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MORTAL
SIN A mortal sin
is a grave violation of God’s law and an act incompatible with love of
God. Three conditions are required for mortal sin: First, what one chooses
to do must be a gravely wrong sort of act; second, one must know that it
is gravely wrong; and third, one must choose to do so with full freedom
(cf. CCC 1855, 1857). Scripture
itself points out kinds of sins that are deadly, so serious that “those
who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:21). The
Ten Commandments forbid basic kinds of mortal sins. The Gospels portray
the Lord telling a rich young man that if he wishes to enter the kingdom
of God, he must keep the commandments: He should not kill, commit
adultery, bear false witness (Mk 10:19; cf. CCC 1858). In her ordinary
teaching, the Church (as in the Catechism of the Catholic Church) teaches
the faithful the sorts of sins that are grave, or mortal, in kind. Mortal sins
are not accidental occurrences, but fully human acts. One who sins
mortally knows that what he is doing is gravely wrong and in serious
opposition to God’s will, and his consent is sufficiently deliberate to
be a true personal choice (CCC 1859). Some mortal sins are sins of
weakness; but if the agent were so driven by external or internal
pressures or by pathological disorders so disruptive that he could not
avoid doing the act, there would be no mortal sin (CCC 1859). The consequences of mortal sin are tragic. It results in the loss of love of God and of grace. “If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes . . . the eternal death of hell” (CCC 1861). Still, God calls the sinner to repentance. See:
Freedom, Human; Moral Principles, Christian; Sin; Venial Sin. Russell
Shaw. Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Catholic Doctrine. Copyright ©
1997, Our Sunday Visitor.
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