http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7287071.stm
Fewer confessions and new sins
By David Willey
BBC News, Rome
The Vatican has brought up to date the traditional seven deadly sins
by adding seven modern mortal sins it claims are becoming prevalent in
what it calls an era of "unstoppable globalisation".
Those newly risking eternal punishment include drug pushers, the
obscenely wealthy, and scientists who manipulate human genes. So "thou
shalt not carry out morally dubious scientific experiments" or "thou
shalt not pollute the earth" might one day be added to the Ten
Commandments.
MODERN EVILS
Environmental pollution
Genetic manipulation
Accumulating excessive wealth
Inflicting poverty
Drug trafficking and consumption
Morally debatable experiments
Violation of fundamental rights of human nature
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "immediately after
death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into
Hell".
The new mortal sins were listed by Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti at
the end of a week-long training seminar in Rome for priests, aimed at
encouraging a revival of the practice of confession - or the Sacrament
of Penance in Church jargon.
According to a survey carried out here 10 years ago by the Catholic
University, 60% of Italians have stopped going to confession
altogether. The situation has certainly not improved during the past
decade.
Catholics are supposed to confess their sins to a priest at least once
a year. The priest absolves them in God's name.
Talking to course members at the end of the seminar organised by the
Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican department in charge of fixing the
punishments and indulgences handed down to sinners, Pope Benedict
added his own personal voice of disquiet.
"We are losing the notion of sin," he said. "If people do not confess
regularly, they risk slowing their spiritual rhythm," he added. The
Pope confesses his sins regularly once a week.
Greatest sins of our times
In an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano,
Archbishop Girotti said he thought the most dangerous areas for
committing new types of sins lay in the fields of bio-ethics and
ecology.
He also named abortion and paedophilia as two of the greatest sins of
our times. The archbishop brushed off cases of sexual violence against
minors committed by priests as "exaggerations by the mass media aimed
at discrediting the Church".
ORIGINAL DEADLY SINS
Pride
Envy
Gluttony
Lust
Anger
Greed
Sloth
Father Gerald O'Collins, former professor of moral theology at the
Papal University in Rome, and teacher of many of the Catholic Church's
current top Cardinals and Bishops, welcomed the new catalogue of
modern sins.
"I think the major point is that priests who are hearing confessions
are not sufficiently attuned to some of the real evils in our world,"
he told the BBC News website. "They need to be more aware today of the
social face of sin - the inequalities at the social level. They think
of sin too much on an individual level.
"I think priests who hear confession should have a deeper sense of the
violence and injustice of such problems - and the fact that people
collaborate simply by doing nothing. One of the original deadly sins
is sloth - disengagement and not getting involved," Father O'Collins
said. The Jesuit professor now teaches at St Mary's University in
Twickenham.
"It was interesting that these remarks came from the head of the
Apostolic Penitentiary," he said. "I can't remember a time when it was
so concerned about issues such as environmental pollution and social
injustice. It's a new way of thinking."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7287071.stm
Published: 2008/03/10 16:06:51 GMT
