The Vatican has outlined seven new deadly sins for our times, designed to make worshippers consider the increased impact their lives have on other people in light of globalisation.The new lists condemns genetic modification, carrying out experiments on humans, polluting the environment, causing social injustice, causing poverty, becoming obscenely wealthy and taking drugs.
It replaces the list originally drawn up by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th Century, which included envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and pride. Sadness was replaced by sloth in the 17th Century.
Not so much, as it should surprise no one to find out. Zadok dismantles the Times' version of the story here, concluding:
ignorant reporting is used to make the Curia and the Papacy look both ridiculously trendy and simultaneously 'out of touch' by threatening hell-fire for something relatively minor. Mgr Girotti is a senior member of the curia and, as Regent of the Apostolic Penitentary, what he has to say about sin is worth listening to. If it were reported properly.More here.
However, it's not. And therefore, people who have legitimate concerns about the excesses of the environmentalist movement are given reason to believe that the Vatican has adopted an untenable position.
*Sigh*
Is it ignorance or malice that's responsible for the poor standard of religous reporting?
Hermeneutic of Continuity has the goods on what is and isn't happening with the Galileo statue and the Vatican Observatory (which is sort of an old story, but one we never got around to here).
And P.S., remember the "Luther rehabilitated" story? Turns out not even the germ of truth of the story was true -- the subject of the Pope's summer colloquiam has not been decided, but Luther's not one of the choices.
Sloth, I might note, is still one of the 7 deadly sins. And lying still violates the 10 Commandments. So, yes, the British press is going to hell.
