The right to private property is real but not absolute. Because the goods of the earth are destined by God for all — the universal destination of goods — ownership carries duties as well as rights.

The Church calls for property to be widely shared, used responsibly, and placed at the service of others, and for creation to be received as a gift to be tended rather than exploited. See Rerum Novarum and the Catechism (nos. 2401–2406).