Grave Sin vs. (or =) Mortal Sin?

[ByzCathCantor]

In another thread (now closed), there was a very good discussion going about the sacrament of reconciliation and the viewpoints of the Latin Church vs. Eastern Churches, focusing in large part on the definition of sin and usage in each tradition.

In looking up something in the [Latin] Code of Canons for a family member (on my mother’s Roman Catholic side), I came across this:

Can. 988
§1. A member of the Christian faithful is obliged to confess in kind and number all grave sins committed after baptism and not yet remitted directly through the keys of the Church nor acknowledged in individual confession, of which the person has knowledge after diligent examination of conscience.

§2. It is recommended to the Christian faithful that they also confess venial sins.

I found it interesting that the [Latin] canons used the term “grave” (commonly used in Eastern thought) as opposed to “mortal”, especially when the term “venial” was used in the next subsection.

The point had been made in the earlier thread by many of the Eastern Catholics posting that the terms were more or less analogous (just the usual “difference in perspective” though …).

I thought it might be useful to point this out and continue the dialog. Having been raised with exposure to both faith traditions, disciplines, Cathechisms and so on, I do believe that an appreciation of both perspectives, Eastern and Western, is helpful to us as Catholics generally in making a good examination of conscience.

 

[DasErlibnis]

In 1 John 5.16, where it talks about the differences, it reads literally (as like an idiom) as : a sin leading to death. So,mortal, or, grave, it means the same. But the differences come from the etymology of the words. The monks used to wake each other up daily saying “memento mori”, or, “remember death”, also, “remember thou art mortal”.

 

[Vico]

In another thread (now closed), there was a very good discussion going about the sacrament of reconciliation and the viewpoints of the Latin Church vs. Eastern Churches, focusing in large part on the definition of sin and usage in each tradition.

In looking up something in the [Latin] Code of Canons for a family member (on my mother’s Roman Catholic side), I came across this:

I found it interesting that the [Latin] canons used the term “grave” (commonly used in Eastern thought) as opposed to “mortal”, especially when the term “venial” was used in the next subsection.

The point had been made in the earlier thread by many of the Eastern Catholics posting that the terms were more or less analogous (just the usual “difference in perspective” though …).

I thought it might be useful to point this out and continue the dialog. Having been raised with exposure to both faith traditions, disciplines, Cathechisms and so on, I do believe that an appreciation of both perspectives, Eastern and Western, is helpful to us as Catholics generally in making a good examination of conscience.

Read this for clarification: “Grave sin is also “mortal” because it brings about the loss of sanctifying grace in the one who commits it.”

vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/alpha/data/aud19861029en.html