Charity (Christian virtue)

Part of a series on
Love
Red-outline heart icon
Red-outline heart icon
Types of love
Social views
Concepts
Allegorical personification of Charity as a mother with three infants by Anthony van Dyck

In Christian theology, charity (Latin: caritas) is considered one of the seven virtues and was understood by Thomas Aquinas as "the friendship of man for God", which "unites us to God". He holds it as "the most excellent of the virtues".[1] Aquinas further holds that "the habit of charity extends not only to the love of God, but also to the love of our neighbor".[2]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines "charity" as "the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God".[3]

Louis Adolphe Salmon after Andrea del Sarto, Charity, 1863, etching and engraving
  1. ^ Aquinas, Thomas (1920) [1485]. "Charity, considered in itself". Summa Theologiae. Vol. Secunda, Secundae Partis. Q. 23. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  2. ^ Aquinas, Thomas (1920) [1485]. "The object of charity". Summa Theologiae. Vol. Secunda, Secundae Partis. Q. 25. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church". usccb.org. Retrieved 15 July 2023.