What is the fifth commandment of God?

The fifth commandment of God is: Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not kill. (Exodus 20:13)
What are we commanded by the fifth commandment?
By the fifth commandment we are commanded to take proper care of our own spiritual
and bodily well-being and that of our neighbor.
What does the fifth commandment forbid?
The fifth commandment forbids murder and suicide, and also fighting, anger, hatred,
revenge, drunkenness, reckless driving, and bad example.
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has
eternal life abiding in him. (I John 3:15)
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The Fifth Commandment
"And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his
face the breath of life, and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7)
1. What is the Fifth Commandment?
Thou shalt not kill. (Exodus 20:13)
2. What does the Fifth Commandment oblige you to do?
To take care of your own life and the lives of others. By the fifth commandment we are
commanded to take proper care of our own spiritual and bodily well-being and that of
our neighbor.
3. What are the mortal sins against the Fifth Commandment?
i. Murder, the unjust killing of an innocent person.
ii. Abortion, deliberately causing the death of an unborn baby.
iii. Suicide, taking your own life.
iv. "Mercy killing", killing an innocent person who is dying of an incurable
disease.
v. Sterilization, making the sex organs unfruitful.
vi. Getting drunk.
vii. Serious anger and hatred.
viii. Helping another to commit a mortal sin.
4. Are you ever allowed to use force or to kill?
Only in self-defense, when it is the only way you can protect yourself or another
and when you or someone else is being seriously attacked here and now.
You may kill in defense of life, bodily integrity, chastity or material goods of
great value. If possible, you should flee from the attacker, or wound him rather
than kill him.

5. Is abortion ever allowed?
No, because deliberately to take the life of any innocent person, even that of an
unborn baby, is murder.
Any Catholic who knowingly and willingly has an abortion is automatically
excommunicated from the Church, and anyone who helps someone to procure
an abortion commits a mortal sin.
What happens to a Catholic who knowingly has an abortion?
o Automatic excommunication is the penalty for this crime.
o This means that such a person cannot receive the Sacraments nor have a Catholic
funeral.
Can an excommunicated person get back into the Church?
Yes, if he is truly sorry for having committed the crime.
However, the priest who hears his confession has to get special power from the bishop to
take away the excommunication.
6. Is suicide ever allowed?
No, your life belongs to God, and He alone can take it away.
A Catholic who commits suicide while in his right mind loses his right to have a
Catholic funeral.
7. Is "mercy killing" ever allowed?
No, because it is murder.
A person who allows himself to be killed in this way is guilty of suicide.
8. Is sterilization ever allowed?
To have the Fallopian tubes or the seminal vesicles (sperm ducts) tied or cut is
always a mortal sin.
What is sterilization?
Making the reproductive organs unfruitful, usually by tying or cutting the
fallopian tubes, cutting or tying the seminal vesicles (vasectomy), or removing the
ovaries or uterus (hysterectomy).
What kind of sin is sterilization?
Always a mortal sin, unless the organs are diseased and must be removed
because they are a danger to the health of the whole body.

A woman is never allowed to have her tubes tied nor a man allowed to have a vasectomy
under any conditions, even under doctors' orders. If there is serious danger to the woman's life or
health, the only solution in accord with God's law is to refrain from sexual intercourse totally or
periodically.

The reproductive organs may be removed only when they are diseased and
present a danger to the whole body.
9. What kind of sin is it to get drunk?
To get slightly drunk is a venial sin; to get seriously drunk is a mortal sin.
You are guilty of any sins you commit while under the influence of alcohol,
even though later on you do not remember committing them.
10. Are you ever allowed to use narcotics?
Only when recommended by a competent doctor, and then only according to
his directions.
11. Are hatred and anger mortal sins?
Hatred of another person is a mortal sin and anger toward another person is
usually a venial sin, unless you wish someone serious harm.


12. Is there such a thing as sinless anger?
Yes, anger prompted by zeal for justice, honor to God, or some other good
cause.
Jesus, for example, was angry with the buyers and sellers in the temple.
13. In what other way can you sin against the Fifth Commandment?
By helping another to commit sin by your sinful actions or words, or by giving
another whatever is necessary to commit sin.
"But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in Me, it were
better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he
should be drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matthew 18:6)
14. Is capital punishment (the death penalty) ever allowed?
Yes, the state has the right to administer the death penalty for a grave crime in
the interest of the common welfare.
15. Can there ever be a just war?
Yes, both offensive and defensive wars are lawful for a serious and just cause
if there is no other means to obtain justice.
16. What does the fifth commandment forbid?
The fifth commandment forbids murder and suicide, and also fighting, anger, hatred,
revenge, drunkenness, reckless driving, and bad example.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has
eternal life abiding in him. (I John 3:15)




Sources:
http://www.olrl.org/Lessons/Lesson38.shtml
http://www.catholicity.com/baltimore-catechism/lesson19.html