Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 288 Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 288 - Part II. Is man responsible for everything he does?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Man is responsible for everything he does consciously and voluntarily.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1745) Freedom characterizes properly human acts. It makes the human being responsible for acts of which he is the voluntary agent. His deliberate acts properly belong to him. (CCC 1746) The imputability or responsibility for an action can be diminished or nullified by ignorance, duress, fear, and other psychological or social factors.     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) No one can be held (fully) responsible for something he did under coercion, out of fear, ignorance, under the influence of drugs or the power of bad habits. The more a person knows about the good and practices the good, the more he moves away from the slavery of sin (Rom 6:17; 1 Cor 7:22). God desires that such free persons should (be able to) take responsibility for themselves, for their environment, and for the whole earth. But all of God’s merciful love is also for those who are not free; every day he offers them an opportunity to allow themselves to be set free for freedom.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1737) An effect can be tolerated without being willed by its agent; for instance, a mother's exhaustion from tending her sick child. A bad effect is not imputable if it was not willed either as an end or as a means of an action, e.g., a death a person incurs in aiding someone in danger. For a bad effect to be imputable it must be foreseeable and the agent must have the possibility of avoiding it, as in the case of manslaughter caused by a drunken driver.   

(The next question is: Must we allow a person to use his free will, even when he decides in favor of evil?)