collect the whole set!

The Catholic Church has recently “released” a new set of mortal sins—those that not only endanger one’s relationship with God, but basically destroy it. They join their brothers, the original seven deadlies of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.

While the original seven relate to sins of an individual, personal nature, these have to do with sinful actions and behaviors that reach into the social sphere, affecting the communities in which we live as well as the world at large. They include pollution, genetic modification, human experimentation, social injustice, poverty, obscene wealth, and drug use.

Although the media has exaggerated the novelty of these transgressions the Church has just “made public,” socially responsible people (Catholic and otherwise) have known their evil for ages. Even the Church’s social teachings regarding stewardship of the earth and love of neighbor have made these offenses quite plain.

This does make for an interesting confessional situation, however. Three ‘Our Fathers’ and two ‘Hail Marys’ may do for cheating on your taxes, but what kind of penance would suit contributing to climate change, cancer research, or supporting a sweatshop full of Indonesian children?

I’m all for living responsibly, and I think this is an important step. Perhaps we will begin to think more about how our daily lives can build up or tear down the world we don’t see. But it will continue to be difficult in this age of globalization and middlemen. How much can we know about the products we support and the conveniences we rely on? How many people will think twice about biting into a genetically altered seedless watermelon or anything made with U.S.-grown soybeans? Even my new hikers (the makers of which provide a portion of their profits to environmental programs and promote socially responsible business practices) surprised me. I opened the 100% post-consumer-materials box, labeled with eight ways it’s environmentally friendly, to discover shoes made in China.

Now, if only the Church would pick up on that ‘original blessing’ thing.