SATISFACTION, VICARIOUS. — Etymologically (from *satis facere*) it indicates sufficient compensation, on behalf of and for the benefit of a person, for a material or moral debt for which, through their own fault, they are indebted, according to justice, to a third party. In theology, the term occurs in the concept of the Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ on our behalf (see REDENZIONE) and in the concept of the Mystical Body and the Communion of Saints (see the respective entries).
Enciclopedia Cattolica