It wasn’t mentioned in the Ten Commandments, but according to an article published by the Los Angeles Times, the Vatican has included pollution in a list of “new sins.”
The new list was written by the Apostolic Penitentiary, the branch of the Roman Catholic Church that decides what a sin is in our modern age. The branch has decided that pollution is not only a sin against man, but also a sin against the world.
Last summer, the Vatican installed 1,000 solar panels in its main auditorium. It also joined a reforestation program to lower carbon emissions and started using recycled paper for prayer books.
Pollution was added to the list among other acts that the Apostolic Penitentiary deemed “in need of urgent attention.” Other sinful acts added to the list include the manipulation of human genes and causing social and economic injustice.