PARTIALITY. - An expression proper to ecclesiastical language, roughly synonymous with partiality. It is in fact used to designate a judgment (favorable or unfavorable) founded on purely subjective and self-interested reasons, as for example that of one who, having to distribute work or goods of public concern, did not take into account the dignity and conditions of persons and allowed himself to be guided by motives not in conformity with the moral order. It is therefore defined as: «Iniustitia qua praefertur persona personae propter causam indebitam» (Van Espen, Ius ecclesiasticum, p. 11, th. 31, c. 1, n. 1). The origin of the expression is biblical (Rom. 2:11; Col. 3:25). The Septuagint, translating the Hebrew ndia "intueri faciem," renders it with the Greek word προσωποληψία, "acceptio personae."
Favoritism is a sin by reason of the voluntary disorder that leads to the formation of judgments and practical decisions to the detriment of others, thus violating distributive justice (cf. Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, q. 63, a. 1).
For there to be sin, two conditions must be met: 1st, that the goods to be distributed be in some way common with respect to those who aspire to them (for example, the prize to be distributed among the winners of a contest; anyone who distributed it or awarded it to a non-winner out of friendship or for some other personal motive of his own would be guilty and unjust); 2nd, that in the act of awarding or distributing, regard be had to some special condition of the person, rather than to the due execution of the act, so that one less worthy comes to be preferred to one more worthy. The most common cases in which favoritism can occur are four: a) in the conferral of benefices or offices; b) in election or presentation to the same, in both the civil and the ecclesiastical sphere; c) in the distribution of burdens; d) in the public manifestation of the honor and reverence due to a person.
The sin will be more or less grave according to the importance of the interests that are compromised by this violation of distributive justice.
Already in the Old Testament favoritism is found condemned several times (Deut. 16:19; Prov. 24:23) and in the New Testament it is said that God abhors undue preferences (Lk. 20:21; Acts 6:34; Rom. 2:11; Gal. 2:6), and by this the Apostles meant to condemn both the claim to privileges on the part of the Jews and the disparity that the pagans intended to maintain between free men and slaves.
In the CIC favoritism is condemned with severe words and penalties in the conferral of offices (can. 153) and in appointment to parishes (can. 459; cf. also cann. 232, 267).
Bibliography
Igino Tarocchi