(Latin: perjurium, a false or broken oath)
The crime of taking a false oath. An oath. since it consists in calling upon the all-knowing and all-truthful God to witness the truth of a statement or the sincerity of a purpose, is an act of the virtue of religion. A false oath, then, in addition to the evil of a lie contains the evil of a sin against the virtue of religion and of itself, apart from cases of ignorance or lack of deliberation, is always a grievous sin.