According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sin is “an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as ‘an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.'”

And as far as definitions go, that’s great, very clear. Except…

All are sins the same? When is something a sin and when is it not? Are there exceptions? Are we always responsible for sin?

The fact of the matter is that sin is a very murky subject, filled with ambiguity and requiring much critical thought. In this video, I look at what the Church says about the morality of human acts in article 4 of the Catechism’s chapter on the Dignity of the Human Person. According to the Church, there are actually three factors that go into the evaluation of morality: object, intention, and circumstances.