Why I Love Catholic Moral Theology
Why I Love Catholic Moral Theology
Catholic moral theology allows for naunces and leeway. One of these naunces is migitating circumstances in cases of mortal or grave sin. Jimmy Akin, whose praises I've sung on this blog before, once got a question about Bucky Barnes AKA the Winter Solider from Marvel and his cupability for acts of violence he committed while brainwashed.
For a sin to be mortal, three conditions together have to be met. If just one of these conditions is not met, there is no mortal sin.
-Grave matter: The sin has to be inherently serious. Murder, adultery, rape, and blasphemy are just a few sins that fall under the "grave matter" category.
Full knowledge: You have to know it's wrong. And in some cases, you must know why it's wrong.
Full consent: You have to fully decide to do it. You have to be fully in control of yourself when you do the thing anyway.
So the verdict: Bucky Barnes is not morally responsible for the things he did while he was being subjected to mind control by Hydra. He would not go to hell and he would not need to confess those deeds to a priest.