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McatholicN
Guest
If you commit an action that you know is sinful, but do not know that it is sinful to the degree of “grave matter”, have you committed a mortal sin?
Do you have to know that an action is of grave matter for it to be a mortal sin?
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Redratfish
Guest
No, in a nutshell a mortal sin is
If it isn’t seriously wrong, you can’t know its seriously wrong
If you don’t know its seriously wrong, then in some cases you would do something because you didn’t think it was that bad.
- Seriously wrong
- You know its seriously wrong
- Freely choosing to do it
If it isn’t seriously wrong, you can’t know its seriously wrong
If you don’t know its seriously wrong, then in some cases you would do something because you didn’t think it was that bad.
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MtnDwellar
Guest
No. Full knowledge is required for an action to be a mortal sin.
Negligence is also a sin. It may be mortally sinful if it results in a grave action.
Negligence is also a sin. It may be mortally sinful if it results in a grave action.
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McatholicN
Guest
So you do have to know (or at least think) that it’s mortal for it to be mortal? You could not think that it is venial and commit a mortal sin by doing it.
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thistle
Guest
You should not be committing an act if you KNOW it to be sinful.
If you want a guide to what can be sins of grave matter read this:
scborromeo.org/confess.htm
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McatholicN
Guest
Hold on. I’ve been hearing different answers all around for this. Does full knowledge require that you know the gravity of the sin for it to be mortal?
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thistle
Guest
To commit a mortal sin requires 3 conditions to be met:
- Grave matter
- Full knowledge
- Full consent of the will
In other words if an act is a sin of grave matter and you know that and still go ahead and commit the act then you have committed a mortal sin.
Also if an act is a sin of venial matter but you think it is of grave matter and go ahead and commit the act then you have also committed a mortal sin.
On the other hand if you are genuinely ignorant of the gravity of an act then full knowledge is not satisfied and committing the act would not be a mortal sin.
However, if you know an act is sinful but don’t know if its of venial or grave matter then you would have to be pretty stupid to go ahead and sin because you know its a sin.
By the way ignorance is not bliss for a Catholic. It is encumbent on all Catholics to learn what the Church teaches. If Catholics do not learn what the Church teaches either through laziness or refusal to learn then they will be held culpable for any sins of grave matter they committed even though they did not know the gravity of the act.
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Woman1987
Guest
I live in a very secular country. Children do not get a Catholic education from their parents, neither from their teachers at school. In general, religion does not play parts in our society. Could you say that if a person who is never been taught what is moral, never has attended a mass in his life, or having sex before marriage, drank too much alcohol, is in state of mortal sin? Or would you say they are still in state of grace, since they were not aware of the fact that their acts were a grave sin?
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Corki
Guest
See the last paragraph of thistle’s response above. In this day and age, it is pretty difficult for an adult to not have the ability to learn what the Church teaches. Between the internet and the easy availabity to find resources, there is a pretty serious responsibility to learn about the faith and the ability to do so. Children, of course, are at the mercy of their parents and teachers but once a person is an adult the responsibilty is his/hers.
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sw85
Guest
This is hard to say, and it’s something that keeps me up at night wondering some times. As a youngster brought up in an agnostic household who spent his college days drinking to excess and having (occasionally unprotected but usually contraceptive) premarital sex with more than one partner, I came very close to not finding truth in the Church at all. God has truly blessed me with an inquisitive mind ordered toward the seeking-out of Him.
But many people, of course, are never exposed to the rational truth at the heart of the Church’s teaching. Their understanding is corrupted by a society that warps their perception of religion, pounding into their heads from an early age that it is predicated on irrationality and fear, even though the Church’s teachings alone are all that is capable of endowing the operations of the world with reason. It is so corrupted that I doubt they would recognize the truth if they saw it; most likely they would dismiss it as superstition and bigotry. Truly, the devil has accomplished no greater anti-miracle than the destruction of the respectability of faith.
I like to think (and of course I hope and pray) that God will not judge too harshly those souls raised in the ignorance and darkness of our modern-day Gomorrah, that he will perhaps extend them an opportunity for repentance after this life has ended.
In the meantime, of course, we are called to do our best to bring light to the darkness.
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Woman1987
Guest
Like you, as a youngster I did not grow up in the catholic faith however the Lord has blessed me like he did to no others. Step by step, the Divine Providence had brought me where I am now. Sometimes it is even hard to accept for me, that most people around me do not live according the Truth and I have to stop myself all the time from judging them. Then I realize that I used to be like that before and the only reason why I am who I am now is because I was blessed and now it is my task to pray for them. I know, in comparison to others of my age, God is more strict with me if I commit a sin, since I have more wisdom…
I asked a related question in the ask a apologist subforum: It is generally accepted by catholics that God is merciful until the very last end. So also for someone who kills himself jumping from a building, there is mercy until the last end. And my question was if this does not contradict the teaching of the Church that one dying in state of mortal sin will go to hell.
So that’s how I started to wonder when someone is actually committing a mortal sin.
I asked a related question in the ask a apologist subforum: It is generally accepted by catholics that God is merciful until the very last end. So also for someone who kills himself jumping from a building, there is mercy until the last end. And my question was if this does not contradict the teaching of the Church that one dying in state of mortal sin will go to hell.
So that’s how I started to wonder when someone is actually committing a mortal sin.
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Bookcat
Guest
a note needs be added to this question…since on this forum there are a number of persons who can fit the following…
those who are scrupulous or who have difficulty with scruples to some degree…need to have a regular confessor…for they can see sin or mortal sin where it is not …they need to follow the directives of their confessor and principles given for them …this is a big way that they are to form their conscience and shed their scruples. They can be in a different boat than others…
those who are scrupulous or who have difficulty with scruples to some degree…need to have a regular confessor…for they can see sin or mortal sin where it is not …they need to follow the directives of their confessor and principles given for them …this is a big way that they are to form their conscience and shed their scruples. They can be in a different boat than others…
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Bookcat
Guest
a note needs be added to this question…since on this forum there are a number of persons who can fit the following…
those who are scrupulous or who have difficulty with scruples to some degree…need to have a regular confessor…for they can see sin or mortal sin where it is not …they need to follow the directives of their confessor and principles given for them …this is a big way that they are to form their conscience and shed their scruples. They can be in a different boat than others… they need with his help to learn to act against their scruples…
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