The Catechism of the Summa - XXXI. OF THE SINS OPPOSED TO RELIGION: OF SUPERSTITION, AND OF DIVINATION; OF IRRELIGION: OF TEMPTING GOD, OF PERJURY, AND OF SACRILEGE (B)

(B)  
What does the sin of irreligion comprise?

It comprises two things: the fact of not treating with due respect things that belong to the service and worship of God; or the fact of abstaining altogether from acts of religion.
 
Is the last sin particularly grave?

Yes, it is of extreme gravity, because it implies contempt or the scornful disregard of Him whom we are bound in the strictest sense to honour and to serve.
 
Under what special form does the latter exist at the present day?

Under the form of what may be called secularism.
 
What is understood by secularism?

It is that system in which God is put out of one's life completely: whether in a positive manner, in getting rid of Him in every way and in persecuting both Him and everything that has to do with Him; or in a negative way, in taking no account of Him at all in our life, individual, domestic, or social.
 
Whence arises this sin of secularism both in its positive and negative form?

In its positive form it arises from hatred or from some fanatic sectarianism; in its negative form it arises from a sort of intellectual and moral obtuseness, particularly with regard to the supernatural order.
 
Ought one to combat secularism with all one's strength?

There is no more pressing duty than to do this by all the means in one's power.


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