Are some mortal sins more serious than others?

[Holly3278]

Hey everyone. I was just wondering, are some mortal sins considered more serious or more sinful than others? I suspect that the answer is yes but I am not certain so I thought I’d ask here. Thanks!

 

[mountee]

I will be interested in the replies myself. There is this place inside of me that says, no, all mortal sins are the same but I admit to not knowing where to look for the answer.

 

[Fred_Barronmy]

I would suggest the following link: saintaquinas.com/mortal_sin.html

 

[Fred_Barronmy]

(Sorry to create an additional post, but I hit the send button after posting the link.) Yes, some mortal sins are more serious, because by definition no two sins are the same. Mortal sins are grave, done with knowledge, and deliberate consent. Because these three characteristics will vary from sin to sin, all mortal sins will vary in seriousness. All mortal sins are serious.

 

[anruari]

I know some people will say taht a mortal sin is a mortal sin: if you go to hell it dosen’t mater if it’s for a cent or a million dollars, you’re still in hell.

My instinct on this is different:

1. the church does not teach that specific sins are allways mortal. it teaches that they constitute Grave Matter i.e. they are serious.
2. to commit a mortal sin you must commit a sin which constitutes grave matter. You must know it is this serious (you cannot commit a mortal sin by accident). You must give full ascent of will, (you cannot be forced to commit a mortal sin… you are not doing it willingly)

There are some sins which incur automatic excommunication from the Church. these include a priest breaking the seal of confession (telling someone what someone else confessed), or anyone being involved in an abortion… that includes telling or advising a girlfriend or other person to have one, Paying for one, helping someone to have one, or being directly involved (being medical staff at an abortion clinic).
There are other examples.

Obviously the church considers these more serious than other sins - even other forms of murder… it is saying that if you commit these sins you need to go through special processes to come back into the church.

The bible also lists one mortal sin as more serious: it says that to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is the only unforgivable sin.

Taking all this into account, therefore, a mortal sin is where you commit an act that you know is very wrong, dot it anyway, and do it with full freedom of your will (like the difference between “Murder 1” and “Manslaughter” or “Accidental Homicide”

Even in this situation what the church teaches is that it may be or is probably a mortal sin.

A Mortal sin is a stain on the soul that is so sever that it will make you unable to accept Gods forgiveness if you were to die and come face to face with him at that moment or before you repent and confess.

Therefore the sins most likely to make you unable to repent are the most serious. These are the mindsets described as the 7 deadly sins… each of these is a state of mind not an action. these states of mind lead us into sins of action or omission, and destroy our ability to love and be loved by God.

Having individual deliberate actions on our conscience can lead us into these states of mind.

So: Rape and Masturbation are both sins that are considered “Grave Matter”. do they both do the same damage to the soul? - that’s absurd - of course not. - It is hard to commit the first without it being a truly mortal sin. the latter is much more complicated… it is a mortal sin to be addicted to masturbation, but the individual acts due to an addiction are not in themselves mortal sins as you do not have full freedom of the will when trying to overcome an addiction.

Smoking and Suicide: While the catechism teaches that smoking can be a sin agains the virtue of temperance: what we now know about tobacco means that it is very sinful to start smoking as you know it’s very dangerous to the body that God has given you, it is very addictive, and therefore risks making you a slave to the god of the Tobaco Industry. It is a sin against the commandment of “Thou shalt not kill” because you know that it will untimately kill you. (just very slowly).
But that one fag on a friday afternoon teabreak for someone who has a 20 a day habit and has had for many years, (assuming they can afford the cigarettes) is not in itself inherently sinfull - due to a range of factors. (the continuing addiction going unchecked may well be a serious sin - only god knows for the individual person)
There have been cannonized saints who had cigarette addictions untill thier deaths. - so it’s not allways going to stop you from reaching heaven.

Direct Suicide: The church used to teach that this was always a mortal sin and refuse to give a Requiem Mass, or burial on sacred grounds for suicide victims…
To commit suicide required you to be in a state of dispair - this is the inability to have the cardinal virtue of Hope. a total loss of faith in divine providence. It can be the result of a soul massively convicted by Guilt, shame, pride, wrath or a number of other sins.
It can commonly, however, be the result of a mental illness - not God is hardly going to cast you into the pit for being physically sick - and once free of the sick body it is very possilbe that the soul could be able to face God without the effects of that illness and accept His Judgement and Forgiveness.
The Church now acknowledges this and does not presume to know what Gods judgement is in the case of any person.

To target just one possible reason for asking:
Is it ok to deliberately committ one sin as an alternative to another sin - when there is fully free choice?

• NO. the church has made it very clear that it is not acceptable to deliberately commit one act of evil just because it is “The lesser of 2 evils” (this assumes that there is a free choice) - A way for neith act to be committed should allways be sought as the first and preferable option.
  IF there is not a free choice, but a simple restricted choice: you must push one of these 2 buttons: one kills 10 people the other kills a baby: choose now:… In this situation you may be better to try to choose the lesser evil as you see it… but it would be more admirable to refuse - even if it meant your own life… if that choice is there it should be taken in preference to the other 2.
  In any case - the sin here is that of the person forcing the decision - not of the poor soul asked to make the decision. - He is guilt free (although he is likely to suffer PTSD and spend the rest of his life feeling as though he has an unforgivable sin on his mind)

I hope this helps…

 

[Allegra]

Since every situation is different, the culpability for sin is effected by different situations. For example, it is a serious sin to lie. However, one’s culpability can be deminished by the situation and the reason the person lied, whether it was to cause harm or avoid harm, if they were being coerced, etc.

 

[JRKH]

Hey everyone. I was just wondering, are some mortal sins considered more serious or more sinful than others? I suspect that the answer is yes but I am not certain so I thought I’d ask here. Thanks!

I’m sure you will get many and varied answers on this…but to me it only over complicates something that is very straight forward.
Mortal sin = condemnation = separation from God…just exactly HOW separated from God ( to what degree or how far) is of no importance whatsoever.

It’s like asking if it is more painful to be half submerged in boiling water or three quarters submerged.

Peace
James

 

[Ron_Conte]

Mortal sin = condemnation = separation from God…just exactly HOW separated from God ( to what degree or how far) is of no importance whatsoever.

There are different degrees of punishment in Hell, depending on the gravity and number of each soul’s unrepentant actual mortal sins.

There are different degrees of punishment in Purgatory, depending on the gravity and number of each soul’s repentant actual mortal sins, and venial sins.

The number and degree of actual mortal sins affects how much harm is done to the person who sins and to the world. A greater number and/or a more severe mortal sin does more harm.

Examples:

1. genocide versus a single murder – it certainly does matter that the one sin is much more gravely disordered and does much more harm than the other.
2. contraception and abortion are different in the nature of the sin and in their moral gravity. Abortion certainly does more harm and is more gravely disordered, since the act is inherently directed toward the killing of an innocent.
3. fornication (sex by two unmarried persons) is a mortal sin, but less grave than adultery, which is less grave than rape, which is less grave than incest.

All deliberate and knowing sexual sins are gravely immoral:

“Now according to Christian tradition and the Church’s teaching, and as right reason also recognizes, the moral order of sexuality involves such high values of human life that every direct violation of this order is objectively serious.”[Cardinal Seper, CDF, Persona Humana, n. X.]

But the more disordered the act, in terms of the three fonts of morality, the greater the immorality of the act. And the greater the immorality, the greater the harm to the sinner and to the world.

 

[padrepio_2012]

yes some are more serious than others. i could murder a stranger and that would be bad, but if i murdered, say, my own mother, that would be worse right? also some sins only the pope can forgive. they’re the “sins reserved for rome”. say you tried to assassinate the pope or excommunicated yourself. you couldn’t just go to a priest for confession, you’d have to petition rome. but of course, not everyone commits those sins everyday so there’s no worry there but back on track, yes there are degrees of gravity when it comes to mortal sin

 

[JRKH]

There are different degrees of punishment in Hell, depending on the gravity and number of each soul’s unrepentant actual mortal sins.

So my question is…Which of the “degrees of punishment in hell” does one prefer?

My answer is - since I prefer none of those degrees - I find dwelling on them or trying to discern them to be pointless…Like they say when you are near a precipice…“Don’t look down”
Others apparently do not find this to be pointless…To each his own…

There are different degrees of punishment in Purgatory, depending on the gravity and number of each soul’s repentant actual mortal sins, and venial sins.

The number and degree of actual mortal sins affects how much harm is done to the person who sins and to the world. A greater number and/or a more severe mortal sin does more harm.

Examples:

1. genocide versus a single murder – it certainly does matter that the one sin is much more gravely disordered and does much more harm than the other.

1. contraception and abortion are different in the nature of the sin and in their moral gravity. Abortion certainly does more harm and is more gravely disordered, since the act is inherently directed toward the killing of an innocent.

1. fornication (sex by two unmarried persons) is a mortal sin, but less grave than adultery, which is less grave than rape, which is less grave than incest.

All deliberate and knowing sexual sins are gravely immoral:

“Now according to Christian tradition and the Church’s teaching, and as right reason also recognizes, the moral order of sexuality involves such high values of human life that every direct violation of this order is objectively serious.”[Cardinal Seper, CDF, Persona Humana, n. X.]

But the more disordered the act, in terms of the three fonts of morality, the greater the immorality of the act. And the greater the immorality, the greater the harm to the sinner and to the world.

Nicely put. Very useful to the OP I’m sure.

Peace
James

 

[thistle]

There are different degrees of punishment in Hell, depending on the gravity and number of each soul’s unrepentant actual mortal sins.

There are different degrees of punishment in Purgatory, depending on the gravity and number of each soul’s repentant actual mortal sins, and venial sins.

The number and degree of actual mortal sins affects how much harm is done to the person who sins and to the world. A greater number and/or a more severe mortal sin does more harm.

Examples:

1. genocide versus a single murder – it certainly does matter that the one sin is much more gravely disordered and does much more harm than the other.
2. contraception and abortion are different in the nature of the sin and in their moral gravity. Abortion certainly does more harm and is more gravely disordered, since the act is inherently directed toward the killing of an innocent.
3. fornication (sex by two unmarried persons) is a mortal sin, but less grave than adultery, which is less grave than rape, which is less grave than incest.

All deliberate and knowing sexual sins are gravely immoral:

“Now according to Christian tradition and the Church’s teaching, and as right reason also recognizes, the moral order of sexuality involves such high values of human life that every direct violation of this order is objectively serious.”[Cardinal Seper, CDF, Persona Humana, n. X.]

But the more disordered the act, in terms of the three fonts of morality, the greater the immorality of the act. And the greater the immorality, the greater the harm to the sinner and to the world.

What difference does that make? The chief punishment is eternal separation from God which everyone in Hell suffers from so big deal if somebody gets an extra punishment thrown in.