OCCASION OF SIN. - I. NOTIONS. - By occasion of sin properly is meant a circumstance of person, thing, or place, external to the subject, which allures someone to sin, making its commission easy. The occasion of sin thus implies two essential elements: one outside the subject, namely the alluring circumstance, whose presence exerts a particular influence on the individual; the other within the subject himself, namely the general or personal disposition toward the sin in question. The occasion of sin differs from danger, because the latter has a broader meaning and also includes the various internal inclinations (temptations, habits, passions, natural frailty, etc.), and because danger is rather an effect of the occasion, which creates the danger.
Modern life has multiplied the occasions of sin: the press, dealings with people without faith, mixed marriages, or marriages with persons hostile to the Christian life, neutral or mixed schools, fashion, employments and promiscuous work, dance halls, the cinema, various shows — all causes which, together with bad examples, human respect, or personal weakness, are a cause of moral contagion.
According to the degree of influence it exerts on the subject, the occasion of sin is remote, if it creates a danger of sinning lightly; proximate, if it creates a probable danger of grave sin, whether for everyone (absolute occasion) or for a determined individual because of his particular dispositions (relative occasion).
The proximate occasion is present (continuous) or absent (not continuous), according as the occasion is actual and permanent near the subject, or requires an approach (going there, a meeting, etc.). The proximate occasion of sin can moreover be free (voluntary) or necessary, according as the subject can abandon it or not without grave harm, inconvenience, or scandal. A book, a gathering, an entertainment are free occasions, even if the person may derive some benefit from them; family, military, or prison cohabitation are necessary occasions. The same thing can be for one individual a free occasion and for another a necessary occasion, for example, an employment or an acquaintance.
One must beware of the illusions of personal judgments, since no one is a good judge in his own cause, especially if some passion or utility is involved (cf. the propositions condemned on this matter in Dens-U, nos. 1141, 1211-13).
II. NORMS FOR MORAL ACTIVITY
A proximate free occasion of grave sin, whether present or absent, must be avoided or removed, even physically, under pain of grave sin. It is clear, in fact, that this occasion constitutes a grave danger of sin, and at the same time there is no sufficient reason for exposing oneself to the danger, which is removable only by detachment. This particular obligation arises from the general obligation to use fitting diligence in fulfilling one's duty. It may also be granted that by using means suited to resisting, the obligation to remove the occasion ceases, provided however that by such means the occasion becomes remote. Subjectively, it may also happen that the subject does not have or cannot form a conscience of the gravity of the danger; one is then faced with a false conscience, which must be enlightened.
One is not obliged to avoid physically the proximate, morally necessary occasion of sin, provided one renders it remote by the use of efficacious means (prayer, vigilance, the Sacraments, mortification, meditation, penance, etc.). In such a case the grace of God will not be lacking to avoid falling, bearing in mind that only consent constitutes guilt in itself, not the danger.
The difficulty lies in sifting doubtful cases concerning moral necessity, the proximity of the occasion, and the efficacy of the means. In case of uncertainty one cannot speak of a grave obligation, but of a counsel. Especially in the hypothesis of a relatively proximate or morally necessary occasion, discretion must suggest requiring as much as the person is capable of giving; for example, even a decrease in falls.
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