God Knows
Sacred Scripture begins with these solemn words, and this we believe: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). In a way, this helps in answering part of your question, “Does God know, and does God understand?” Yes, indeed, as Creator of all, He knows and understands all. And this is also why God is the only one who can judge ultimately all of our actions. Who else can look inside our minds and hearts and see why we do the things we do? Most especially, He knows and understands those who are weak, ill, or suffering through no fault of their own.
The Role of Free Will & Knowledge
Regarding Confession, you are asking essentially whether or not a person, who is mentally ill, is morally responsible for wrongs or sins committed as a direct result of their illness. To answer this, we must first understand what sin is. In simple terms, sin is an offense against God, a turning away from Him and His love and choosing instead our own will over His. As the Psalmist cries out, “Against you, you alone, have I sinned and done that which is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4). Another thing we know about sin is that it is rooted in the heart of man, in his free will. Jesus said that it is from man’s heart that evil comes (Matthew 15:19-20). Thus, free will must play a part in sin.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that for sin to be mortal (the kind that cuts off our communion with God and requires sacramental confession) three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent” (Reconciliatio et paenitentia, 17 § 12; CCC #1857). We note, then, that deliberate free will and knowledge play a crucial and essential role in determining moral responsibility for sinful actions or thoughts.
To demonstrate how the Church truly does understand the special needs and circumstances of the mentally ill, The Catechism continues its explanation of this issue in the following two paragraphs:
1859: Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart (Cf Mark 3:5-6; Luke 16:19-31) do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
1860: Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.
God's Mercy is Infinite
In other words, for confession to be required (Canon 988), a person would have had to know fully that his/her action was an offense against God and then proceeded to do it anyway. There are certain conditions, however, that can impede this knowledge and free will. Mental illness, in many cases, constitutes such a condition because of the way that it can affect the operation of intellect and free will. In some cases, though, it is extremely difficult to determine moral responsibility. These must be left in the hands of God, who always knows the human heart of the one who is innocent of wrongs committed. And, in addition, our faith leads us to say with all certainty that even in situations when a person is not innocent, God’s mercy is infinite for the one who seeks Him.
Grace MacKinnon is a syndicated columnist and public speaker on Catholic doctrine. Readers are welcome to submit questions about the Catholic faith to: Grace MacKinnon, 1234 Russell Drive #103, Brownsville, Texas 78520. Questions also may be sent by e-mail to: grace@deargrace.com. You may visit Grace online at www.DearGrace.com.
