Welborn’s Rule #27 strikes again!

In a striking display of idiocy, once again the British press manages to sensationalize and bungle a story on the Catholic Church. Recycle or go to Hell, warns Vatican. Seriously?

Failing to recycle plastic bags could find you spending eternity in Hell, the Vatican said after drawing up a list of seven deadly sins for our times.

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The “sins of yesteryear” – sloth, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and pride – have a “rather individualistic dimension”, he told the Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper.

The new seven deadly, or mortal, sins are designed to make worshippers realise that their vices have an effect on others as well.

“The sins of today have a social resonance as well as an individual one,” said Mgr Girotti. “In effect, it is more important than ever to pay attention to your sins.”

According to Roman Catholic doctrine, mortal sins are a “grave violation of God’s law” and bring about “eternal death” if unrepented by the act of confession.

They are far more serious than venial sins, which impede a soul’s progress in the exercise of virtue and moral good.

Mgr Girotti said genetic modification, carrying out experiments on humans, polluting the environment, causing social injustice, causing poverty, becoming obscenely wealthy and taking drugs were all mortal sins.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a translated copy of the interview with L’Osservatore Romano so I can’t say for sure that the word “mortal” was never used in regard to these sins, but the whole thing is rather preposterous, especially since it supposedly comes from an archbishop. Reuters reports on the same story, never mentioning the words “seven”, “deadly”, or “mortal”.

Either way, I think the way they’ve soundbited Archbishop Girotti’s words is pretty atrocious. It seems that his intent was to discuss sins that are present today which haven’t really been issues in the past, or have recently increased in seriousness. Leave it to the press…