Copyright © 2006 By Doug Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church Reprinted With Permission.
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God’s Truth From The Catechism Of The Catholic Church – cont.
III. THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SINS
1852 There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. The
Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit: "Now the
works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity,
strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing,
and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not
inherit the Kingdom of God."
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1853 Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, as can every human act; or
according to the virtues they oppose, by excess or defect; or according to the
commandments they violate. They can also be classed according to whether they concern
God, neighbor, or oneself; they can be divided into spiritual and carnal sins, or again as
sins in thought, word, deed, or omission. The root of sin is in the heart of man, in his free
will, according to the teaching of the Lord: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts,
murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a
man."
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But in the heart also resides charity, the source of the good and pure works,
which sin wounds.
IV. THE GRAVITY OF SIN: MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN
1854 Sins are rightly evaluated according to their gravity. The distinction between mortal
and venial sin, already evident in Scripture,
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became part of the tradition of the Church.
It is corroborated by human experience.
1855 Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law; it
turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an
inferior good to him.
Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it.
1856 Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a
new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished
within the setting of the sacrament of reconciliation: When the will sets itself upon
something that is of its nature incompatible with the charity that orients man toward his
ultimate end, then the sin is mortal by its very object . . . whether it contradicts the love of
God, such as blasphemy or perjury, or the love of neighbor, such as homicide or adultery.
. . . But when the sinner's will is set upon something that of its nature involves a disorder,
but is not opposed to the love of God and neighbor, such as thoughtless chatter or
immoderate laughter and the like, such sins are venial.
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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."
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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."
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