Read the Catechism in a Year
The Seventh Commandment: You shall not steal.
Why is there no absolute right to private property?
There is no absolute but only a relative right to private property because God created the earth and its goods for all mankind.
Before parts of created reality can "belong" to individuals, because they have been obtained legally, inherited, or received as gifts, these owners must know that there is no property without social obligation. At the same time, the Church contradicts those who conclude from the social obligation associated with property that there should be no private property and that everything should belong to everybody, or to the State. The private owner who manages, tends, and increases a plot of land in keeping with the Creator's plan and divides the proceeds in such a way that each person gets what is his due is by all means acting according to the divine commission for creation. (YOUCAT question 427)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (2402-2406) and other references here.
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