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According to the beliefs of Roman Catholicism, a 'mortal sin' is a sin that, unless confessed and absolved (or at least sacramental confession is willed if not available), condemns a person's soul to Hell after death. The phrase is used in I John 5.16 -17:
"If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one - to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal." (NRSV)
In all Catholic moral theology, a mortal sin, as distinct from a venial sin, must meet all of the following conditions:
# its subject must be a grave (or serious) matter;
# it must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense;
# it must be committed with deliberate and complete consent.
Things considered by the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church to be grave matter can usually be considered violations of the Ten Commandments, whether directly such as perjury, adultery, lust, murder; or indirectly in the cases of heresy or despair, which contravene the first commandment^[1], or the use of contraceptives, which contravenes the sixth commandment^[2]. All of these, however, are subject both to the conditions above and to mitigating circumstances of the individual situation. The Church itself does not provide a precise list of sins, subdivided into the mortal and venial categories. Rather, it is generally considered a matter for a well-formed conscience to decide. It should not be said that missing Mass on Sunday is considered equal in gravity to murder: Roman Catholic belief holds that mortal sins can vary in their seriousness, although the "mortal" effect remains present for all sins in this category.
Some sins are so serious that they merit automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church. For this penalty to be imposed, one must be aware not only of the seriousness of the offense, but also of the penalty that is incurred.
Mortal sins are not to be confused with the deadly sins. The latter are not sins but rather categories of sin, corresponding to weaknesses in human nature. Mortal sins may also be called "grave", "grievous" or "serious" sins.
The Latin Catholic teaching on mortal sin was called into question by some within the Church in the late 20th century after the Second Vatican Council. In response to these doubts, Pope John Paul II reaffirmed the basic teaching in his encyclical ''Veritatis Splendor''. It is maintained in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church, which says in section 1035, "Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell."
The Eastern Catholic Churches, which derive their theology and spirituality from same sources as the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, do not use the Latin Catholic distinction between ''mortal'' and ''venial'' sin. However, like the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Catholic Churches do make a distinction between sins that are serious enough to bar one from receiving Communion (and must be confessed before receiving once again) and those which are not sufficiently serious to do so.

Contents

See also

External links

References

See also

★ Catechism of the Catholic Church

★ Veritatis Splendor

External links

★ Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Sin

★ Catechism of the Catholic Church from the official website of the Vatican

References

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2084-2094
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2370