MORTAL AND VENIAL SINS 38

"Sins are rightly evaluated according to their gravity. The distinction between mortal and venial sin, already evident in the Scripture, became part of the apostolic tradition of the Church. It is corroborated by human experience."

"Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart" of the sinner. It requires "a new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the sacrament of Reconciliation. For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met."

• •Grave matter is specified by divine law (Ten Commandments) and the ultimate end of man.
• 
  •"Full knowledge [is] knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law...Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man."
• 
  •"Complete consent [is] a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin...The promptings of feelings and passions can diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest."

"Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it."

The Capital Sins can be classified according to the virtues they oppose. They are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices.

‘Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.' There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss." This sin blocks the person's route to Christ, and the sinner puts himself outside the range of God's forgiveness. In this sense, the sins against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven.

Catechetical tradition recalls that there are "sins that cry to heaven": the blood of Abel; the sin of the Sodo­mites; ignoring the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt and that of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan; injustice to the wage earner.