I have a headache.
**This really is at the root of the reason for your starting this thread. **
Mortal Sin = Grave sin= Serious sin (both in terms of the “nature” of the action/omission in itself (abortion is a mortal sin/grave sin/serious sin) and in terms of the “committing” and thus requirement to “confess” of the personal sin)
A Few Examples:
CCC1385: “Anyone conscious of a
grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.”
From:
The Compendium of the Catechism issued by Pope Benedict XVI
"304. Which sins must be confessed?
1456
All **grave sins **not yet confessed, which a careful examination of conscience brings to mind, must be brought to the sacrament of Penance. The confession of
serious sins is the only ordinary way to obtain forgiveness." (see also Canon Law …the term is used there too).
(one sees in the above the use of “grave sin” for what was actually *committed *–with full knowledge and deliberate consent–for we know one is not obliged to confess that which did not have the three aspects needed)
- What is required to receive Holy Communion?
1385-1389
1415
To receive Holy Communion one must be fully incorporated into the Catholic Church and be in the state of grace, that is, not conscious of being in** mortal sin**. Anyone who is conscious of having committed a
grave sin must first receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before going to Communion.
(note that one used BOTH to mean the same thing in the same paragraph…)
“However, it must be remembered that the church, guided by faith in this great sacrament, teaches that no Christian who is conscious of** grave sin** can receive the eucharist before having obtained God’s forgiveness.”
Pope John Paul II Reconciliatio et Paenitentia 17
In MISERICORDIA DEI he also noted:
“Individual and integral confession and absolution are the sole ordinary means by which the faithful, conscious of
grave sin, are reconciled with God and the Church; only physical or moral impossibility excuses from such confession, in which case reconciliation can be obtained in other ways”
and
Since “the faithful are obliged to confess, according to kind and number, **all grave sins **committed after Baptism of which they are conscious after careful examination and which have not yet been directly remitted by the Church’s power of the keys
And in a speech from Pope John Paul II
“The sacrament of Penance is meant to take away personal sins committed after Baptism: first of all
mortal sins, then venial. If the penitent has committed more than one
mortal sin, they can only be remitted all at once. In fact, the remission of
serious sin consists in the infusion of the sanctifying grace which has been lost, and grace is incompatible with any and every** serious sin**. Venial sins are to be regarded differently…”
and in ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA
“If a Christian’s conscience is burdened by
serious sin, then the path of penance through the sacrament of Reconciliation becomes necessary for full participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.”
And
Pope Benedict XVI in his
Catecheses with
Children said:
"Only in that case, when you are in a state of
“mortal” sin,
in other words, grave (sin), is it necessary to go to confession before Communion. This is my first point. " In 2005
In another place he said in 2007:
“The faithful, in their turn, must seek to receive and to venerate the Most Holy Sacrament with piety and devotion, eager to welcome the Lord Jesus with faith, and having recourse, whenever necessary, to the sacrament of reconciliation so as to purify the soul from every
grave sin.”
