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According to the teachings outlined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, two distinct consequences follow when a person sins.

A mortal sin ( one that is grave and is committed knowingly and freely ) is equivalent to refusing friendship of God and communion with the only source of eternal life.

The loss of eternal life with God and the eternal death of Hell that this rejection entails is called the " eternal punishment " of sin.

In addition, every sin, even those that, not being mortal, are called venial sins, cause a turning from God through what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called purgatory.

The resulting need to break this attachment to creatures is another punishment for sin, referred to as " temporal punishment ", because, not being a total rejection of God, it is not eternal and can be overcome in time.

Even when the sin is forgiven, the associated attachment to creatures may remain.

The sinner must " strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the ' old man ' and to put on the ' new man '.