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Catechism of the Catholic Church IntraText - Text |
II. Good Acts and Evil Acts
1755
A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the
circumstances together. An evil end corrupts the action, even if the object is
good in itself (such as praying and fasting "in order to be seen by
men").
The object of the choice can by itself vitiate an act in its entirety. There
are some concrete acts - such as fornication - that it is always wrong to
choose, because choosing them entails a disorder of the will, that is, a moral
evil.
1756 It is therefore an error to judge the morality of human acts by considering only the intention that inspires them or the circumstances (environment, social pressure, duress or emergency, etc.) which supply their context. There are acts which, in and of themselves, independently of circumstances and intentions, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object; such as blasphemy and perjury, murder and adultery. One may not do evil so that good may result from it.