Episode 225: Paul Murano on What on Earth is Mortal Sin and Where the Hell Does it Lead You? (November 19, 2025)

In this episode of The Catholic Bookworm, Kiki Latimer interviews Paul Murano on his book What on Earth is Mortal Sin and Where the Hell Does it Lead You?: A look at sins that kill the soul.

Despite its title, this is a serious book. That’s because the road to eternity begins now. Although Scripture assures us that God wants all people to have fullness of joy in this life and forever in the next, each individual must choose his or her own eternal destiny. The aim of this book is to make clear the path to Heaven by serving as a ‘warning manual’ on how to avoid Hell.

Catholics have been taught that mortal sin kills the soul and leads to Hell, but have rarely been informed of which acts the Church considers objectively mortal sin. This leaves ambiguous the path that enables you to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12), as St. Paul exhorts.

As a remedy for this confusion, a list of acts that are gravely immoral is included to discern moral boundaries necessary for living the good life. It is extracted from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. With this, the basics of moral theology are provided to give context to Church teaching on the objective value of acts and subjective culpability of persons.

Since there is nothing more important than the salvation of our souls. It's imperative that we view life from an eternal perspective. As the Universal Prayer attributed to Pope Clement XI states succinctly and profoundly: Life on earth is short and the life to come, eternal.

https://www.amazon.com/What-Earth-Mortal-Where-Hell/dp/B0FFN8VLPD/