1,500 years after listing the original seven deadly sins, the Vatican announced on Sunday that polluting, genetic engineering, obscene riches, taking drugs, abortion, pedophilia and causing social injustice will be the new seven deadly sins of the 21st century.
[Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary] said that priests must take account of "new sins which have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalisation". Whereas sin in the past was thought of as being an invdividual matter, it now had "social resonance".
"You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbour's wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos," he said.
Bishop Girotti said that mortal sins also included taking or dealing in drugs, and social injustice which caused poverty or "the excessive accumulation of wealth by a few".
He said that two mortal sins which continued to preoccupy the Vatican were abortion, which offended "the dignity and rights of women", and paedophilia, which had even infected the clergy itself and so had exposed the "human and institutional fragility of the Church".
The mass media had "blown up" the issue "to discredit the Church", but the Church itself was taking steps to deal with it.
In case you've forgotten, the original seven deadly sins are pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth and the original punishments were maybe a tad harsh.
Pride: Broken on the wheel
Envy: Put in freezing water
Gluttony: Forced to eat rats, toads, and snakes
Lust: Smothered in fire and brimstone
Anger: Dismembered alive
Greed: Put in cauldrons of boiling oil
Sloth: Thrown in snake pits
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