Is not the right to private property absolute?

The answer

St. Basil the Great says, “Consider yourself, who you are, what resources have been entrusted to you, from whom you received them, and why you received more than others. You have been made a minister of God’s goodness, a steward of your fellow servants. Do not suppose that all this was furnished for your own gullet! Resolve to treat the things in your possession as belonging to others. After all, they bring pleasure for only a little while, then fade away and disappear, but afterwards a strict accounting of their disbursement will be demanded from you. But you! You keep everything locked up and securely fastened with gates and bars. You lie awake at night with worry.”¹¹⁰⁵

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty