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 Simon S.C. Chau reflects on the new 7 deadly sins as promulgated by the Vatican, with a greener emphasis
Have you ever eaten too soon, too expensively, too much, too eagerly, too daintily, or too fervently? Did you know that such behaviors condemn us to eternal suffering in hell (at least according to the Catholic Church so far)?
And, on a more realistic level, which of us these days has never indulged in any of the above? Are there not texts and pictures in the media day in and day out to seduce us poor souls to do exactly those things?
Well, times have changed. Or have they, really?
A New Green View from Vatican
Your columnist is referring to the “deadly sins” (or ‘Cardinal’ sins in official discourse, as opposed to the “Venial” or forgivable ones which are minor and “non-condemning”), and an alleged amendment of them from Vatican just before Easter.
“The Vatican Sanctions New Seven Deadly Sins”, read the Apple Daily headline on March 11. The report went on to say that “In this age of globalization, ‘sinning’ is more than personal misconducts such as theft, blasphemy and loving another’s wife, so it is necessary (for the Church) to add in modern sins that affects the society as a whole on to the original list set down 1500 years ago.”
This report aroused excitement amongst quite a few folks in the green camp, who were relieved and overjoyed to know that at long last, one of the most archaic institutions in our world today was catching up with social reality.
As it turned out, this was nothing more than a misleading message relaying exercise on the part of the media. The Catholic Church so far has no intention to replace centuries old dogmas with frontline green ideological proposals.
Actually, the issue was brought up when Bishop Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary (an office that deals with questions relating to penance and indulgences) made the comments in an interview on March 8 with the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.
State-of- the-art Means to Condemnation
Well, in case you are not familiar with the Christian theology, the “original” cardinal sins laid down by the Church were:
1. Lust
2. Gluttony
3. Greed
4. Sloth
5. Wrath
6. Envy
7. Pride
And now, according to our Vatican spokesperson, living in the modern society today, we are offending God equally badly, if not more, by committing new forms of sin, such as:
1. Genetic modification
2. Genetic manipulation, such as cloning
3. Polluting the environment
4. Causing social injustice
5. Causing poverty
6. Becoming obscenely wealthy
7. Taking and trafficking drugs
Compared to the original ones, these new entries are obviously more “society-oriented”. Such misdeeds harm a large number of people “out there” rather than the sinner personally. Furthermore, many of these (numbers 1, 2, 4 and 5 in particular) are committed collectively as a community rather than individually. How many of us ever dreamt of having a hand in cloning a worm, let alone a human being? Do any of us know what exactly should be done every day to avoid causing poverty and social justice? And, for that matter, how serious does an anti-ecological act need to be to land one in hell – if wasting a pack of tissues is too trivial, how about flying half-way round the globe for a holiday? Is it a sin to eat tofu (there is an 80% plus chance now in Hong Kong that it is made of genetically modified beans)? What can we learn from the example of the Catholic Church being super-rich but not obscenely? After all, if I were to go to hell for sinning, I would prefer doing it the good old ways. Isn’t indulging oneself in food and sex more fun than “causing poverty”?
If I am behaving naughtily, God forbid. It would be nice though if our teachers, the media and the Church (in no particular order) could enlighten us in such respects. Only then can simple-minded people like me sleep well tonight.
The good news, though, is that the new sins are nothing more than an official expressing his views in a less than formal context. The Church has no intention to throw away the time-honored ones and install this mind-intriguing lot-- yet. Despite all the confusion, I hearty applaud such efforts to bring the faith to the forefront of our globalized reality. Indeed, anyone who is destroying our planet and depriving our brothers of their rightful livelihood should be condemned.
Simon Chau can be contacted at
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The author is the chair of Green Living Education Foundation.
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5 - 16 September 
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