Communion & Mortal Sin

Question: I have a friend who receives communion, but who I know for a fact is in a state of mortal sin. Should I tell our priest? Is it my responsibility to say something?

Answer: While we may always want to do what is best for our friends and family members, we have a responsibility to respect their privacy and their conscience. In its reflections on the Eighth Commandment (“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”), the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. [One] becomes guilt: -of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor; -of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another’s faults and failings to persons who do not know them; of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them” (no. 2477).

We will never truly know what is in a person’s mind, heart, and soul; only God knows those things. We should, of course, take our concerns to God and entrust the person about whom we are concerned to God’s grace and mercy. If we have concerns about the spiritual wellbeing of someone with whom we are close, we should go to the person themselves and talk about our fears and concerns. Unless it is a case of abuse or endangerment (which we have a moral and even legal responsibility to report to the appropriate authorities), we ultimately do not have the freedom to share another’s persons faults or sins, however good we think our intentions might be.

©LPi