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Vatican Identifies Seven New Deadly Sins
March 10, 2008 03:39 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Extreme wealth, not recycling and taking illegal drugs are among the modern transgressions now viewed as mortal sins by the Holy See.
30-Second Summary
As Catholics near the conclusion of Lent, the annual 40 days of repentance and reflection ending with Easter, the Vatican has decided to add a new list of activities to its previously seven mortal sins.
Bishop Gianfranco Girotti of the Vatican explained to the Times of London that priests must consider “new sins which have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalization.”
However, the Holy See isn’t the only one finding innovative misdeeds. Genetics consultant Hsien-Hsien Lei has suggested her own seven deadly sins of genetics, which includes “believing that genes are deterministic.”
And the “Seven Vices Best Avoided in Ecclesiastical Pronouncements” described on the Web site of U.K. paper The Daily Telegraph include “babyishness” and “over-familiarity.”
The author of the My USA blog thought the church should stay out of American politics, after saying the new sins sounded similar to accusations Democrats have leveled against Republicans.
Pope Gregory, who died in 604, was the first to describe the seven deadly sins, or those that if committed could only be forgiven with confession. Those who did not confess their sins to a priest and receive absolution would be damned.
The addition of these new, modern cardinal sins comes at a time when 60 percent of Italy’s Catholics say they no longer attend confession.
Bishop Gianfranco Girotti of the Vatican explained to the Times of London that priests must consider “new sins which have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalization.”
However, the Holy See isn’t the only one finding innovative misdeeds. Genetics consultant Hsien-Hsien Lei has suggested her own seven deadly sins of genetics, which includes “believing that genes are deterministic.”
And the “Seven Vices Best Avoided in Ecclesiastical Pronouncements” described on the Web site of U.K. paper The Daily Telegraph include “babyishness” and “over-familiarity.”
The author of the My USA blog thought the church should stay out of American politics, after saying the new sins sounded similar to accusations Democrats have leveled against Republicans.
Pope Gregory, who died in 604, was the first to describe the seven deadly sins, or those that if committed could only be forgiven with confession. Those who did not confess their sins to a priest and receive absolution would be damned.
The addition of these new, modern cardinal sins comes at a time when 60 percent of Italy’s Catholics say they no longer attend confession.
Headline Link: ‘Seven New Deadly Sins: Are You Guilty?’
Taking or selling drugs, researching genetic manipulation, polluting and being extremely wealthy are among seven new mortal sins introduced by the Vatican. “You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbor’s wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos,” said Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, leader of the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary, which supervises confessions.
Source: The Times of London
Reaction: More sins to consider
Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei, a genetics information specialist, took the Vatican’s updated list and added an additional “seven deadly sins of genetics.” They include “believing that genes are deterministic,” and “writing a blog about genetics, genomics and DNA.”
Source: Eye on DNA
The Vatican’s additional sins led some writers to suggest their own list, called “Seven Vices Best Avoided in Ecclesiastical Pronouncements: prissiness, moralizing, over-familiarity, self-righteousness, babyishness, cant and above all, banality.”
Source: The Daily Telegraph
The author of the My USA blog says the Vatican’s new list “sounds suspiciously like the CLD’s [communist liberal democrats’] accusations directed at the Republicans.” The author isn’t Catholic, and in fact criticizes the Vatican for not applying this new ethics to itself: “In short, get your act together and use some of the unbelievable wealth that is stored in the Vatican vaults (and elsewhere) to do some of the good things that you expect of the laity and stop interfering in American politics!”
Source: My USA Blog
Reference: The original seven deadly sins and a Catholicism guide
The seven deadly sins as they were originally outlined in the fifth century by Pope Gregory are pride, envy, anger, avarice, sadness, gluttony and lust. Sloth later replaced sadness. The church believed that if a person committed these sins and didn’t seek reconciliation with God through confession, he or she would be eternally damned. Other sins, known as venial sins, could be forgiven without the need for confession.
Source: University of Leicester
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Source: findingDulcinea
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