“He said Church authorities had reacted with “rigorous measures” to child abuse scandals within the clergy, but also claimed that the issue had been excessively emphasized by the media.”
You think that the media might have kept it in their coverage because if it hadn’t been for the media the “secret” moving of priests might have continued??
Certainly makes me happy that THE Church still considers abortion a “sin”…which IMO it isn’t. They might try not condemning birth control so some Catholic women who aren’t thinking for themselves by not be using “artificial” birth control, wouldn’t have to turn to an abortion out of necessity (thus committing a bigger sin!)
As to pedophilla…by now something they should be experts on, should certainly still be high on the agenda as a “sin.” Funny how it didn’t seem to be one until the priests began to be reported.
As to pollution and drug use as “sins.” To me that word seems to have become a catch all word by the RCC now for anything they deem harmful. I agree that pollution is wrong, and certainly drug use is just plain stupid. Using a religious word for those things doesn’t make sense to me…but then, I’m not RC. Can’t those things be taught as wrong due to the consequences, but “sinful?” Wouldn’t that imply a trip to hell as a consequence? (if hell indeed existed).

I’ll congratulate them on this. With the possible exception of the genetic manipulation (there’s a lot more to know about that) those are all things that should be discouraged, and the RCC calling them sins should discourage a lot of people from doing them.
For those who accuse me of hating the RCC, this is not the first time I’ve approved something they’ve done but anyway here I am doing it again.
And some Southern Baptist leaders are newly urging action against global warming. There’s some good news on the religion front.

Hmm. Nnmns gives two positive commentaries about religion in one day (here and on the Klan-related article).
…Between this and the tension in the Middle East, five bucks says the Apocalypse comes by the end of the week.
Good for the Vatican for calling attention to some of the new social problems plaguing the world. Granted, not many people bother LISTENING to them, but this can’t hurt.
God bless.

There is a longer article about this on CNN. The Pope does mention that if the RCC people don’t pray aganist these things they risk hell and something else. All the things that were mentioned have been around for centuries, nothing new really. It’s something I think responsible people are aware of. When you put it in a religious implication it suddenly takes front and center, esp. if the Pope brings out the sin of all of it and uses it to establish how He would remedy the situations to conform to his beliefs.

“To me that word seems to have become a catch all word by the RCC now for anything they deem harmful. I agree that pollution is wrong”
Being “harmful” and “wrong” is typically what it means for something to be sinful.
“Wouldn’t that imply a trip to hell as a consequence? (if hell indeed existed).”
Not necessarily.

Sin seems to be the wide net that catches all sorts of behavior. In some cases, sin is the best word – as in those things that cause a person to turn away from God. In other cases I think sin is misused. In regards to genetic manipulation, they need to be a little more cautious. Many medicines and a lot of food is the reult of genetic manipulation. It seems that they may be using a “colorful” phrase as a way to make and oblique refernce to stem cell research. I suppose it is an amusing distraction to add some of this and some of that to a list of sins. But after a while the length of the list renders the entire list powerless. Do you think that is why there were only 10 commandments?

The Holy Spirit teaches us all what a sin is. I feel that the Pope needs to concern himself with the sins all ready within the church and leave the teaching to God. ars.

A.R., “God” has been strangely silent for (some would say) these thousands of years or (others would say) forever.
Could it be indifference or just plain nonexistence? I pick nonexistence.

I find it hard to beleive that no one has wanted to contribute their own suggestions for modern sins. I would guess most of our suggestions would be venial (or menial) sort. So what do you think? I suggest that taking more than your own parking space is a sin, and that owning a vehicle that requires more than one space is an even greater sin (at least for personal transportation).

Sin = missing the mark, in other words, not measuring up to the standard. It comes from the world of archery where it was used to describe an arrow that missed the target. If you think about it, that means sin can happen (and often does) while trying to do what is right.
Of the “new” sins listed, only genetic manipulation is a relatively recent development. I wonder how far this goes. Is creating a new antibody to combat AIDS by genetic manipulation a sin? How about using it to get better crops, or ones that can be used to produce bio-diesel more effectively? Does any step down this road inevitably lead to fiddling around with the human genetic structure? What if altering genes could eliminate such conditions as Lou Gehrig’s or Parkinsons? The topic is multi-faceted. A blanket declaration that it is “sin” is a bit premature.

Some modern sins:
Using modern technology to injure or kill a lot of people because of your beliefs.
Having more children than you or the world can support, especially if you are aware of the problems overpopulation causes, which everyone in the developed world should be.
Screwing up the world we all live in with pollution.
Spam.
Using the anonymity of the internet to bully people.
These are of course in addition to old favorites like bigotry, greed, indifference to others’ suffering, etc.

nnmns,
Surely you are not protesting that wonderful meat product that found its way into the diet of at least 2 generations. That same product is the source of the title for a marvelous play based on the prophet Monty Python. It is not only available in low salt version, but now you can have it in handy individual servings, hermetically sealed for your protection. Surely you cannot be condemning – S*P*A*M!!
Now, if you mean all that junk that clogs the areties of my email box with offers to increase my income, bank balance orparticular body parts, then I am with you.

j, it’s been some time since I could safely eat Spam, probably even the “low” salt version. But I used to, and I liked it. No, it’s the kind made by the greedy people who’ve clogged up one of the great ways to communicate that’s a sin. The other one is just dangerous.

I would much rather the RCC give up the practice of telling people what they think god thinks, but as least in this instance they chose to add legitimately harmful activities to their list of sins (although which “drugs” or what degree of pollution is considered sinful can still be pretty subjective).
Just a fun fact, jestrfyl & nnmns – referring to junk mail as spam actually comes from the Monty Python sketch.

I think it’s a sin to let others do your thinking for you.
Doubt they’ll put that one in there though.

Confessoressa: “I think it’s a sin to let others do your thinking for you.”
I agree, not a chance they will add that to the latest list of “sins. They’d have no control!
What is fortunate is many RC’s I know do do their own thinking. They have been using birth control forever, as they think it is stupid to just keep having kids. (one example)

Right. And as I think someone pointed out, overpopulation has an impact on pollution.
And using drugs can be a good thing; I know several people I’d like to see on one or two drugs.
This release is a joke and I would be embarrassed by it if I was Catholic.

Confessoresa:
As you probably figured out, the “using drugs” “sin” is meant to be the use of drugs for recreational use…not medical reasons.