Case 5. Questions About Scandal

Bertha, who serves in the household of a non-Catholic master, approaches James, her confessor, and sets forth the following facts, concerning which she has a scruple and seeks his judgment about them: (a) Every day before she went to bed she had recited the Rosary, and in the presence of the other servants, although, because they had seen the rosary beads, they took from this an occasion to blaspheme the Blessed Virgin Mary. (b) Several times she had not hesitated to tell less modest stories, foreseeing that the other servants would probably take from this an occasion to begin truly indecent conversations. (c) Returning from church on Sunday, she had frequented streets where dissolute youths walk about, although she had often furnished one or another an occasion for uttering indecent things. (d) She had left the sons of the family, whose care she had, an occasion for stealing food, in order to catch and punish them. Hence it is asked:

1. What does scandal mean, and what are its species?

2. What is the malice of direct and indirect scandal?

3. What is the obligation of omitting works both of precept and of counsel in order to avoid scandal?

4. What judgment ought to be rendered by James?

1. This question is answered in “Manual of Moral Theology,” vol. i, p. 198. 2. See the answer to this in “Manual of Moral Theology,” vol. i, p. 199.

3. For the answer to this, see “Manual of Moral Theology,” vol. i, p. 200.

4. The case. Bertha, a Catholic governess in a non-Catholic family, tells James her confessor the following facts about her conduct and asks his advice about them: (a) She said her Rosary in presence of the other servants before going to bed, although the sight of the Rosary caused them to blaspheme the Blessed Virgin. Bertha can say her Rosary without letting it be seen by the other servants, and she should do this to prevent their blasphemies. (b) Often she has told suggestive stories although she foresaw that the other servants would take the occasion to tell really immodest ones. In this Bertha committed the sin of indirect scandal, and its gravity will depend on the gravity of the sins committed by the other servants in telling their immodest stories. (c) Coming from church on a Sunday she came by streets frequented by youths of bad character although she often occasioned indecent remarks. It is not suggested that Bertha chose these streets in order to meet the young men. If she can without inconvenience return by some more respectable streets, she should do so. We suppose that there is nothing in Bertha’s dress or manner to provoke the remarks, and so the scandal is pharisaic, and she need not put herself to inconvenience to avoid it. She should pay no attention to the objectionable remarks. (d) She allowed the children, of whom she had charge, to pilfer small morsels of food in order to catch and correct them. Such an action is not scandal, and so she need not be troubled about it.