When Mercy Meets Truth: How the Church Guides Us from Sin to Grace
Edited Essay Introduction From the beginning, the Church has proclaimed the Good News of salvation in Christ. This Gospel message is one of mercy and a call from sin to conversion. Sin is not only the breaking of rules. It is a rupture in our relationship with God, with neighbour, and with ourselves. It distorts freedom and needs God’s healing grace. This understanding, drawn from Scripture, the Fathers, and the Magisterium, is the heart of Catholic moral theology. Alongside the teaching on sin is an emphasis on mercy and an understanding of personal culpability. While moral law does not change, personal responsibility can be lessened by ignorance, weakness, or coercion. Balancing truth and responsibility has always shaped Catholic thought. In recent years, this balancing has become sharply debated, especially since Pope Francis’s Amoris Laetitia . This essay explores how the Church seeks to uphold moral law while also exercising pastoral mercy. Drawing on the Catechism, John...