A new list of deadly sins.

I'm not Roman Catholic. Although I worshipped in a Roman Catholic parish for many years, I never officially converted because I just could not, and still do not, agree with some basic Church Dogma, and I wasn't willing to lie to join a faith. (I'll have to blog sometime about what my disagreements are, but I digress.) I am however, Anglican Catholic, better known as Episcopalian. The Episcopal religion has been a blessing to me, because I'm still able to worship in the same fashion, with many of the same rituals that I love, while not having to compromise some very deep rooted beliefs that I have. I also love that the Episcopal faith is welcoming to believers of all types. (Again, a subject for another blog!)

Pope Gregory the Great listed the originally 7 deadly sins in the sixth century: Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed and Sloth. It was announced today that Pope Benedict and the Vatican have updated this list to include 7 more: Polluting, Genetic Engineering, Obscene Wealth, Drug Dealing, Abortion, Pedophilia and causing Social Injustice.

For the non-Roman Catholics out there, Deadly Sins are mortal sins. The Church teaches that, if you commit a deadly sin, and die without having received absolution or forgiveness, it results in an automatic separation from God and your soul is dammed. A mortal sin is done deliberately. A venial sin can also be a non-deliberate mortal sin, or a deliberate lesser sin, and you can die without having gotten absolution for a venial sin and your soul will not be dammed. Confusing - I know!

This rigamarole is one of the things that I disagree with in the RC Church. The Anglican Catholic Church does not teach this. Jesus died once. Once. For all the sins of the human race: past, present, and future. He doesn't fly down and get back up on the Cross every time you lose patience and honk your horn at another driver, or you are less than honest with DH about how much that cute new pair of shoes really cost. You are already forgiven. Now, this certainly doesn't give anyone license to run amuck and live a completely sinful life. You'd not have a very happy life for sure, and definitely wouldn't have many friends.

Oh I've gotten off track again! I suppose the point of this post was that I was just interested to see what was considered important enough to be a mortal sin now, in the 21st Century, as opposed to the 6th Century.