Gradualism has also been used in a religious sense, especially in the Catholic Church (specifically, in ethics and moral theology), to describe the view that certain individuals and families that make up a parish or community may be living at various points along a line extending from being in a state of mortal sin, to being at least minimally in the "state of grace" and able to receive the Eucharist, and to a level of greater holiness.
O gradualismo tamén se usou nun sentido relixioso, especialmente no catolicismo (concretamente en ética e teoloxía moral), para describir que certos individuos e familias que forman unha parroquia ou comunidade poden estar vivindo nalgún punto ao longo dunha liña que vai desde estar en serio pecado, a estar polo menos minimamente en "estado de graza" e poder recibir a eucaristía, e a estar nun nivel de gran santidade.