Read the Catechism in a Year
The Seventh Commandment: You shall not steal.
Is it permissible to "buy" and "sell" human beings?
No human being, not even parts of a human being, may be turned into commodities, nor may a person make himself a commodity. Man belongs to God and has been endowed by him with freedom and dignity. Buying and selling people, as is common practice nowadays, and not only in prostitution, is a profoundly reprehensible act.
Trafficking in organs for transplantation and in embryos for the biotech industry or in children for purposes of adoption, the recruiting of child soldiers, prostitution - the age-old injustice of trafficking in human beings and slavery is reappearing everywhere. People are deprived of their freedom, their dignity, and their right of self-determination, even of their lives. Others reduce them to objects with which their owner can make a profit. Human trafficking in the strict sense should be distinguished from dealings between sports teams. Here, too, there is talk about "buying" and "selling" players, but of course these are transactions that presuppose the athletes' free consent. (YOUCAT question 435)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (2414) and other references here.
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