I have been reading about mortal sin - how the Catechism defines it, and the three requirements to make a sin mortal. (Knowing it’s a sin, Grave Matter, and Full Consent of the Will.)
The thing I always wonder is Who decides what is “grave matter”? Is grave matter the same for everybody, or does it depend on other factors? It seems like there are some sins that can sort of range from venial in some cases into mortal in other cases depending on the intent of the person committing the act or the situation in which the act was committed. In other words, my questions are, Who decides/How does the church decide what is grave matter? and does grave matter vary in some situations?
Also, full consent of the will can seem easy at first, but I have been asked questions from young men on retreats about how to know whether they have fully consented to a sin. For example, many if not most young men struggle with purity. On EWTN’s Crossing the Goal there was a fact that said something like 24 million Americans are addicted to sex. One question is, if a young man, or any man for that matter, is struggling with purity and ends up masturbating is it always a mortal sin? (masturbation is listed as a mortal sin in my church’s examination of conscience booklets that are used for confession). Many people go to confession nearly every week or just decide not to receive communion each week because of their struggle, and feel like they are being punished (by the church’s teaching on receiving the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin) for engaging in this battle. I struggle to explain these teachings of the Church. How does one with an addiction or a deep struggle decide when they need to go to confession or whether or not they can receive the Eucharist?
Take that a step further and see that some kids are diagnosed with different mental conditions such as ADD, ADHD, and other disorders. One boy I know is diagnosed with some sort of “compulsive disorder.” It seems like he can’t control his own behavior. Are there different standards for different people? How do we know? For example, would a very compulsive person be held to the same standards as less compulsive people, and if so, shouldn’t those little examination of conscience booklets take note of that?
Please help me find truth to these complicated questions!
From the Catechism:
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."132 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.
the Church has judged what was grave…sometimes knowing directly from Divine Revelation…sometimes from reasoning about revelation. Theologians assist the Magisterium in this.
In some areas there can be yet a debate thing without the Church judging yet per se…so one has to look to the reasons etc of theologians who are faithful to the Church and make a judgment…for example in all sorts of new medical procedures…some of which are debated as of yet…(but these are not the things found in the Catechism)
As to a persons personal guilt…this needs to be taken case by case…often with a good confessor.
but it is the same for each person --what mortal sin is— when one has grave matter with full knowledge and complete (deliberate) consent.
In the cases you describe …it is possible for a person not to have those three aspects…not have the freedom due to a compulsion etc…
note what the Catechism says about one of the things you mentioned:
2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. "Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action."137 “The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose.” For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of "the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved."138
To form an equitable judgment about the subjects’ moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.
vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm#II
