I’m not sure that I would either. Saints are proclaimed for heroic virtue. Probably most of us don’t reach that level, but we cam still get to heaven. Those early Christians who tossed some incense to the statue of the emperor as a Roman god to save their lives were not therefore banished from the Church, but those who refused and were thrown to the lions are recognized as martyrs.
If pressure is involved, than it is NOT a sin. To be sinful, something MUST be done of free will. No exceptions.
I did not know that.
“Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”
Well that’s true, and it makes me think hard about some things, like Henry VIII’s decree that everyone must accept him as the head of the church in England. Pretty much everyone caved in, because pressure was involved. All the clergy, all the laity. Thus the Anglcan church was born. John Fisher and Thomas More refused to cave under pressure, and were later canonized for it. I suppose that everyone else was not guilty of sin. But England was still lost to Catholicism. Would it have been different if there had been widespread refusal?
I have to disagree with you about venial sins. They are important.
True, but we can commit venial sins through human weakness due to our fallen nature without willfully going against God’s will. It’s one thing to excuse our sins by saying, "Oh well, it’s only venial "and allow it to continue as opposed to being unaware we are doing so. Culpability comes into play with the first instance but not so much in the latter–with the caveat that we are to examine our consciences daily against what we know is wrong, according to Church teachings and percepts, and be open to correction both by our spiritual superiors and the Holy Spirit.
