Catechism of the Catholic Church

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2240 Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one's country:

Pay to all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. ⁴⁵ [Christians] reside in their own nations, but as resident aliens. They participate in all things as citizens and endure all things as foreigners.... They obey the established laws and their way of life surpasses the laws.... So noble is the position to which God has assigned them that they are not allowed to desert it. ⁴⁶

The Apostle exhorts us to offer prayers and thanksgiving for kings and all who exercise authority, "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way." ⁴⁷

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST

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SECTION TWO: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

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CHAPTER TWO: YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF Jesus said to his disciples: "Love one another even as I have loved you." 1

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ARTICLE 4: THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 4 He was obedient to them. 5 The Lord Jesus himself recalled the force of this "commandment of God." 6 The Apostle teaches: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother,' (This is the first commandment with a promise.) 'that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth."' 7

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IV. THE FAMILY AND THE KINGDOM

Notes for the above paragraph:

45 Rom 13:7.

46 Ad Diognetum 5, 5 and 10; 6, 10: PG 2, 1173 and 1176.

47 I Tim 2:2.

English Translation of the Cathechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.

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