Disregard For The Souls Of Others:  Scandal

     According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil.  The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor's tempter.  He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death.  Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense.  Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized.  It prompted our Lord to utter this curse:  'Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.'  Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others.  Jesus reproaches the scribes and Pharisees on this account:  he likens them to wolves in sheep's clothing.

     Scandal can be provoked by laws or institutions, by fashion or opinion.  'Therefore, they are guilty of scandal who establish laws or social structures leading to the decline of morals and the corruption of religious practice, or to 'social conditions that, intentionally or not, make Christian conduct and obedience to the Commandments difficult and practically impossible.'  This is also true of business leaders who make rules encouraging fraud, teachers who provoke their children to anger, or manipulators of public opinion who turn it away from moral values.'  Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged.  'Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come!'"

                                                                                                             Catechism of the Catholic Church
                                                                                                             Nos. 2284-2287

Note:  As with all sin, those who are responsible for grave, mortal sins should know that if they have a true conversion of heart, go to Confession for their sins, receive Absolution from a Catholic priest, and go to Mass weekly they can again be reunited with God.  The sinner should never feel that their sin is too unforgiveable that it causes them not to return to their Catholic Church or the Sacraments of the Church (the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) is included in this).