Question Is a mad person held accountable for his sins?
Between the Magazine and the Readers
*(From the questions answered in the Friday meeting at the Cathedral and sent to the magazine).*¹
Question
Is a mad person held accountable for his sins?
Answer
The sins that he commits during his madness are not held against him if his madness is complete, because there is no responsibility upon a person who is not rational. According to the degree of a person’s intellect and awareness, God holds him accountable. However, madness is held accountable before God for the sins that were committed before the madness, when he was aware of what he was doing. Madness has degrees and types. There is a person who is mad in a certain point and is rational in everything else. There is also intermittent madness, such that a person recovers from it and returns to himself. Therefore, he is not held accountable for the periods of madness.
¹ A question to His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine, fifth year – issue nine, 30-11-1974.
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