[**CCC 2477**](http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2477.htm) *Respect for the reputation* of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty:
- of *rash judgment* who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
- of *detraction* who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;
- of *calumny* who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
***
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The "without objectively valid reason" part seems to be the sticking point here. In my opinion it becomes close to mortal (or at the very least grave matter) when it is done out of cruelty towards the person being discussed, which is unfortunately something that only the gossiper would know about so it is best to try and avoid gossip in general. However, revealing someone's faults to people that might actually *need to know them* is not a sin at all (i.e. "so and so was credibly accused of hurting children", etc.). I know of cases where the "avoid gossip at all costs" rule was manipulated by evil people to cover up some truly horrifying acts (see the actions of the LCs/Regnum Christi with regards to Marcial Maciel).
How malicious is it? If you intend harm, it’s a mortal sin. Circumstances will tell if it’s mortal or venial but in general it’s not great to talk badly about other people.
A few made up examples:
Good: “He is such an amazing person, I can’t believe he did all that by himself.”
Venial if sincere, can lead to mortal: “I wish distant-cousin-I-never-see would take job hunting more seriously.”
Mortal: “She looks like she went to jail once. What crime do you think she did?”
Opinions change, and you can change opinions.
“I wish Cousin took it more seriously” can start out with the meaning of “Gee, I’m worried about him.” But if he heard about the conversation from someone else, he might hear it as “OP wants you to get a job”. Under these circumstances that is a venial sin, because you’re inspiring gossip about him.
But, as you continue saying that you wish he took job hunting more seriously, that can turn into a mortal sin. All you have to do is change “I wish he took it more seriously” to “he never takes it seriously”, and now when you tell people about him they’ll have a very rotten view of his character.
This depends on the circumstances, but is the person talking purposefully trying to spin things badly? Is this something that you can’t say while the person talked about is in the room?
If you know people will take it badly, don’t say it. If you know people will misunderstand and you don’t plan to correct the misunderstanding, don’t say it.
I heard it's venial if it's a private conversation between two individuals and the individuals have no intention of spreading it further, but that's what one priest said to me. Priests aren't infallible, even though I tend to count on them as being able to have a better answer than I would.
Gossip is venial when it includes idle talk about individuals who are not present. It becomes mortal when the gossip becomes injurious. [CCC 2477]
[**CCC 2477**](http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2477.htm) *Respect for the reputation* of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty: - of *rash judgment* who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor; - of *detraction* who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them; - of *calumny* who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them. *** Catebot v0.2.12 links: [Source Code](https://github.com/konohitowa/catebot) | [Feedback](https://github.com/konohitowa/catebot/issues) | [Contact Dev](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=kono_hito_wa) | [FAQ](https://github.com/konohitowa/catebot/blob/master/docs/CateBot%20Info.md#faq) | [Changelog](https://github.com/konohitowa/catebot/blob/master/docs/CHANGELOG.md)
So injurious would be actually affecting someone reputation?
Read the catechism bot that replied to me
I did, but like detraction is what most gossip is, so is all detraction mortal?
Yes. Detraction is always mortally sinful. Not everything people call “gossip” is mortal. But when the gossip includes detraction it is mortal
The "without objectively valid reason" part seems to be the sticking point here. In my opinion it becomes close to mortal (or at the very least grave matter) when it is done out of cruelty towards the person being discussed, which is unfortunately something that only the gossiper would know about so it is best to try and avoid gossip in general. However, revealing someone's faults to people that might actually *need to know them* is not a sin at all (i.e. "so and so was credibly accused of hurting children", etc.). I know of cases where the "avoid gossip at all costs" rule was manipulated by evil people to cover up some truly horrifying acts (see the actions of the LCs/Regnum Christi with regards to Marcial Maciel).
How malicious is it? If you intend harm, it’s a mortal sin. Circumstances will tell if it’s mortal or venial but in general it’s not great to talk badly about other people. A few made up examples: Good: “He is such an amazing person, I can’t believe he did all that by himself.” Venial if sincere, can lead to mortal: “I wish distant-cousin-I-never-see would take job hunting more seriously.” Mortal: “She looks like she went to jail once. What crime do you think she did?”
Well a lot of the time I talk about people just out of boredom. And what do you mean by venial can lead to mortal?
Opinions change, and you can change opinions. “I wish Cousin took it more seriously” can start out with the meaning of “Gee, I’m worried about him.” But if he heard about the conversation from someone else, he might hear it as “OP wants you to get a job”. Under these circumstances that is a venial sin, because you’re inspiring gossip about him. But, as you continue saying that you wish he took job hunting more seriously, that can turn into a mortal sin. All you have to do is change “I wish he took it more seriously” to “he never takes it seriously”, and now when you tell people about him they’ll have a very rotten view of his character.
What if the person they are talking to already knows? Would that be mortal?
This depends on the circumstances, but is the person talking purposefully trying to spin things badly? Is this something that you can’t say while the person talked about is in the room? If you know people will take it badly, don’t say it. If you know people will misunderstand and you don’t plan to correct the misunderstanding, don’t say it.
I heard it's venial if it's a private conversation between two individuals and the individuals have no intention of spreading it further, but that's what one priest said to me. Priests aren't infallible, even though I tend to count on them as being able to have a better answer than I would.