PIETY (Theology). - In biblical, theological and common language the term p. can have a broader sense, including one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (v.) and mercy (v.) toward the needy. Here it is considered specifically as the moral virtue by which one renders to those joined by blood or citizenship the dutiful and fitting respect and the due reverence (Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, q. 101, a. 1).
Man becomes a debtor toward others in various ways, according to the excellence of the person from whom he receives and the extent of the benefits he receives from him. Under both aspects God holds the first place, in himself most perfect and the first principle of every existing being and of its preservation; in the field of Grace the claims assume incommensurable proportions. But subordinate to God and by his disposition other creatures must be considered principles of our being. Man is not a purely biological entity, so that he owes life only to the one who physically begot him, but is also a social, spiritual and moral entity, to whose existence, formation, development, completion, perfecting and defense others also contribute by duty or by spontaneous will. And justice, which recognizes this, fulfills the duty toward such persons by means of p.
Its proper material object is two acts that express love: respect (help in various needs: illnesses, destitution, moral sufferings and prayer [cf. Mt. 15, 4; Eccli. 7, 29 ff.]) and reverence (attestations of esteem, of veneration, of reverence).
I. OBJECT OF PIETAS
The object of pietas is first of all parents; the duties toward them can hardly be repaid in equal measure, although in some cases the child can give more (saving the father from a most cruel death, converting him to the faith, etc.). Precisely because one cannot speak of perfect equality and because the ontological dependence on parents always remains, pietas is distinguished from pure justice. In the second place come blood relatives, in proportion to their lesser blood relationship and to the nearness of common origin (and for evident reasons guardians and legal parents), and in the third place the other relatives.
Pietas also has as its object the homeland; with its help, given concrete form in the State, parents can give their children a fitting social life, a suitable education, intellectual development and a defense otherwise impossible. Therefore, since this relation of principle of existence always remains, pietas toward the homeland remains obligatory even in the case of emigration and exile.
Pietas toward the homeland includes secondarily the respect to be shown to one's fellow citizens and to the friends of the homeland, since the favor these give to the homeland is reflected in individuals.
The object of pietas is also spouse toward spouse (v., also for property relations, coniugi) and children toward parents (v. PROLE).
Of a similar, though not identical, order are the relations toward spiritual fathers ("Ecclesiae praesides et pastores et sacerdotes patres dicuntur -: Roman Catechism, De IV praecep., n. 8, ed. Benedetti, Rome 1918, n. 320).
II. LIMITS OF PIETY AND ITS VIOLATIONS
Piety in its exercise finds limits (beyond which it becomes a vice) in the higher duties toward God and in duties toward third parties; thus one may not omit duties toward God for an excessive or unfounded piety; one must not trample upon duties toward parents for an exaggerated love of country. Here belongs the question of the duty toward one's relatives, when someone feels called to the religious state (cf. on this matter CIC, can. 542; Sum. Theol., 2ᵃ-2ᵇ, p. 101, a. 4).
Toward one's country, piety is violated by excess through exaggerated nationalism (exclusion of the legal equality of other nations, economic selfishness to the detriment of the community, excessive tariff and immigration barriers, deification of the country), and by defect through betrayals, defamations, and a cosmopolitanism that does not recognize the goods of the various national entities (cf. the pagan saying: "Ubi bene, ibi patria").
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