Mortal and Venial Sins

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I came across a paper cutting a saw in a newspaper a couple of years ago about Mortal and Venial sins in modern day society. Feel free to add to the list, it would help others struggling with what’s right or wrong in today’s world.
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Mortal Sins**

Involvement in occult practices, such as palm reading, tarot cards, astrology and seances.
Joining the Masons or other secret society.
Receiving Holy Communion while in a state of Mortal Sin.
Using God’s name intentionally as a curse.
Seriously wishing evil upon another.
Missing Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day without a serious reason.
Requiring employees to work on a Sunday in non-essential occupations.
Masturbation.
Using a contraceptive despite being married.
Sex before marriage.
Excessive body piercing.
Knowingly voting for someone whis is pro-abortion.
Wilful drunkeness.
Kissing or touching another passionately for the purpose of arousal (spouses excepted).
In-vitro fertilisation.
Cross-dressing.
Cohabition prior to marriage.
Tax evasion.

Venial Sins

Failure to pray on a daily basis.
Putting TV, hobbies, sports etc. before God.
Being distracted at Mass.
Fighting with siblings.
Speaking badly about one’s spouse.
Taking one’s spouse for granted.
Treating adullt children like minors.
Lack of gratitude towards parents.
Stubborness without good reason.
Rudeness.
Harbouring a grudge.
Impatience.
Overeating or drinking too much.
Selfishness in marital intimacy.
Gossiping.
Looking inappropriately at others.
Telling or listening to impure or vulgar jokes or stories.
Attachment to riches or material goods.
 
This is not consistent with Catholic Teaching.

I shall Quote from the Catechism:

**1857 **For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”

**1858 **Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: “Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother.” The gravity of sins is more or less great: murder is graver than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged: violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.

**1859 **Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
 
JohnDamian said:
This is not consistent with Catholic Teaching.

I shall Quote from the Catechism:

**1857 **For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”

**1858 **Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: “Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother.” The gravity of sins is more or less great: murder is graver than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged: violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.

**1859 **Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
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The problem with a list is that it ignores the teachings listed above. Some horrible things could be venial and some simple things could be mortal. I asked my pastor about it once, and he said that for your average kid, stealing gum would not be a mortal sin. But if someone like St. Francis would have have done it, it would have been a mortal sin because he would have known absolutely that it was wrong.
 
fermat said:
The problem with a list is that it ignores the teachings listed above. Some horrible things could be venial and some simple things could be mortal. I asked my pastor about it once, and he said that for your average kid, stealing gum would not be a mortal sin. But if someone like St. Francis would have have done it, it would have been a mortal sin because he would have known absolutely that it was wrong.
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St. Francis wouldn’t have done it, because, having renounced a perfectly good and comfortable life for the vow of poverty, he would never have thought to incur even a minor sin for a a very minor physical pleasure.

AIUI, the gravity of stealing as a sin depends upon the value taken from the rightful owner. Stealing of a value of say, US$20, might be a minor sin in most cases, and maybe not a sin at all if done to relieve someone’s severe hunger or a medical need; however, if taken from someone who was very poor, such a theft could become mortal. (Correct me if that is totally wrong, I am not a priest, just an average sinner.)

Some “stupid questions” about the OP’s list:

Why would cross dressing be a serious sin? Or for that matter, the excess body piercing? (Who defines the excess?)

Use of contraceptives “despite being married.” Is it ever NOT sinful to use contraception, as contraception? (Not counting drugs that cause contraception, given for other medical needs). Would NOT being married make contraception less sinful?

Voting for a candidate who is pro-abortion: If all candidates in the election are pro abortion, are we then morally required not to vote?
 
GEddie said:
St. Francis wouldn’t have done it, because, having renounced a perfectly good and comfortable life for the vow of poverty, he would never have thought to incur even a minor sin for a a very minor physical pleasure.

AIUI, the gravity of stealing as a sin depends upon the value taken from the rightful owner. Stealing of a value of say, US$20, might be a minor sin in most cases, and maybe not a sin at all if done to relieve someone’s severe hunger or a medical need; however, if taken from someone who was very poor, such a theft could become mortal. (Correct me if that is totally wrong, I am not a priest, just an average sinner.)

Some “stupid questions” about the OP’s list:

Why would cross dressing be a serious sin? Or for that matter, the excess body piercing? (Who defines the excess?)

Use of contraceptives “despite being married.” Is it ever NOT sinful to use contraception, as contraception? (Not counting drugs that cause contraception, given for other medical needs). Would NOT being married make contraception less sinful?

Voting for a candidate who is pro-abortion: If all candidates in the election are pro abortion, are we then morally required not to vote?
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I didn’t create the list, I just quoted the list from a newspaper clipping.

As for contraception, I would assume it means in ADDITION to it being wrong outside marriage it is wrong to use it within a marriage.

The following link lists cross-dressing to the 6th commandment!

Mortal Sin
 
BlueSapphire said:
I came across a paper cutting a saw in a newspaper a couple of years ago about Mortal and Venial sins in modern day society. Feel free to add to the list, it would help others struggling with what’s right or wrong in today’s world.
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Thank you…good post!
 
fermat said:
The problem with a list is that it ignores the teachings listed above. Some horrible things could be venial and some simple things could be mortal. I asked my pastor about it once, and he said that for your average kid, stealing gum would not be a mortal sin. But if someone like St. Francis would have have done it, it would have been a mortal sin because he would have known absolutely that it was wrong.
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Agreed. Something trivial can be a mortal sin if the intent is serious and grave. The gravity of any act is always subject to the intent. Killing is not a sin if its done out of necessity of defending one’s life or another’s. Taking one’s spouse for granted, as listed in the list of venial sin, can be mortal depending on the context of what’s taking for granted. Having an affair with another person is taking your spouse for granted.

Apologies to the OP, but the list is not helpful at all.
 
ConstantineTG said:
Agreed. Something trivial can be a mortal sin if the intent is serious and grave. The gravity of any act is always subject to the intent. Killing is not a sin if its done out of necessity of defending one’s life or another’s. Taking one’s spouse for granted, as listed in the list of venial sin, can be mortal depending on the context of what’s taking for granted. Having an affair with another person is taking your spouse for granted.

Apologies to the OP, but the list is not helpful at all.
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I agree.
 
JohnDamian said:
This is not consistent with Catholic Teaching.

I shall Quote from the Catechism:

**1857 **For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”

**1858 **Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: “Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother.” The gravity of sins is more or less great: murder is graver than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged: violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.

**1859 **Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
Click to expand...
A priest recently told me that acts of impurity are always grave matters. Therefore, the first condition of a mortal sin is always met when dealing with acts of impurity, ie, there are no “levels of gravity”. This shocked me a bit as some things I thought of as pretty harmless are actually mortal sins. Just sharing this for what it’s worth.
 
dragonslayer2 said:
A priest recently told me that acts of impurity are always grave matters. Therefore, the first condition of a mortal sin is always met when dealing with acts of impurity, ie, there are no “levels of gravity”. This shocked me a bit as some things I thought of as pretty harmless are actually mortal sins. Just sharing this for what it’s worth.
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What acts of impurity did you think were not grave matters? Give us examples as I can’t think of any impure acts that are venial.
 
thistle said:
What acts of impurity did you think were not grave matters? Give us examples as I can’t think of any impure acts that are venial.
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Well, I imagine their would be plenty of examples, as I recall reading somewhere that the average male (probably young male) thinks about sex every 7 seconds.

It could even be entertaining some of these thoughts longer than appropriate. Other things that come to mind could be reading or watching news items of a “sexy” nature, looking for the pictures in a magazine which promotes something like “celebrities amazing bikini bodies”, admiring the looks or body etc of attractive actresses for example.

I’m sure there are many more examples which might be considered relatively harmless by most, but if you willingly consent to these sort of things they would be mortal sins.
 
dragonslayer2 said:
Well, I imagine their would be plenty of examples, as I recall reading somewhere that the average male (probably young male) thinks about sex every 7 seconds.

It could even be entertaining some of these thoughts longer than appropriate. Other things that come to mind could be reading or watching news items of a “sexy” nature, looking for the pictures in a magazine which promotes something like “celebrities amazing bikini bodies”, admiring the looks or body etc of attractive actresses for example.

I’m sure there are many more examples which might be considered relatively harmless by most, but if you willingly consent to these sort of things they would be mortal sins.
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You talked about impure acts and not impure thoughts. Impure thoughts popping into your head but not being dwelled on are not sins. I want you to give examples of impure acts which you think are not grave matter as you think there are plenty of examples.
 
thistle said:
You talked about impure acts and not impure thoughts. Impure thoughts popping into your head but not being dwelled on are not sins. I want you to give examples of impure acts which you think are not grave matter as you think there are plenty of examples.
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I’ve given them. And as sin can be committed by thought as well as action, or inaction, they would be included with the other examples I have already given.

Apart from that I’m not sure what you’re getting at.
 
dragonslayer2 said:
I’ve given them. And as sin can be committed by thought as well as action, or inaction, they would be included with the other examples I have already given.

Apart from that I’m not sure what you’re getting at.
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You haven’t given any examples of impure acts which are not grave matter.
If an impure thought pops into your head its not deliberate and if you don’t dwell on it its not a sin and consequently not an impure act.
 
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