The Vatican has [1] added seven modern mortal sins to the old list of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. According to [2] Bloomberg News, Bishop Gianfranco Girotti says that the new sins, brought about by the phenomenon of globalisation, add a social dimension. A number of media outlets are linking the release of this list to recent surveys indicating that [3] fewer and [4] fewer Catholics are going to confession at all. The list includes:

1. “Bioethical” violations such as birth control
2. “Morally dubious” experiments such as stem cell research
3. Drug abuse
4. Polluting the environment
5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor
6. Excessive wealth
7. Creating poverty

Seems like the distinctions between the last 3 were created just to round out the list to 7. Does excessive wealth not create poverty? Either way, I think 4 - 7 make sense. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to start going to confession any time soon (even if I was Catholic).