CATHOLIC MORAL THEOLOGY AND GRAVITY OF SIN
by Gary L. Morella
e're in a world fighting for the Gospel of Jesus and we need Catholics to
stand up and be counted and not to waiver.
In the end, it's not your opinion, mine or anyone elses that matters but
rather that of Holy Mother Church. Below is HER OPINION to set the record
straight.
The position of the Roman Catholic Church related to questions involving Moral
Theology is given in HANDBOOK OF MORAL THEOLOGY, Dominic M. Prummer, O.P. -
which is the bible for Roman Catholicism in this area.
DEFINITION. A Capital sin (or, preferably vice) is one which is the source, so
to speak, of other sins and vices. The Angelic Doctor prefers to use the word
"vice" in place of "sin" in order to emphasize that here we are considering
habits or evil inclinations which have arisen through repetition of acts. And
thus, for instance, a man who is drunk on one occasion has not het acquired the
vice of intemperance.
Following St. Gregory the Great it has become customary to distinguish seven
capital sins; 1 vainglory; 2. avarice; 3. lust; 4. envy; 5. gluttony; 6. anger;
7. sloth;
The malice of these capital sins is not always greater than that of other sins,
and not every act proceeding from a capital vice is a mortal sin - e.g., acts
of envy, of anger, of sloth are frequently venial sins.
However, a man who knowingly and willingly fosters these capital vices or evil
inclinations without resolutely resisting them is nearly always in a state of
mortal sin.
St. Thomas does not include pride among the capital vices, preferring to call
it the queen and source of all sins without exception. However, since pride
and vainglory are closely allied, they are considered together.
Two capital sins will be considered here, pride and lust.
DEFINITION Pride is an inordinate desire for one's own excellence (St. Thomas)
Pride is said to be complete when a man extols himself to such an extent that
he is unwilling to admit subjection to God and His Laws through fear that such
subjection would be harmful to his own excellence. Such pride is a mortal sin,
because it is a contempt of God or of those who stand in His place. Pride is
imperfect when a man thinks of himself too highly without reflecting his
subjection to God and his superiors. Such pride is in itself venially sinful
since it does not imply a serious disorder. But every form of pride is an
extremely dangerous vice, a) because it insinuates its way into all good deeds
so as to destroy their merit; b) because nothing so quickly grows in us and so
slowly dies; c) because it is not easily recognized.
Sins to which pride leads are: presumption, ambition, vainglory, boasting,
hypocrisy, strife, disobedience.
Remedies for pride are: a sincere knowledge of oneself, consideration of
Christ's humility, the practice of humility.
DEFINITION Lust is the inordinate desire for pleasure.
It is a mortal sin which admits of no slight matter.
Sins which result from lust are: mental blindness, precipitancy, inconstancy,
self-love and hatred of God, affection for the present life and fear of the
future.
Remedies: humble and frequent prayer, frequent reception of the sacraments,
avoidance of idleness, practice of temperance, avoidance of the occasions of
sin.
In the secion of the Vice contrary to Chastity - impurity, we find the
following.
DEFINITION Impurity is an inordinate desire for venereal pleasure.
The unnatural consummated sins against purity are: masturbation, sodomy, and
bestiality. These are regarded as unnatural acts since they are contrary to
the natural purpose of the sexual act, viz. the procreation of children.
Therefore sins of impurity are MORE SERIOUS than others.
Sodomy (sometimes called paederasty or the unnatural vice) is unnatural carnal
intercourse between a male and another person. If this other person is a male,
sodomy is said to be perfect; if the person is a female, it is imperfect
sodomy. SODOMY IS A SIN WHICH CRIES TO HEAVEN FOR VENGEANCE. (please note,
this is the only reference to such vengeance that I could find in Prummer, glm)
Homosexuality, which is a strong sexual inclination towards persons of the same
sex, viz. the attraction of one man for another, or one female for another is a
form of sexual PERVERSION.
In some instances sexual perversion seems almost innate, in others it is
acquired by acts of gross impurity, in others it is the cause of a genuine
pathological condition. However it is most rare that such perversion
completely disturbs the balance of the mind, and thus the agent must be
regarded as responsible for the consequent acts of impurity. The confessor
must show great patience and prudence in the guidance of such persons if they
desire to escape from the evil habit.
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Ref. SHADOW IN THE LAND, HOMOSEXUALITY IN AMERICA, Dannemeyer
For a long while the homosexuals used the phrase sexual preference as an
alternative to sexual perversion or sexual deviation, two medical descriptions
that had very bad connotations for the community at large. A perversion, after
all, was an undesirable distortion of something natural, and a deviation
implied the existence of heterosexuality as a recognized norm. Thus, if
homosexual behavior was perversion or deviation, then it was not far from being
"queer", and above all, homosexuals wanted to be regarded as somehow "natural"
and "normal".
So at first they talked about sexual conduct as no more than a "preference".
You prefer vanilla; I prefer chocolate. You prefer baseball; I prefer
football. You prefer bed partners of the opposite sex; I prefer bed partners
of the same sex.
At first this phrase seemed to work well for the homosexuals, particularly in
conjunction with the idea of homosexuality as "an alternative life-style".
Both "sexual preference" and "alternate life-style" trivialized sex by reducing
it to nothing more than a quirk of personal preference.
But soon the phrase sexual preference began to get in the way of the agenda.
One of the arguments that had proven most successful in the political arena was
the idea that homosexuality was inherited, that it was the result of genetic or
hormonal factors that were beyond the control of the individual, that
homosexuals had sex with one another because they had to. Thus, it was
something "natural" and "normal" for them.
This argument was made by using a few isolated studies and by ignoring a
substantial body of medical and psychological opinion; but the homosexuals
discovered that the press - always sentimentalists where liberal causes were
concerned - had made little or no effort to check the validity of the "argument
from heredity". Soon they were all saying that homosexuals were "born that
way" and that it was therefore unjust to deny them anything they wanted.
Such an acceptance of this highly tenuous argument delighted the homosexual
activists, but it did dictate one rhetorical shift: sexuality could no longer
be a "preference", since "preference" implied "choice", and the new line of
argument was narrowly deterministic.
So they came up with "sexual orientation", and though some journalists still
haven't gotten the message, more often than not homosexuality is now referred
to in the press as an "orientation" rather than a "perversion", "deviation", or
even "preference".
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Reference 50 QUESTIONS ON THE NATURAL LAW, Rice
St. Thomas, quoting St. Augustine, said that of all "the sins belonging to
lust, 'that which is against nature is the worst'".
In every genus, worst of all is the corruption of the principle on which the
rest depend. Now the principles of reason are those thingss that are according
to nature, because reason presupposes things as determined by nature, before
disposing of other things according as it is fitting...In matters of action it
is MOST GRAVE and SHAMEFUL to act against things as determined by nature.
Therefore, since by the unnatural vices man transgresses that which has been
determined by nature with regard to the use of venereal actions, it follows
that in this matter this sin is GRAVEST of all. After it comes incest,
which...is contrary to the natural respect we owe persons related to us. With
regard to the other species of lust they imply transgressions merely of that
which is determined by right reason, on the presupposition, however, of natural
principles. Just as the ordering of right reason proceeds from man, so the
order of nature is from God Himself; Wherefore in sins contrary to nature,
whereby the very order of nature is violated, AN INJURY IS DONE TO GOD, the
Author of nature. Hence, Augustine says "Those foul offenses that are against
nature should be everywhere and at all times detested and punished, such as
were those people of Sodom, which should all nations commit, they should all
stand guilty of the same crime, by the law of God, which hath not so made men
that they should so abuse one another. FOr even that very intercourse which
should be between God and us is violated, when that same nature, of which He is
the Author, is polluted by the perversity of lust.
The statements of the Magisterium have consistently affirmed that homosexual
acts are intrinsically wrong and that the homosexual tendency or condition,
while not itself sinful, is disordered even if it is not acted upon.
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Reference THE COURAGE TO BE CHASTE - Groeschel
I frequently hear persons with homosexual tendencies say "God made me this way,
so it must be all right." I believe that this is a rationalization. It may be
a very understandable rationalization for someone torn in two by a profound
conflict of sexual desire and moral obligation. For the moment it may even be
a forgivable rationalization, but we do persons with homosexual tendencies NO
FAVOR by giving them a big dispensation from the moral law, especially since we
have NO DIVINE AUTHORITY to do so. We who do the dispensing may put ourselves
in greater moral jeopardy than those whom we excuse. It is not the job of a
doctor or clergyman to tell someone that what is wrong is right, although it
has been done many times in medical and eccesiastical history.
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Reference THE SUMMA OF THE SUMMA, Kreeft
Sixth article
Whether Sin is Alleviated on Account of Passion?
I answer that, Sin consists essentially in an act of the free will, which is a
faculty of the will and reason; while passion is a movement of the sensitivie
appetite. Now the sensitive appetite can be related to the free will,
antecedently and consequently...
Accordingly if we take passion as preceding the sinful act, it must needs
diminish the sin; because the act is a sin in so far as it is voluntary, and
under our control. Now a thing is said to be under our control, through the
reason and will; and therefore the more the reason and will do anything of
their own accord, and not through the impulse of a passion, the more is it
voluntary and under our control. In this respect passion diminishes sin, in so
far as it diminishes its voluntariness.
On the other hand, a consequent passion does NOT diminish sin, but increases
it; or rather it is a sign of its gravity, in so far, to wit, as it shows the
intensity of the will towards the sinful act; and so it is true that the
greater the pleasure or the concupiscence with which anyone sins, the greater
the sin.
Eighth Article
Whether a Sin Committed through Passion Can be Mortal?
I answer that Mortal sin consists in turning away from our last end which is
God, which aversion pertains to the deliberating reason, whose function it is
also to direct towards the end. Therefore that which in contrary to the last
end can happen not to be a mortal sin, ONLY when the deliberating reason is
unable to come to the rescue, which is the case in sudden movements. Now when
anyone proceeds from passion to a sinful act, or to a deliberate consent, THIS
DOES NOT HAPPEN SUDDENLY; AND SO THE DELIBERATING REASON CAN COME TO THE RESCUE
HERE, SINCE IT CAN DRIVE THE PASSION AWAY, OR AT LEAST PREVENT IT FROM HAVING
IT'S EFFECT, as stated above; wherefore if it does not come to the rescue,
there is a MORTAL SIN; and it is thus, as we see, that many murders and
adulteries are committed through passion...
Passion does not always hinder the act of reason altogether; consequently the
reason remains in possession of its free-will, so as to turn away from God or
turn to Him.
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Reference A TOUR OF THE SUMMA, Glenn
Unnatural vice is any lustful perversion of normal and natural processes for
procuring sex pleasures.
Unnatural vice is the WORST of all sins of lust, for it is MOST GRAVELY
SHAMEFUL AS ACTING AGAINST THE ORDINANCE OF NATURE. Yet all willful sins of
lust are mortal sins.
NOR ARE ALL GRAVE SINS EQUAL IN GRAVITY. Their gravity is measured by the
extent in which they depart from the rule of right reason. Our Lord said to
Pilate (John 19:11); "He that hath delivered me to thee hath the greater sin."
Yet Pilate's sin was certainly great.
The gravity of mortal sin varies according to its species, and this species is
determined by the objective character of the sin. Thus, murder is more grave
than great theft.