Fame

FAMA. — By this term is meant “the good opinion held of a person in a given environment on account of the qualities with which that person is believed to be endowed.” It therefore requires a certain degree of diffusion, unlike esteem, which may be limited even to a single person. It may concern moral qualities (that is, those founded on the use of freedom), as well as physical and intellectual qualities; it may be common or special, according as qualities ordinarily possessed at a certain time and place, or exceptional qualities, are attributed.

F. may be acquired either through the dissemination of good qualities actually possessed, or through the dissemination of fictitious qualities. The same must be said of its loss. The attribution of bad qualities that one does not possess constitutes the specific fault of calumny; the attribution detraction (v.) and sometimes also slander. All this may be done even merely by a gesture, a pause, a silence, a smile, a movement of the head, shoulders, or eyes, a question, or an insinuation; but the principal means of enhancing or destroying reputation always remains speech, whether oral or written, especially with the power of dissemination made possible by the press, cinema, radio, and the entire range of advertising and propagandistic forms. For this purpose, the numerous biblical passages concerning the tongue and its efficacy in building up or destroying f. should be reread and pondered anew.

The importance of f. is immense, both in itself and because of the social and economic consequences it may have. Scripture says that a good name is preferable to riches (Prov. 22:1); hence it exhorts us to take great care of it: “hoc enim magis permanebit tibi quam mille thesauri pretiosi et magni. Bonae vitae numerus dierum: bonum autem nomen permanebit in aevum” (Prov. 41:15a). This applies above all to professions founded essentially on trust (e.g., that of the physician, priest, lawyer, etc.). A good or bad f. may respectively determine a person’s fortune or ruin. In any case, it is an indispensable condition of influence and a necessary element of success.

For these reasons, even the most elementary reflection permits us to conclude that everyone has a right to f. and consequently that whoever destroys it or places it in danger commits a grave or slight sin according to the various ways and the degree of the injury. In this sense Holy Scripture speaks (cf., e.g., Ps. 14:3; 33:14; Prov. 20:19; 30:10; Wis. 1:11; I Tim. 3:2; Rom. 1:30; II Cor. 12:20; Jas. 4:11, etc.) and so does the patristic tradition (especially the Fathers’ commentaries on the biblical passages cited).

These assertions have absolute validity insofar as they refer to and exclude calumny; in the case of detraction, however, they presuppose that the preservation of a person’s good reputation does not harm others. Casuistry has developed this latter point extensively, providing a long series of situations in which it is lawful to disclose the defects of others (disclosing to parents or superiors the defects of children or subjects in order to facilitate their correction; disclosing them to fiancés, to those intending to entrust particular persons with positions of trust, disclosing them to competent persons in order to obtain advice, etc.).

The social importance of a good reputation has induced the legislator to protect it by the force of law.

In the CIC it is stated: “Si quis... verbis vel scriptis vel alia quavis ratione... bonam famam læserit, non solum potest ad normam can. 1628, 1938 cogi ad debitam satisfactionem praestandam damnaque reparanda, sed praeterea congrue poenia ac poenitentia puniti, non exclusa, si de clericis agatur et causa ferat, suspensione aut remotione ab officio et beneficio” (can. 2355). The Italian Penal Code deals with it in arts. 595–599. It states that “chiunque... comunicando con più persone, offende l'altrui reputazione è punito con la reclusione fine ad un anno o con la multa fino a lire dieci mila” (art. 595). The only exclusions are “le offese contenute negli scritti presentati o nei discorsi pronunciati dalle parti o dai loro patrocinatori nei procedimenti dinanzi all'Autorità giudiziaria ovvero dinanzi all'Autorità amministrativa, quando le offese concernono l'oggetto della causa o del ricorso” (art. 598). The penalties are increased “se l'offesa consiste nell'attribuzione di un fatto determinato,” or “se l'offesa è recata col mezzo della stampa o con qualsiasi altro mezzo di pubblicità, ovvero in atto pubblico,” or “se l'offesa è recata a un Corpo politico, amministrativo o giudiziario, o ad una sua rappresentanza, o ad un'Autorità costituita in collegio” (art. 595). Such offenses “sono punibili a querela della persona offesa...” (art. 597), and for them “il colpevole... non è ammesso a provare, a sua discolpa, la verità o la notorietà del fatto attribuito alla persona offesa” (art. 596).

Given the nature of the offense of defamation, it is evident that it also entails the duty to repair all unjustly caused damage. — Vedi tav. LXVII.