“Lists” Of Mortal Sins



What follows is a list of sins that are mortal or can commonly become mortal due to the harm caused.

First Commandment: I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.Polytheism and idolatry, divination, magic, sorcery and spiritism. Atheism, Agnosticism, Irreligion, sacrilege, simony. Apostacy, Heresy, schism, stubborn refusal to obey God, recourse to: Wicca, Pachamama, witchcraft, horoscopes, palm readers, tarot cards, mediums and psychics, Ouija boards, crystals, pendulums, Rieke, Charlie-charlie, seances, crystals and… just add the latest .  See CCC 2110-2128; 2138-2140

Second Commandment: You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.Blasphemy, curses, unfaithfulness to promises, false oaths, perjury. See CCC 2142-2149; 2160-2162

Third Commandment: Remember to keep holy the LORD’S day. Not attending Holy Mass on Sundays and Holy days of Obligation without a just motive (e.g. sickness); See Catechism 1389

Fourth  Commandment: Honor your father and your mother. Serious Negligence, of the obligations/responsibilities towards one’s children, parents and siblings; hatred; ingratitude; disrespect; disobedience in matters concerning the material and spiritual well-being; negligence and indifference toward virtue and in faith of one’s children. Serious insubordination or lack of due respect  to lawful authority. Undermining of authority by sedition or inciting public unrest.  See Catechism 2114-2118;2221-2229

5th Commandment: You shall not kill. Direct and intentional murder and cooperation in it; direct abortion and  cooperation in it. Direct euthanasia,
suicide. Hatred, extreme anger, terrorism, seduction into serious sin, See Compendium 470; Catechism 2268-2283; 2321-2326

6th Commandment: You shall not commit adultery. Adultery, masturbation, fornication before or outside of marriage, incest, sexual abuse and harassment, pornography, prostitution, rape, and homosexual actions. Direct sterilization, contraception, artificial or in vitro fertilization, divorce and remarriage, polygamy, incest, cohabitation. See Catechism 2351-2359; 2396; 2370-2372; 2380-2391, 2400

7th Commandment: You shall not steal. Theft, borrowing without permission,  business fraud; paying unjust wages; forcing up prices, taking advantage of the ignorance or hardship of another; appropriation and use for private purposes of the common goods of an enterprise; work poorly done; tax evasion; forgery of checks and invoices; excessive expenses and waste. Willfully damaging private or public property, vandalism, refusing reparations when property is damaged, slavery, greed, withholding wages.

Eighth Commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Lying, especially about serious matters that harm reputations, seriously misleading  or depriving others of important information, false witness and perjury,  rash judgment, detraction, calumny, adulation, violation of the sacramental seal, divulging professional secrets. Catechism 2475-2487; 2507-2509;

10th Commandment: You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods. Jealousy, envy, ingratitude, disrespect or misuse of the property of others, greed, and envy, immoderate desire to acquire them for oneself. Catechism 2534-2540; 2551-2554

No list of mortal sins can be perfect, either due to excess or defect. We must recall that small sins can cause great harm in certain circumstances, such as when children are involved or merely unkind words are uttered in a very sensitive moment. Further, what are often mortal sins can admit of light matter such as telling a lie to avoid hurting someone’s feelings or taking a small item like a cookie versus a highly expensive one.

Mortal sins happen. Frequent confession is a salutary and proper remedy that takes such sin seriously but does not despair of God’s mercy. Further, it refers judgment to the proper tribunal of God working through the Church and the priest. It  “errs” on the  side of caution  beseeching mercy.

Finally, this thought: Even venial sin harms our relationship with God. It weakens it and sets us on a path that becomes accustomed to sin in growing degrees. Those who forever say, “Well I don’t think it is mortal” soon enough cross into mortal sin, likely still denying they are in such a state since they have been desensitized and settled down with sin.

Go to confession.


This post was originally published on Community in Mission https://spiritualdirection.com/author/msgr-charles-pope