Is gossiping a mortal sin?

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Is gossiping about other people or talking about other people behind their backs a mortal sin?
 
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Youngcatholic:
Is gossiping about other people or talking about other people behind their backs a mortal sin?
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If you do it intentionally, knowing it will hurt someone, I would say yes.

In our examination of conscience, it IS mentioned.
 
It would depend on the nature of the thing being gossiped about and how much damage to the person’s good name was done.
Small gossip about trivial matters that are not in themselves mortal sins and that would not likely seriously damage the person’s reputation would most likely be light matter i.e. venial sins.
 
SG I would agree IF the person’s reputation is significantly destroyed. Does ALL gossip “destroy” someone’s reputation? I don’t think so Compare with any standard moral theology textbook re: light vs. grave matter in general.
 
I don’t know an official ruling on this. However if something we intentionally say is harmful to someones reputation then it is grave. There can be long term fallout from evil misguided statements about someone’s character. If statements are out and out lies I think this compounds the sin. If they are statements that are true, but just said for the sport or thrill of being nosey, then it may not be as grave. I don’t think we can know when something we say can trigger another evil action, so it is best to be quiet and not spread any gossip whatsoever. I pray on the work so that I won’t be part of this horrible action. It is not so easy sometimes.
 
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Youngcatholic:
Is gossiping about other people or talking about other people behind their backs a mortal sin?
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It could be depending on the damage it inflicts on the good character of the victim.
Saint John Vianney told a woman prone to gossip, " take a pillow case of feathers outside on a windy day, and let them loose.

Then he said " now go gather them up" :eek: careless words are like that, very hard to gather up !
 
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drforjc:
SG I would agree IF the person’s reputation is significantly destroyed. Does ALL gossip “destroy” someone’s reputation? I don’t think so Compare with any standard moral theology textbook re: light vs. grave matter in general.
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if i were to tell you john doe was speeding down the road yesterday, and his lack of concern for others safety was obvious, and in my view he is not nice… versus, john doe is having relations with his neighbors wife (at least that’s what i heard)… well, you and i might argue the degree as to which bit of gossip is worse on john doe’s rep…

I submit that all i am doing is trying to raise the value of me to you at the expense of john doe’s preceived failures…

and maybe i would have to decide if i were in john doe’s shoes, would i consider someone doing the same to me serious or grave, and do i realize that it is serious or grave, and then with freewill decision, go ahead and damage someone anyway…

i don’t know… i consider anything said about be by someone else who’s agenda is to damage me or someone elses perception of me pretty grave… what do you think?
 
SG, no, if I gossip about you to someone saying I heard your blonde hair isn’t natural, it’s bleached, do you think that would be mortal? I hardly think so. The same would be true even of small faults or petty sins PROVIDED (key word here) they do not seriously damage your reputation. This sin can be of light matter.
You have to consider my qualifiers/caveats.
If you intend to seriously destroy someone’s reputation then, yes, it would be grave matter.
 
I went and looked up detraction at New Advent and the additional info both confirms my statement that the sin may admit of light matter but preserves all of your concerns about avoiding gossip.
The amount of guilt also depends on the degree of eminence of the person being gossiped about, according to the New Advent article.
Thus it is conceivable that a relatively small defect alleged against a person of eminent station, such as a bishop, might seriously tarnish his good name and be a mortal sin, whilst an offence of considerable magnitude attributed to an individual of a class in which such things frequently happen might constitute only a venial sin, such as, for instance, to say that a common sailor had been drunk.
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Several conditions exist for mortal sin.

Paragraph #1857 states,

For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.
 
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bones_IV:
Several conditions exist for mortal sin.

Paragraph #1857 states,

For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.
Click to expand...
How would you know if you deliberately consented to something at the time you sinned? For instance, there are times when I realize later (like in the instance of gossiping about another person) that I shouldn’t have said this or that about the person.) How do I know if I deliberately consented to doing something harmful at the time I did it if I don’t feel guilt for it until later in the day? What if you don’t recognize what you are doing is wrong until it is too late to stop it (like in the instance of a social situation where everyone is talking, gossip comes up, next thing you know you said some comment that can negatively affect someone’s reputation). Have you deliberately consented in this case?
 
I agree = there has to be knowledge - forethought…but I was raised “tough” I guess because it was against the 5th Commandment due to the “killing” (although not physical killing) of the person - I lack words to explain this clearer, sorry. Even if I didn’t realize that I did wrong until later, I still offer it in Confession as a violation against the 5th.

Better to be safe than sorry;)
 
I’m doomed.

Hey, did I mention to you guys that my neighbor is getting a divorce? It turns out that the jerk has been cheating on her. He drove into a ditch in front of my house the other day. It was very entertaining… 😉
 
we polled the 8th grade girls on this, they all agreed gossip is a sin if the juicy item is not true, but okay if it is the truth. needless to say we had a lengthy catechetical session on idle talk, damaging someone’s reputation, the legal definitions of slander and libel, the full ramifications of the 5th and 8th commandments. bottom line, yes gossip is a sin, it is mortal if the matter is grave and you know it is wrong and you do it anyway. If you do it for deliberate reasons-you want to get back at someone, you want other people to like you and reject someone else–this makes it grave matter.
 
Our pastor gave a good homily on just this subject awhile back.

He said, concerning those who listen…“Do I need to know this”?

To those doing the gossiping, “Will I gain anything or will the other person suffer from this”?

His advice,DON’T DO IT…PERIOD!!
 
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