The Traditional Catholic Doctrine on Usury Is Still Intact
Time to Open Your Copy of Dante's Inferno
This work is meant as a summary of the Catholic Teaching on usury based upon Papal and Conciliar teaching, and the works Sts. Ambrose and Thomas Aquinas. This is a catechetical work and so is meant for instruction rather than dialectic. I have attempted to include questions that are most relevant and which have reasonably clear answers. Not all sources have equal authority, nor are all significant authorities included in each questions. If you have other questions let me know. All errors are my own.
Disclaimer: I am amateur Latinist, but I have translated a few short passages with no English translations. If they include errors, please let me know. Further, I have taken liberty with texts that have English translations to correct obvious mistranslations (e.g. “usura” does not mean “interest-taking” nor does “aliquid moderatum” mean “moderate rate of interest.”)
And if you thought usury only applies to pay day loan companies and steroid enhanced credit card debt, boy are you in for a surprise!
This is most timely. I have been reading Michael Hoffman's "The Occult Renaissance Church of Rome" in which he claims that the Roman Church has reversed the traditional teaching on usury both de facto and de jure. And while I am not convinced in the main by his thesis, it does seem to have some value. It at least left me wondering whether the teaching had indeed been watered down to accommodate the worldly ambitions of the Vatican (the Vatican Bank being a case in point, at least prima facie). In any case, I'm interested in your take on this matter, and will surely make use of your labor as I dive headlong into the weeds...