SCANDALO. – Here it signifies everything that may constitute a difficulty in the practice of good or serve as a direct incentive to sin, that is, to moral evil.
In this sense, already in the Old Testament it is said, for example, that God, in order to test the virtue of the just man, will place «offendiculum coram eo» (Ez. 3, 20); and, in the New Testament, Jesus says that the world is full of scandal and that, in the present order of things, it could not be otherwise. It may originate in the wickedness of men. The Savior sternly warns especially those who offend the little ones, saying that it would be better for a millstone to be hung around their neck and for them to be cast into the depths of the sea (Mt. 18, 6; Mc. 9, 41; Lc. 17, 2). At other times, the nature of things is to blame—the very nature of ourselves, our faculties, and so forth. It is in relation to this kind of scandal that Jesus says that if our foot or hand scandalizes us, it is better to cut it off without pity. At still other times, scandal occurs through the very loving action of God in the world; as when it is said that the Savior has come for the fall and resurrection of many, thus becoming a sign of contradiction (Lc. 2, 34). And blessed are those who will not find in the humiliations of the Savior a cause of scandal (Mt. 11, 6; Lc. 7, 23).
The duty not to give scandal is emphasized with particular insistence in the New Testament. To avoid doing so, Jesus miraculously causes Peter to find the coin with which to pay the tribute (Mc. 17, 26), and s. Paul, although he has demonstrated that there is nothing inherently wrong with the use of foods impure according to the Mosaic law, forbids it to the Christian whenever it may create some difficulty for the brethren (I Cor. 8-10; Rom. 10).
I. SIN OF SCANDAL. — In this case, scandal consists in what induces one to sin, not in the sin to which one is induced; for scandal, an external act or fact, bad in effect or in appearance, capable in concrete circumstances of exerting a morally harmful influence on others, is both necessary and sufficient. Only under these conditions can there be scandal; on the other hand, one can sin without there having been that particular stimulus which is called scandal.
The inducement to evil included in the concept of scandal may derive from the very nature of the scandalous act or external phenomenon, or from the condition of the person upon whom that act exerts its influence. In the first case, scandal will have universal validity; in the second, it will apply only to certain persons. There may, in any event, be an enormous variety of scandals, ranging from the extreme of objectively very dangerous acts that are not in fact dangerous because of the particular conditions of the persons involved, to the extreme of objectively little-dangerous acts that are in fact extremely dangerous for the same reason. Facts and persons, and conditions of time and place, must therefore be taken into account: what could have been a cause of scandal in the past is no longer so today, and vice versa; likewise, in other cases, physically and spiritually immature persons may be scandalized, while mature persons are not.
The evil that gives rise to scandal may be neither foreseen nor intended by the author of the scandal, or it may be foreseen and intended; alternatively, it may be foreseen but not intended. Moreover, it may be intended solely for the sake of an advantage expected to result from it, or for the sake of the spiritual harm of the person scandalized or of the offense thereby caused to God. When the fault resulting from scandal is foreseen but not intended, moralists speak of indirect scandal; when it is foreseen and intended, they speak of direct scandal. Scandal is called diabolical when the fault is intended for the spiritual harm of the person scandalized and for the offense that will thereby be caused to God; it is called furistic when the evil derives solely from the malice of the person who commits it, without there having been any genuine inducement or scandal, but only a pretext. Moralists then proceed to examine more deeply the reasons for avoiding scandal. The first and fundamental reason is the obligation to love one’s neighbor as oneself, and therefore to avoid whatever may harm him and to promote his good.
Its gravity will vary according to the nature of the stimulus included in the scandal and according to the person who causes it and the person upon whom it falls; that is, it will be more serious in proportion as the inducement to sin is greater, whether because of the very nature of the act performed, the quality of the person who performs it, or the person who is scandalized. In direct scandal, in addition to the fault against charity, there is a fault against the virtue to which one is induced to sin through the scandal.
The principal difficulty in this matter concerns the possibility of avoiding all scandals and the obligation that follows from II. The difficulty has been resolved by means of the well-known principle of double effect, or, in other words, by the principle of the greater good or the lesser evil. The entire difficulty lies in determining, in concrete circumstances, where the greater good or lesser evil lies; and this can obviously have the most diverse solutions in different cases.
II. THE OFFENSE OF SCANDAL. — The external and harmful-to-one’s-neighbor aspect included in scandal has attracted the attention of the ecclesiastical legislator, who in more than one case has established penalties against the authors of scandal. Can. 2218 § 1 of the CIC states that «in poenis decernendis servetur aequa proportio cum delicto, habita ratione imputabilitatis, scandali et damni...». And can. 2222 § 1 states that «Licet lex nullam sanctionem appositam habeat, legitimus tamen Superior potest illius transgressionem, etiam sine praevia poenae comminatione, aliqua iusta poena punire, si scandalum forte datum aut specialis transgressionis gravitas id ferat». In particular, specific measures are provided against religious (cann. 653, 668), parish priests (can. 2147 §2), non-resident clerics (cann. 2168-75), concubinarii clerics (cann. 2176-81), and negligent parish priests (cann. 2182-85). Reparation of the scandal, or the serious promise to make it, is a condition for judging the cessation of contumacy in the case of a censure (can. 2242 § 3). Absolution from every censure in the internal forum, once the scandal has been removed, may be invoked in the external forum (can. 2251).
The civil legislator too has repeatedly concerned himself with scandal, for example in art. 527 of the Italian Penal Code, where penalties are imposed against «chiunque in luogo pubblico o aperto al pubblico o esposto al pubblico, compie atti osceni»; and in art. 726, where other penalties are imposed for «atti contrari alla pubblica decenza». More detailed ministerial provisions on the matter have recently been issued, specifically through the provisions of the Ministry of the Interior concerning morality on beaches.
For performances and conduct contrary to morality and good morals, measures are adopted under art. 70 of the Public Security Law and art. 126 of the Public Security Regulations, under the law of 26 Apr. 1934, no. 653, and art. 138 of the Public Security Regulations. For the public display of printed matter and, in general, of objects that offend the moral sense of modesty and good morals, provisions are made in arts. 528, 529, and 725 of the Penal Code, in arts. 112 and 69 of the Public Security Law, and in art. 125 of the Public Security Regulations. From the standpoint of scandal, incest is dealt with in art. 564 of the Penal Code. A specific offense, provided for by art. 530 of the Penal Code, is the corruption of minors (cf. arts. 519-21 and the entry MINORENNI). Art. 553 of the Penal Code punishes «chiunque pubblicamente incita a pratiche contro la procreazione o fa propaganda a favore di esse». For prostitution V. l'art. 192 della legge di P.S. che autorizza l'autorità locale di P.S. ad impedire che un locale possa essere adibito ad uso di meretricio, ogni qualvolta lo ritenga opportuno nell'interesse della moralità pubblica, del buon costume o dell'ordine pubblico.
As can be seen, civil legislation concerning scandal is neither scant nor unsuitable, provided that constant and vigorous determination is not lacking on the part of those who ought to ensure its implementation.
Giovanni B. Guzzetti