BY GERARD NAVAL

TWO Catholic bishops yesterday clarified that the new "social sins" listed by the Vatican on Monday are not an addition to the original "seven deadly sins" although these should be confessed in the same way as lying, killing and stealing.

Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, who heads the public affairs committee of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said social sins should also be considered personal ones that need to be professed.

"Ang mga gawain na socially destructive. ay dapat na i-kumpisal din dahil ang turing dito ay parang personal na kasalanan din. Basta kasalanan, kailangang pagsisihan at yung malalaking kasalanan ay dapat ikumpisal. Yun ang batas ng Simbahan," Iñiguez said.

The Vatican on Monday revised the Church's doctrinal provisions founded on Pope Gregory the Great's list of "seven deadly sins" - envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and sloth and pride.

In an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the No. 2 man in the Vatican's Apostolic Penitentiary Office, was quoted as saying destructive research on human embryos, degradation of the environment and drug trafficking are among the "new forms of social sins."

In recent months, Pope Benedict appealed for the protection of the environment, saying issues such as climate change had become gravely important for the human race.

The Vatican also opposes stem cell research that involves the destruction of embryos and had warned against the prospect of human cloning.

Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena said what is important is the real agenda of the Catholic Church.

"Siguro ang importante diyan na nai-paalam ng Vatican na yung mga kasalanan ay hindi lang yung pag nagnakaw ka, kundi yung you cut trees without concern for the environment. Kasalanan din yun at ikumpisal mo din," Villena said.

Iñiguez said they have yet to receive a document from the Vatican on the social sins.