While Pope Francis has begun the Wednesday catechesis dedicated to the capital vices, addressing also the theme of lust, an interesting book dedicated to the Sixth Commandment has been released these days, the one that commands Christians not to commit impure acts, always at the center of Catholic morality.
The author of “Impure Acts” (published by Laterza Publishers, 82 pages, 13 euros), the historian Lucetta Scaraffia, thus analyzes the journey made by the Church so far, highlighting that it has always focused its attention more on the sinner and never on the victim. The victim who often risks being seen as an accomplice of this impurity. In the legal culture of the Church and therefore in the Code of Canon Law, in fact, even rape and sexual abuse are considered transgressions of the sixth commandment and never an act against another person.
Despite this commandment being the only one of all the Decalogue to have changed its name over the course of history, the not committing adultery of biblical origins became in the XVI century not to commit impure acts. For Scaraffia, even if it is always about rules related to sexual behavior, the difference is important. Adultery, she notes, is an act that breaks community and family balances, disrupting social relationships, while impure acts concern only the sinner who becomes impure. «The attention therefore shifts from relationships, damaged by the transgression, to the impurity of the guilty party alone, that's why the Church has a lot of trouble dealing with victims. Moreover, because of a wrong conception of sexuality, of only male type, in Catholic culture it is believed that victims still feel pleasure and therefore become accomplices in the transgression. To address the roots of abuses, therefore, we must return to reflect on the sixth commandment».
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