This post is a review of an article, whose title is this assertion: “Everyone on Earth (Including You) Is Either in a State of Grace, or a State of Mortal Sin“. The author is Father Jeffrey Kirby, and the article was published on January 18, 2024 at NCRegister.com.

The article title is a false assertion. The Ecumenical Councils of Lyons II and Florence each taught that some persons die in a state of “original sin alone”. An easy example of a living person who is neither in the state of grace, nor in a state of unrepented actual mortal sin is an unbaptized infant or young child. Born with original sin, and not being baptized, the young child is too young to have committed an objectively grave sin with full knowledge and full deliberation (i.e. an actual mortal sin). So such a child is not in a state of grace, as he lacks baptism, and not in a state of actual mortal sin.

An adult could possibly be in a state of original sin, being unbaptized (i.e. not having received any of the three forms of baptism, water, desire, blood), and might not be guilty of any actual mortal sin. It is debatable whether an adult might be guilty of an actual mortal sin of omission for never having obtained the state of grace by one of the three forms of baptism, especially a young adult.

It does not bode well when the very title of an article of theology is a false assertion. Then, as the article continues, the author makes what I would consider to be another serious error. The author, Fr. Kirby, distinguishes between sinful acts and a “state of sin”. This is a problematic distinction, at least in the way that Fr. Kirby presents it.

Kirby: “The irregular marriage cannot be repented of while the person is still in the midst of the sinful way of life. Unless a person is ready to change his state of life, such as separating from his supposed spouse (or living as “brother and sister” for the sake of any children), the person is living in sin and cannot receive the mercy offered by God since reconciliation is not possible.”

Did a priest just say that a person “cannot receive the mercy offered by God”? No one alive is beyond the mercy of God.

Also, persons in an irregular marriage certainly could be in the state of grace, due to a reduced culpability for their objectively grave sins. The assumption, frequently made by those who oppose the decisions of the Roman Pontiff on discipline for Confession, Communion, and blessings, is that persons who seem to others and that persons who fit in a broad category of “irregular situations” or “irregular marriages” are necessarily guilty of actual mortal sin and are necessarily unrepentant. How would anyone but God know? Maybe the couple are repentant and trying to live in chastity. Perhaps they fall from time to time from this resolve, and then they go to Confession and then Communion. The broad and categorical condemnation of all persons in an “irregular marriage” is contrary to faith, reason, and the mercy of God.

Some validly married couples no longer have sexual relations. They can morally have sex in their marriage, but they have ceased. This occurs sometimes in old age, or due to some type of medical condition. And it is not known to persons outside the marriage. It certainly can be the case that some couples who are not validly marriage may have ceased from sexual activity. It is Pharisaical, merciless, and ignorant to assume that all persons in irregular situations are committing objectively grave sins or actual mortal sins, on a continuing basis, or that they “cannot receive the mercy offered by God since reconciliation is not possible.”

Suppose, hypothetically, that a couple is guilty of actual mortal sin and unrepentant. They still receive prevenient grace (God operating, not cooperating). They still may cooperate with and receive subsequent grace (actual graces from time to time). They may be on the path to repentance and reconciliation. They certainly are receiving the mercy of God, which is denied to no human person alive. And reconciliation is always possible, and the couple, though perhaps unrepentant from some past sins, may be on the path toward the reconciliation.

A human person who does not repent, through the last moment of their life, from actual mortal sin, will have eternal punishment in Hell. Prior to death, God is ALWAYS working for the salvation of every human person, including those in irregular situations.

Sin is a knowingly chosen immoral act. A person might be unrepentant from past sins. A person might commit particular types of sin repeatedly. A person can be in a state of grace, in a state of original sin alone, or in a state of unrepented actual mortal sin. However, the commission of one or more objectively grave sins does not imply full culpability, and so such persons, including those in irregular situations, cannot be said to be in “a state of sin”. If they may be in a state of grace, due to reduced culpability, Pope Francis permits them to receive Confession and Communion, as well as blessings. The term “state of sin” does not reveal whether the person is in a state of grace or not, as objectively grave sin might not have the full culpability of actual mortal sin.

Fr. Kirby’s analysis, which rejects the recent documents by Pope Francis, assumes unrepentant actual mortal sin, as he states that such persons “cannot receive the mercy offered by God since reconciliation is not possible.” That quoted assertion is not even true IF the person is in a state of unrepented actual mortal sin. The mercy and graces of God are always available, and reconciliation only requires imperfect contrition, which might occur in response to actual graces at any time. They are not in a state of alienation from mercy or grace, and reconciliation is always possible due to that mercy and grace.

Kirby: “In a state of sin, such as the presumed marriage of divorced-and-remarried people, or the attempted marriage of same-sex people, or the very act of cohabitating by a couple, the sin is the state of affairs and the relationship itself. The sin is not merely an act, but the person’s way of life.”

False. Even if some magisterial documents use the expression “state of sin,” or as the faithful sometimes say “living in sin”, those are merely expressions. It is theologically and doctrinally false for Fr. Kirby to claim that “the sin is … the person’s way of life”. Sin is nothing other than a knowingly chosen immoral act. Even if the same type of sin is committed repeatedly, there is no such thing as an actual mortal sin of one’s way of life, nor is there such a thing as an actual mortal sin of a “state of affairs” or an actual mortal sin of “the relationship itself”. Sin is nothing other than an immoral knowingly chosen act. Father Kirby’s claims are not consistent with the perennial teaching of the Magisterium on sin.

Bride-to-be: “We’d like to have our wedding in this parish, father.”
Priest: “I don’t think I can accommodate you because we all know that you and your boyfriend are living –”
Bride-to-be: “– in sin?”
Priest: “No, in West Roxbury.”
Bride-to-be: “Oh.”

Priests still officiate at weddings in which the couple is known to be cohabitating. Gay persons may go to Confession and then Communion. And the Roman Pontiff holds the Keys of Saint Peter. Pope Francis has decided that persons in irregular situations can receive Confession, Communion, and blessings. He has directed priests not to withhold absolution in Confession, based on the priest’s judgment that the person might not have a firm purpose of amendment. He has permitted Communion for some persons in irregular situations, with the recommendation that they consult with their pastor and receive Confession. He has permitted blessings, regardless of the situation in which the persons are living.

Fr. Kirby cannot nullify those decisions of discipline by the Roman Pontiff by Kirby’s own poor theology.

Kirby: “Julia knows that she has not just committed a sinful act but has entered into a state of sin. Her life is marred by sin since the defining relationship of her life — that of being a supposed wife — is outside moral truth. She is in rebellion against God and his goodness. There will be no peace or reconciliation until there has been conversion and a change to her state in life.”

Should Julia repent and go to Confession? No, because Julia is a fictional character from a novel. Instead of explaining magisterial teaching on sin, Fr. Kirby draws his false teachings on morality from a novel. A person can be in a state of grace, or in a state of original sin alone, or in a state of unrepented actual mortal sin. But even the latter state does not exclude the person from the mercy and grace of God, even prior to repentance. The claim that a person cannot receive mercy or peace or reconciliation from God essentially denies prevenient grace as well as actual graces for persons unrepentant from certain sins. And it assumes actual mortal sin in every case of repeated objectively grave sins. No person is “outside moral truth”. The individual in an irregular marriage may be in a state of grace, due to reduced culpability, and certainly may be cooperating with actual graces from the mercy of God even if they are currently unrepentant from actual mortal sin. The assumption that such a person is “in rebellion against God and his goodness” is absurd. The mere commission of one or more objectively grave sins does not prove any of these exaggerated claims, by Fr. Kirby, which are not based on magisterial teaching.

Kirby: “In the course of time, Julia allows the graces given to her in the waters of baptism to draw her out of darkness and bring her back into the wondrous light of the living God.”

Wrong. That is Pelagian. Grace is before, during, and after every good work. Prevenient grace is given by God and received by the person without any possibility of cooperation. Then the person may next cooperate with subsequent graces, and the person may then follow a path of continued cooperation with actual graces, perhaps haltingly, perhaps with some backsliding into sin followed by further progress in grace, until they repent and convert. God is always working with sinners in every situation. And we don’t know their situation in their souls, nor do we know what the Holy Spirit is particularly doing. So we cannot assume that the person is guilty and unrepentant of actual mortal sin.

Listen to Pope Francis and the perennial teaching of the Church.

Ronald L Conte Jr