“Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come”(Matthew 12:31-32). This curious proclamation, which can also be found in Mark 3:29 and Luke 12:10, is one of the most disturbing references in the Holy Bible. Why should a particular category of sins remain unforgivable? Is it not said that we are all miserable sinners always seeking to be forgiven and readmitted into the divine fold? Of the Three Persons in one God, why is the sin against the Third Person considered more grievous than those against the first two?

It would be recalled that the Holy Spirit descended to earth on Pentecost Day to inspire the Apostles to launch the Church, forty days after the Ascension of Christ, and he has remained permanently with us since then. For this reason, the Holy Spirit is arguably the most accessible Person of the Holy Trinity, available to us every moment, although God is assuredly everywhere, and Jesus is always there for us, especially through the intercession of Mother Mary, and in the Eucharist. Even the Holy Spirit is fully present at our Eucharistic celebrations, silently converting the bread and the wine into the true body and blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit is ever so close to us as the very air that sustains us, sanctifying everywhere, but how many of us actually take advantage of his real presence in our midst? As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt.

Any act or utterance of disrespect to God or a sacred object is blasphemy. Thus, the atheist’s disbelief in God’s existence amounts to blasphemy. But apostasy is a more heinous sin than atheism. Unlike the atheist who never once believed in God (and possibly never heard of Him), the apostate is the one who makes a U-turn from a previous position of belief and acceptance. This is why the person born into the Catholic Faith and later deviates from the true Church of Christ at adulthood, may be incurring a greater risk of damnation than one who never had a taste of Catholicism. The apostate is a greater sinner than the unbeliever still awaiting conversion which may or may never come. 

Why blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is unpardonable is because it amounts to a rejection of the Holy Trinity of which the Holy Ghost is very much a part.  And a rejection of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity implies a rejection of the very foundation of divine faith.

Why is this sin unforgivable? After all, every sinner is subject to penance, confession, and absolution. Forgiveness belongs to the Holy Trinity, and it is only those who believe in the trio that can benefit from their divine grace. One who has no belief in the Holy Ghost cannot seriously claim to believe in the other two Persons of the Holy Trinity.

Indeed, there are religious sects who worship Jesus alone or believe in direct contact with God alone without any intermediary. Such groups totally reject Mary’s role as intercessor because she has presumably completed her God-given task of bearing Christ, and is no longer in the divine picture. Catholics should continue to promote our Holy Mother’s role the same way our earthly mothers continue to be psychologically our part, even after the physical separation at birth.

Faith in the Holy Trinity is a holistic and irreducible concept to be embraced fully and not as a partial doctrine. He or she who does not believe fully in that doctrine cannot expect to receive any spiritual attention from the Trinity who alone wield the absolute power to forgive sin. This is why we do not normally ask Mary and the saints to save us or forgive us our sins in our litanies because they do not have the authority so to do. Rather, we ask them to pray for us to God in the Holy Trinity (since they enjoy God’s listening ear), and intervene on our behalf to gain pardon and reunion.

Also, the priest in the confessional derives the vicarious power to forgive the confessor’s sins from the God-given authority transferred to him at ordination by which he is able to grant the confessor absolution for sins properly confessed. The power to forgive sins belongs solely to God in the Holy Trinity, and to no earthly being or heavenly saints. Jesus Christ revealed this authority when, to the astonishment of the crowd, he asks the paralytic to stand up and walk in physical demonstration of the spiritual and invisible act of forgiveness (Mark 2:4-12).  Unlike social or political offences committed against human institutions, sin is a direct violation of God’s commandment for which only He has the power of forgiveness and absolution. But a true believer is most unlikely to sin against the Holy Spirit, because he or she is well disposed to show true penance and ask for forgiveness from the Holy Trinity each time he or she falters. Therefore, the unforgivable sin may only be committed by the unbeliever who is incapable of asking for pardon and thus not entitled to forgiveness. So, the true Christian has no fear of being denied forgiveness whenever he or she seeks reconciliation in the right frame of mind.

Anchoring its submission on references to Mark 3:29, Matthew 12:32, and Luke 12:10, the Catechism of the Catholic Church clarifies that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” The Catechism further recalls the view of Pope John Paul II that “there are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit.” Such hardness of heart, concludes the Catechism, can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss (p.450).  This further confirms that the unforgivable sin is not a mere sin of omission, but a sin committed in full knowledge of one’s actions and the readiness to face the inevitable consequences.

Post-confession reparation is an integral aspect of the sacrament of reconciliation. Unfortunately, not all sins are capable of experiencing restitution. The murderer, for instance, is incapable of restoring the life he or she has destroyed. However, where this fatal act was performed unwittingly or out of regrettably uncontrollable temper, such a grave sin may still receive forgiveness after due process of penance and absolution. But the callous and calculated cold-blooded murderer, or one involved in mass murder or genocide, may not look forward to forgiveness for such a highly reprehensible transgression, which can be categorised as an unforgivable sin.