Q : 
Are we all affected by our ancestors’ sins if they have not paid off yet?
【 Question from 】 Hong Kong 香港

Fr. Francis : 

No, not in the sense that we can inherit their sins. Although in Moses’ time, God did say that He would visit upon the children to the fourth generation for our sins, by the time of the prophets, especially Ezekiel, God has made it very clear that sons are not responsible for the sins of their parents.

However, sins have a way to affect others, especially within the family, through conditioning and accepted values. In that sense, we are all inheriting the goods and the brokenness of the culture we live in, national culture as well as familial culture.