So the Vatican, through Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, has put a new spin on the thou-shalt-not-list and added seven “social sins” to the good old fashioned seven deadly ones. According to Bloomberg the new ones are:
1. “Bioethical” violations such as birth control
2. “Morally dubious” experiments such as stem cell research
3. Drug abuse
4. Polluting the environment
5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor
6. Excessive wealth
7. Creating poverty
That list looks quite politically correct to me (with the exception of the first two or maybe three). They also seem to coincide with the original deadly sins quite a bit - wouldn’t contributing to the widening divide between rich and poor, excessive wealth and creating poverty be the same as greed and maybe gluttony? Anyway, I do agree with the Vatican that it is “sinful” to pollute the environment and to create poverty and such, even though I don’t have the need to live in fear for eternal damnation in order to try and be a decent human being. For me it’s more of a common sense of solidarity and responsibility for the planet we live on and for my fellow human beings. But to each their own.
Many blog commenters that I have read sarcastically note that child abuse and pedophelia has not made the list. Of course, Girotti had something to say about the subject too:
Girotti was asked about the many “situations of scandal and sin within the church,” in what appeared to be a reference to allegations in the United States and other countries of sexual abuse by clergy of minors and the coverups by hierarchy.
The monsignor acknowledged the “objective gravity” of the allegations, but contended that the heavy coverage by mass media of the scandals must also be denounced because it “discredits the church.”
Funny, I thought that the child abusers and the people who have protected them and covered up their crimes would be the ones who have discredited the church. Get a grip Girotti.
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