Can the Pope Decide a Sin is No Longer a Sin (Like Eating Meat on Fridays)? (Catholic Caucus)

Aleteia ^ | April 13, 2015 | JOHN MARTIGNONI

[NYer]

Q: Can the pope or the Catholic Church change, eliminate, or discontinue mortal sins — such as  missing Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation — as they did with the mortal sin of not eating meat on Fridays and eliminating some of the holy days of obligation?      
 
A: The short answer is, “No.” Something either is a mortal sin or it isn’t a mortal sin and neither the Pope nor the Church can change that. In order to commit a mortal sin, three conditions have to be met:

1) Full awareness of the intellect;

2) Full consent of the will; and

3) grave matter. 

These conditions cannot be changed.  However, there is something that you have misunderstood that we need to clear up. 

The Church once required, as a discipline not a doctrine, that its children not eat meat on Fridays. The Church has since changed this discipline to require that we make some sacrifice on Fridays — even Fridays outside of Lent — in remembrance of our Lord’s sacrifice for us on that Friday afternoon on Calvary so long ago. 

This sacrifice could be abstaining from meat, but it doesn’t have to be. It could be abstaining from some other food that you really like, fasting, offering additional alms, going out of your way to do something for someone who really annoys you — in other words, offering a sacrificial act of kindness and love.  So, we are still called by the Church to offer a sacrifice on Fridays, but now the Church leaves the particular form of the sacrifice up to us.

The question is, then, does the fact that the Church has allowed the form of our Friday sacrifice to change, mean that the Church has somehow changed a mortal sin? Absolutely not. You need to understand that even during the days when the Church required its children to abstain from meat on Fridays, the act of eating meat on Friday was not, in and of itself, a mortal sin. Eating meat on Friday does not, in and of itself, constitute grave matter.  It is not a serious sin.       

However, to knowingly disobey the authority of the Church is another matter entirely.  If one was fully aware of what the Church taught regarding abstaining from meat on Friday, yet they went ahead and ate meat on Friday knowing full well that they were in defiance of Church teaching, then that could indeed constitute a mortal sin. 

1) They ate meat on Friday with full awareness of their intellect that it was Friday, that they were eating meat, and that the Church required abstinence from meat on that day. 

2) They ate the meat of their own free will, no one forced them to do it. 

3) Willful disobedience to Church authority constitutes grave matter.  So, all the requirements for a mortal sin would have been there. 

I once heard someone say that the Church no longer requiring abstinence from meat on all Fridays must have really upset all the people who were in Hell for having committed the mortal sin of eating meat on Friday. That statement showed a woeful lack of understanding of Church teaching. Again, if anyone is in Hell because they ate meat on Friday, it is not because of the act itself of eating meat, but rather it is because they willfully disobeyed the Church in eating that meat and never repented of their willful disobedience. 

So, whether the Church changes a discipline, or does away with a discipline altogether, it is not “changing” a mortal sin.  The willful disregard of Church authority in regard to any Church discipline is what would constitute the mortal sin, if a mortal sin was indeed committed.

[NYer]

Ping!

[Obadiah]

That whole meat on Fridays thing? It’s changed about a dozen times since I was a kid.

First it was a sin to eat meat on any Friday, then only certain Fridays, then only during Lent. Then eating meat on Friday is okay. Now I’m not sure.

So is gluttony Tuesday okay or is that a sin? Point is, sin by Biblical standards is immutable. God is holy He doesn’t change His position on sin.

Just sayin’.

[murron]

If it was a Church rule that established that eating meat on Fridays is a sin, the Church can rescind such. What it can’t do is rescind a sin if it was established by God, such as the 10 commandments.

[Buckeye McFrog]

In the case of eating meat on Fridays, that was a Church-created sin in the first place, as there is absolutely nothing in Scripture that addresses the topic.

Playing a bit fast and loose with the “what you loose here shall be loosed in Heaven” clause IMO.

[Obadiah]

So the church can declare something a sin outside of God’s Word?

[BipolarBob]

oops didn’t see the catholic caucus. Please delete. Sorry

[murron]

Obviously so, as in the case of eating meat on Fridays. But when they do so, it only pertains to Catholics.

[Slyfox]

It boils down to what is moral law - which cannot be changed, and what is Church law. The moral law would be going to Mass on Sunday because it comes from the Decalogue. The Church law would be how long to fast before receiving the Eucharist.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Some seem to think he can put people in and out of heaven at will.

[FateAmenableToChange]

Well said. I love many things about the Roman Catholic Church, but the ability to add pharisaical rules over an above what scripture teaches and requires and then to declare violation of those man-made rules to be a sin is heresy.

That the author sees no problem with deeming disobedience to apparently arbitrary church doctrine to be a mortal sin is deeply disturbing. This is exactly the hypocrisy that Jesus taught against for the pharisees.

[tioga]

Our diocese observes the no meat on Friday rule during Lent, so that we are joined together in a sacrifice that unites us. The rest of the year, I don’t worry about it. I think it was more of a sacrifice before vegan and vegetarians became so common. Fish is easy to obtain and going out for lobster and shrimp is hardly a sacrifice. I RME at this one most of the time.

[tioga]

I should add that after the fasting and abstinence of Lent, it indeed feels like a time of celebration that it is. He is risen. Alleluia.

[piusv]

Does anyone know what the reason was for changing this rule? I mean, was abstaining from meat every Friday really such a problem?

[MplsSteve]

“Our diocese observes the no meat on Friday rule during Lent...The rest of the year, I don’t worry about it.”

Same here.

My only problem is that I really don’t like fish, shrimp, etc. Sometimes Lent gets a little boring with a diet of salads and grilled cheese sandwiches. But yet, it’s a minor sacrifice that I can easily bear.

[Sacajaweau]

Never believed it to be a sin. It was a kick for the fish industry

[tioga]

Cheese pizza, cheese lasagna, mac and cheese were staples here when the kiddies were young. Now the carbs are a no-no. I am not a sea food fan, either, so I can identify with you. My DH keeps reminding me that we are of a certain age and can forgo it, but I still observe. I am an RCIA leader and feel the need to be a leader in all areas. RME

[pbear8]

Untrue, check the history, it had nothing to do with any industry.