399. Do we have any responsibility for sins committed by others?

399. Do we have any responsibility for sins committed by others? 

(Comp 399) We do have such a responsibility when we culpably cooperate with them.

“In brief”

(CCC 1868) Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them. 

To deepen and explain

(CCC 1868) Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them: - by participating directly and voluntarily in them; - by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them; - by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so; - by protecting evil-doers. 

Reflection

(CCC 1736) Every act directly willed is imputable to its author: Thus the Lord asked Eve after the sin in the garden: "What is this that you have done?" (Gen 3:13). He asked Cain the same question (Cf. Gen 4:10). The prophet Nathan questioned David in the same way after he committed adultery with the wife of Uriah and had him murdered (Cf. 2 Sam 12:7-15). An action can be indirectly voluntary when it results from negligence regarding something one should have known or done: for example, an accident arising from ignorance of traffic laws. 

(Next question: What are structures of sin?)