or by some sign show that this speech displeases them: for by this reason they indirectly try to impede the detraction.

2. He who voluntarily hears a detractor in such a way that he rejoices over the defamation of his neighbor, yet does not cooperate toward his damage, sins against justice by affection, because he consents to the detractor and therefore commits the same sin by internal affection.

a. He who against his own will must be present among those detracting and cannot impede detraction, for example, servants serving at tables or ministering to clients in workshops, does not sin at all, provided he neither directly nor indirectly provokes detractions nor narrates what he has heard to others, unless they are public.

b. He who rejoices not over the detraction, but only over the mode of narrating or over the novelty of the matter, etc., morally does not sin, because these do not pertain to hatred nor to injustice, but at most to idleness and curiosity, which are only lightly evil.

3. He who directly or indirectly induces another to detract in grave matter, whether by provoking, questioning, or approving him, sins gravely against justice, because he provokes another to a sin against justice and thus is the cause of the damage which a third person suffers in reputation.

Yet he who privately fishes out another's crime from another without intention of divulging it does not seem to sin gravely, both because he does not gravely harm the reputation of the other, and because he acts more from curiosity than from the intention of injuring another.