The Catholic church’s list of sins and their ranking is made public for the first time.  Ever wonder why the church has a hard time fessing up to its role in the Holocaust?  They’re not being obtuse.  Genocide isn’t that big a deal compared with, say spitting out the Eucharist…

Vatican reveals secrets of worst sins

The Apostolic Penitentiary, or "tribunal of conscience", has been shrouded in secrecy ever since it was established by Pope Alexander III in 1179 and until now has never provided details of the cases it scrutinizes.

They are considered so heinous by the Catholic Church that only the Pope can grant absolution to those who perpetrate them.

Blah…blah…blah…

While priests and bishops can deal with confessions of sins as grave as murder or even genocide, the tribunal is reserved for crimes which are viewed by the Church as even more serious.

They include attempting to assassinate the Pope, a priest abusing the confidentiality of the confessional by revealing the nature of the sin and the person who admitted to it, or a priest who has sex with someone and then offers forgiveness for the act.

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Defiling the Eucharist, which Catholics believe is the body and blood of Christ, is also considered a sin of extreme gravity and one which is on the increase, the high-ranking members of the tribunal said.

Cardinal Stafford said there had been a rise in incidents in which people would receive Communion and then spit it out or otherwise desecrate it, sometimes in Satanic rituals. 

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Such sins, which can only be dealt with by the Pope, acting through the tribunal, bring automatic excommunication from the Church. If the Pope decides to grant absolution, the excommunication is lifted.

See…it’s all a matter of proportion.  The punishment has to fit the crime.  Forgiveness isn’t lightly meted out when the sin is grievous.  Himmler could have been dealt with by the local parish priest.  But only the Pope can forgive you for spitting out the Eucharist.  And remember, there is no morality without religion.