Eastern Catholic theology approaches the consequences of Adam's fall through the concept of 'ancestral sin' (Greek: propatorike hamartia) rather than the Western Augustinian concept of original sin as inherited guilt. Following the Greek Fathers—particularly St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, and St. John of Damascus—Eastern theology teaches that humanity inherits from Adam the consequences of his sin: mortality, corruption, and a weakened will prone to sin, but not the personal guilt of Adam's transgression.

This represents a genuine and officially recognized theological difference in emphasis from the Western Latin tradition, though Eastern Catholics accept the Catholic Church's teaching that humanity is in a fallen state requiring redemption. The Catechism of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Christ Our Pascha) presents this within full Catholic communion, emphasizing that Christ restores what was lost in Adam. The Immaculate Conception, defined by Rome, is accepted; Eastern theology expresses the same reality by stating that Mary was preserved from the effects of ancestral sin.