CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
IV. THE GRAVITY OF SIN: MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN
Sins are rightly evaluated according to their
gravity. The distinction between mortal and venial sin, already evident in
Scripture, (1 John 5:16-17) became part of the tradition of the Church. It is corroborated by human
experience.
Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by
a grave violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is His ultimate
end and His beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him.
Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though
it offends and wounds it.
Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within
us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God's mercy and a
conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the setting of the
sacrament of reconciliation:
When the will sets itself upon something that is of
its nature incompatible with the charity that orients man toward his ultimate
end, then the sin is mortal by its very object . . . whether it contradicts the
love of God, such as blasphemy or perjury, or the love of neighbor, such as
homicide or adultery. . . . But when the sinner's will is set upon something
that of its nature involves a disorder, but is not opposed to the love of God
and neighbor, such as thoughtless chatter or immoderate laughter and the like,
such sins are venial.( St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I-II,88,2, corp. art.)
For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must
together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which
is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."(RP 17 §
12).
Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments,
corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: "Do not kill,
Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not
defraud, Honor your father and your mother."(Mark 10:9). The gravity of sins is more or less
great: murder is graver than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged:
violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.
Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete
consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its
opposition to God's law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to
be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart (Mark 3:5-6); Luke 16:19-31) do not diminish, but rather increase,
the voluntary character of a sin.
Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove
the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the
principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man.
The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and
free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological
disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the
gravest.
Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human
freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation
of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by
repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and
the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for
ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in
itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and
mercy of God.
One commits venial sin when, in a less serious
matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when
he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or
without complete consent.
Venial sin weakens charity; it manifests a
disordered affection for created goods; it impedes the soul's progress in the
exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good; it merits temporal
punishment. Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little
to commit mortal sin. However venial sin does not break the covenant with God.
With God's grace it is humanly reparable. "Venial sin does not deprive the
sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently
eternal happiness" (John Paul II, RP 17 § 9).
While he is in the flesh, man cannot help but have
at least some light sins. But do not despise these sins which we call
"light": if you take them for light when you weigh them, tremble when
you count them. A number of light objects makes a great mass; a number of drops
fills a river; a number of grains makes a heap. What then is our hope? Above
all, confession (St. Augustine, In ep. Jo. 1,6:PL 35,1982).
"Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy
will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven
(Matthew 12:31; Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10)." There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately
refuses to accept His mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins
and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. (John Paul II, DeV 46) Such
hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.
V. THE PROLIFERATION OF SIN
Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice
by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which
cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin
tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral
sense at its root.
Vices can be classified according to the virtues
they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience
has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They
are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices
(138 Cf. St. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, 31,45:PL 76,621A). They are
pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.
The catechetical tradition also recalls that there
are "sins that cry to heaven": the blood of Abel, (Genesis 4;10), the sin of the Sodomites, (Genesis 18:20; 19:13.) 19:13 the cry of the people oppressed in
Egypt, (Exodus 3:7-10) the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan, (Exodus 20:20-22) injustice to the wage earner (Deuteronomy 24:14-15; James 5:4).
Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a
responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them:
- by participating directly and voluntarily in them
- by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them
- by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so
- by protecting evil-doers
Thus sin makes men accomplices of one another and
causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Sins give
rise to social situations and institutions that are contrary to the divine
goodness. "Structures of sin" are the expression and effect of
personal sins. They lead their victims to do evil in their turn. In an
analogous sense, they constitute a "social sin."(John Paul II, RP 16.
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