CSDC 117

The mystery of sin is composed of a twofold wound, which the sinner opens in his own side and in the relationship with his neighbour. That is why we can speak of personal and social sin. Every sin is personal under a certain aspect; under another, every sin is social, insofar as and because it also has social consequences. In its true sense, sin is always an act of the person, because it is the free act of an individual person and not properly speaking of a group or community. The character of social sin can unquestionably be ascribed to every sin, taking into account the fact that “by virtue of human solidarity which is as mysterious and intangible as it is real and concrete, each individual's sin in some way affects others”²²⁶ John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 16: AAS 77AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 77 (1985) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1985), 214. The text explains moreover that there is a law of descent, which is a kind of communion of sin, in which a soul that lowers itself through sin drags down with it the Church and, in some way, the entire world; to this law there corresponds a law of ascent, the profound and magnificent mystery of the communion of saints, thanks to which every soul that rises above itself also raises the world.. It is not, however, legitimate or acceptable to understand social sin in a way that, more or less consciously, leads to a weakening or the virtual cancellation of the personal component by admitting only social guilt and responsibility. At the bottom of every situation of sin there is always the individual who sins.