it, or to the poor.  But you must remember you cannot make restitution by giving to the poor if you can restore to the proper owner.  You must restore by giving to the poor only when the owner cannot be found or reached.  Some persons do not like the duty of restoring to the proper owner, and think they satisfy their obligation by giving the ill-gotten goods to the poor; but they do not.  You cannot give even in charity the goods of another without being guilty of dishonesty.  If you wish to be charitable, give from your own goods.  It is a sin to delay making restitution after you are able to restore.  You must restore just as soon as you can, because the longer you keep the owner out of his property and its benefits, the greater the injury you do him and the greater the sin.  One who, after being told by his confessor to make restitution, and promising to do so, still delays or keeps putting off, runs the risk of being guilty of sacrilege by receiving the Sacraments without proper dispositions.  But suppose a person cannot restore; suppose he lost the thing stolen and has not the value of it.  What must he do?  He must have the firm resolution of restoring as soon as he possibly can; and without this good resolution he could not be absolved from his sins—­even if he had not the real means of restoring.  The good intention and resolution will suffice till he has really the means; but this intention must be serious, otherwise there will be no forgiveness.

377 Q. Are we obliged to repair the damage we have unjustly caused?  A. We are bound to repair the damage we have unjustly caused.

378 Q. What is the Eighth Commandment?  A. The Eighth Commandment is:  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Either in a court, while we are acting as witnesses, or by telling lies about him at any other time.

379 Q. What are we commanded by the Eighth Commandment?  A. We are commanded by the Eighth Commandment to speak the truth in all things, and to be careful of the honor and reputation of everyone.

“Reputation.”  If it be a sin to steal a man’s money, which we can restore to him, it is certainly a much greater sin to steal his good name, which we can never restore, and especially as we have nothing to gain from injuring his character.  It is a sin to tell evil things about another—­his sins, vices, etc.—­even when they are true.  The only thing that will excuse us from telling another’s fault is the necessity to do so in which we are placed, or the good we can do to the person himself or others by exposing faults.  How shall you know when you have injured the character of another?  You have injured another’s character if you made others think less of him than they did before.  If you have exposed some crime that he really committed, your sin is called detraction; if you accuse him of one he did not commit, your sin is calumny; and if you maliciously circulate these reports to injure his character, your sin is slander.