BishopAccountability.org
	Archbishop Gives Warning of 'New Sins' By Julia Duin Washington Times March 11, 2008 http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080311/NATION/496391819/1001 As if the seven deadly sins were not enough, a Vatican official has suggested more transgressions to confess. Illegal-drug use, genetic manipulation, polluting the environment and a variety of social and economic injustices are today's "new sins," said Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary — a Vatican body that grants absolutions and issues decisions on matters of conscience. Because of globalization, the "social consequences of sin" are far "broader and more destructive, " he added. Bioethics, he said in an interview with the Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano published Sunday, is a particular trouble spot because of its "violations of certain fundamental rights of human nature through experiments." Genetic manipulation is too fraught with uncertainties, he said. As for drug use, "It weakens the dark psyche and intelligence, leaving many young people outside the church." He also listed bad ecological practices and economic inequality, "in which the poor are getting poorer and the rich growing richer, fueling an unsustainable social injustice." When a reporter asked him about clergy sexual abuse, the archbishop said the Vatican already responded "with strict actions and initiatives to protect the image of the church itself and for the good of God's people." He then faulted the news media for overemphasizing the problem. The original formulation of the seven deadly sins — pride, greed, sloth, envy, gluttony, wrath and lust — was drawn up by Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century. A former undersecretary to Pope Benedict XVI when both men worked at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Girotti has spoken before of a "crisis" in the sacrament of confession, stating that 30 percent of all Italians don't see the need for it. He did not specify whether the newer additions are venial sins — which are less serious — or mortal sins. Left unanswered is the question whether the typical Catholic would confess to such global sins, given that penitents most commonly confess more-personal acts. Sexual transgressions, especially Internet pornography, is what many priests frequently hear about in confession, said Monsignor Bill Parent, pastor of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Waldorf, Md. "That is a tremendous challenge to a lot of people in remaining truly chaste," he said. Other common sins are stealing, not keeping the Sabbath and lying, said the priest, who formerly taught a class on penance at St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. More and more people are coming to confession now that Lent is drawing to a close, he added. He expects to bring in extra priests on the Wednesday before Easter to hear confessions. The Archdiocese of Washington is in its second year of emphasizing confession during Lent. Last year, its "The Light Is On For You" campaign brought so many Catholics into the confessional that 80 percent of the archdiocese's clergy requested that it be repeated this year. Several dioceses, including Philadelphia, Phoenix and Toledo, Ohio, copied Washington's methods or instituted similar campaigns of their own.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.