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Pride, envy, gluttony, lust, wrath, greed and sloth. Pope
Gregory the Great established these as the seven deadly sins in the 6th
century.

Fifteen centuries later, the Church has introduced a new
list of seven deadly sins applicable to modern age: excessive wealth, drug
dealing, abortion, pedophilia, genetic engineering, social injustice and
pollution.

These new sins, like the seven before them, are considered
mortal sins. As stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a “moral
sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of
the sinful character of the act, of its oppression to God’s law. It also
implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice.”

If one does not confess a mortal sin prior to death,
according to the Catholic Church, that person’s soul descends immediately into
Hell, because a mortal sin is the gravest of violations against God and his
laws found in the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments.

“The Decalogue is divided into two categories: sins
that affront God and sins against your neighbor,” said Father Eric
Nielsen, a pastor at St. Paul’s Catholic Church on State Street. “The new
21st-century sins are a part of the latter half of the Decalogue because they
are against our neighbor; they are social sins.”

The first of the new sins is excessive wealth, which,
according to the Church, can separate the connection between man and God.

Nielsen noted wealth can lead humans to act with little
thought for society, laws or their fellows.

“Am I able to believe in God and recognize his gifts,
or do I believe that I am my own God?” Nielsen asked.

Along with the idea of poverty comes the sin of social
injustice, which relates to rich countries and peoples taking advantage of the
less fortunate. According to Nielsen, social injustice can limit the poor
through inferior education, scarce job prospects or unfair laws.

Perhaps the most controversial new sin is genetic
engineering, which has some scientists, students and Roman Catholics alike
concerned.

“We may enhance human life, but not replace or
manipulate it,” Nielsen said. “It is permissible and laudable to help
people overcome faults in existence such as blindness. But to simply conceive
children, then use science to let only those who are genetically superior live
or manipulate their genes is manufacturing children for ourselves.”

In this aspect, the Church is concerned with this
ever-growing scientific field and its ability to “play God” by
manipulating genes. According to the Church, humans were made in God’s image,
and we shouldn’t attempt to alter that makeup.

A bigger surprise to some is the new sin of pollution, which
the Church opposes for destroying a gift of God, our world.

“The Church is promoting environmentalism and the need
for moderate use and distribution of the world’s resources,” Nielsen said.

Along with these other new sins are drug dealing and
pedophilia, both of which, according to the Church, are immoral and inflict
pain upon others.

Despite their biblical basis, these new sins have students
talking about their implications in the everyday modern world.

Junior Katie Behrens, undergraduate peer minister at St.
Paul’s, agrees with the new list, calling them “the oldest sins in the
newest ways.”

“I think it’s really great that [the Church] came out
and basically is telling Catholics and the world that these things are not OK
just to let go by,” Behrens said.

?”A lot of these [new sins] fit under the original
seven deadly sins,” agreed freshman Megan Shiroda. “More importantly,
all, except genetic engineering, fit under what Jesus said, ‘Do unto others as
you would have them do unto you.'”

Both students said these sins tie into the important process
of modernizing the Catholic Church.

“It’s necessary for the church to keep up with changing
times and how we commit sins,” Behrens said.