VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church must take sin seriously, but it must do so like Jesus did, by emphasizing God’s mercy and trust in the sinner’s ability to change, said the preacher of the papal household. In criticizing the Pharisees, “Jesus does not deny that sin and sinners exist,” said Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, offering a Lenten reflection March 30 to Pope Benedict XVI and top Vatican officials. But Jesus “was more severe” toward those who “condemned the sinners than toward the sinners themselves,” the preacher said.