Official list of venial and mortal sins

[Polak]

Hi folks,

Is there an actual place in the Catholic Church Catechism, or somewhere on the Vatican website, where you can find an official list of venial and mortal sins?

It would be good to have one, and I only see to find unofficial sources that give some examples of them.

[SicutColumba]

I don’t think so. There are some sins that are 100% always going to be mortal (eg murder, abortion, scandal), but the gravity of most sins will take into account the circumstances, the intentions of the person and their level of culpability. What would be a mortal sin for one person might not even be venial for another. 

So I would think that there would be no official list. If you really want something any thorough guide for an examination of conscience would probably be suitable. 

Edited June 4, 2021 by SicutColumba

[Theoketos]

If there is a list Zebra theft will be on the final page. 

[Polak]

You'd think, as important as confession is, that there would be some easily accessible official list to at least the main/most common mortal and venial sins.

[Anomaly]

It’s not black and white.  It’s your development into being a better person.  
God forgives your failures infinite times as long as you’re trying to be better.   Try asking to meet with a priest to discuss this topic.   

[Peace]

On 6/4/2021 at 9:25 AM, Polak said:

It would be good to have one

Good to have one for what purpose exactly? To become scrupulous?

[Polak]

11 hours ago, Peace said:

Good to have one for what purpose exactly? To become scrupulous?

Why would it make you become scrupulous? You could say the same thing about the 10 commandments, or other parts of the Bible, where sins are mentioned?

I just think it would be a useful thing to have, while examining your conscience. Sometimes people may have some sins and think, they'll go to confession in a couple of weeks, to confess them, not realising they are grave sins.

And yes, before anybody writes it, I know if we have sins, we should try to confess them as soon as possibly, but sometimes it isn't always possibly to confess them straight away, unless you go to confession a few times per week.

[Luigi]

Personally, I love lists. So I agree with you that a list would be helpful, as least as a quick and ready reference. One could then judge the seriousness of any given sin based of factors mentioned above. 

This is not an actual list. It's from the Baltimore Catechism (which was written a loonnngggg time ago) but still presents the teachings of the Catholic Church clearly. http://www.baltimore-catechism.com/lesson6.htm

You should also check the current Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I'm sure is available somewhere online. If I weren't so lazy (one of the Seven Deadly Sins!) I would have looked it up myself and posted it here.

 

[MIKolbe]

On 6/4/2021 at 9:25 AM, Polak said:

Hi folks,

Is there an actual place in the Catholic Church Catechism, or somewhere on the Vatican website, where you can find an official list of venial and mortal sins?

no

 

Quote

It would be good to have one, and I only see to find unofficial sources that give some examples of them.

a list of mortal sins would be impossible to compile, and if it were to be compiled, it would most likely only be a list of what might constitute a grave offense and but grave matter alone does not a mortal sin make.

[Peace]

9 hours ago, Polak said:

Why would it make you become scrupulous? You could say the same thing about the 10 commandments, or other parts of the Bible, where sins are mentioned?

I just think it would be a useful thing to have, while examining your conscience. Sometimes people may have some sins and think, they'll go to confession in a couple of weeks, to confess them, not realising they are grave sins.

And yes, before anybody writes it, I know if we have sins, we should try to confess them as soon as possibly, but sometimes it isn't always possibly to confess them straight away, unless you go to confession a few times per week.

That's fair. It sounds like you just want an "examination of conscience" type list to use before going in for confession. I have used those before.

I had pictured you walking around all day with a list of a thousand sins in your back pocket and checking it hourly, but I suppose my imagination ran a bit wild there.

Do folks really need to be taught what is a mortal sin and a venial sin though? I think most people, Christian or otherwise, basically know them intuitively. When we do something that is wrong we seem to just know it. And we have an intuitive sense as to how bad of a thing it was that we did. If I take a penny out of my sister's purse I know it is bad, but it would be a bit out there for me to think that God is gonna punish me in hell for all eternity over a penny.

But I guess there might be a few things like missing Mass or what have you, that folks could get wrong.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Peace

[Ash Wednesday]

Maybe I've been fortunate as far as the parishes I've attended, but a standard, solid examination of conscience will cover the bases. I tend to trust the ones that aren't afraid to cover the teachings that people find "uncomfortable" such as contraception, marriage and sexuality. If a parish doesn't have anything, the National Catholic Register or EWTN cover the basics. 

I think a simple list of "venial" vs. "mortal" sins tends to be avoided because I think as Catholics we tend to think "oh whatever it's just a venial sin, it's not like it's mortal or anything" and it sort of gets viewed as not a big deal. I tend to think the examination of conscience just lists a number of sins and avoids making the distinction in a list for this very reason, because even venial sin can weaken the conscience and harm the soul. Yes, there is the situation of a scrupulant wanting clarity but I don't think this applies to the majority. Ideally a scrupulant needs more specific guidance so they don't end up going down the rabbit hole of despair. That is a different topic in itself, though.