Catholic Dictionary
Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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RETRIBUTION
A penalty or reward that a person deserves for moral conduct. Its basis is the divine justice that repays each person according to his or her works. Retribution more generally refers to punishment for sin, but theologically it also means the merit that a person gains for free co-operation with divine grace. More often retribution is understood to belong to eternity, yet already in this life divine justice is acting, even when the punishment is tempered by God's mercy. (Etym. Latin retributio, recompense, restitution; from retribuere, to give back, restore.)
