The Straits Times
Feb 20, 2009
Lustful men, proud women
Vatican report lists their different vices
VATICAN CITY: Lust leads men to sin. For women, pride is their biggest downfall.
This, according to a new Vatican report, is how the sexes struggle differently with the seven deadly sins of pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth.
The report was based on a study of confessions carried out by a 96-year-old Jesuit scholar, British media reported.
Pope Benedict XVI's personal theologian has backed the report. Monsignor Wojciech Giertych said there was 'no sexual equality' when it came to sin.
'Men and women sin in different ways,' he wrote in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.
Pride ranks only at No. 5 for men, who are likely to have indulged in so much lust and gluttony that they are too slothful to feel angry, proud, envious or avaricious, the Times of London said.
Women are not averse to lust, but are primarily occupied with pride, envy and anger. Sloth does not set in until after gluttony and avarice, the British newspaper added.
'When you look at vices from the point of view of the difficulties they create, you find that men experiment in a different way from women,' Monsignor Giertych said.
His own observations had confirmed the survey, an analysis of confessional data carried out by Father Roberto Busa, 96, a Jesuit priest celebrated for his computerised study of the works of St Thomas Aquinas.
He said: 'Diverse cultural contexts generate diverse habits - but human nature remains the same.'
Monsignor Giertych said that human weaknesses could 'purify faith' provided that they were 'admitted and offered up to God'.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the seven deadly sins, which carry the threat of eternal damnation, can only be forgiven by confession and penance, the Daily Mail said.
However, 30 per cent of Catholics no longer considered confession to a priest necessary, and 10 per cent even said that it 'impeded their personal dialogue with God', the Times report said.
Many believers accept the broad seven deadly sins or 'capital vices' laid down in the 6th century by Pope Gregory the Great and popularised in the Middle Ages by Aquinas, and by Dante in The Inferno. These are:
# Lust: Excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature.
# Gluttony: Over-consumption of or overly indulging in anything to the point of waste.
# Sloth: The failure to utilise one's talents and gifts.
# Anger: Inordinate and uncontrolled feelings that can manifest as vehement denial of the truth or self-denial, or generally wishing to do evil or harm to others.
# Pride: The desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to compliment others and excessive love of self.
# Envy: Resentment of another person for having something one lacks, and wishing the other person to be deprived of it.
# Greed: Excessive acquisition of material goods.
Last year, the Vatican added seven new ones: genetic modification; human experimentation; polluting the environment; social injustice; causing poverty; 'financial gluttony'; and taking or selling drugs.
Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican body that oversees confessions, said that two mortal sins which continued to preoccupy the Vatican were abortion and paedophilia.
The latter had even infected the clergy itself, and so had exposed the 'human and institutional fragility of the Church'.
Pope Benedict, who reportedly confesses his sins once a week, last year issued his own voice of disquiet on the subject.
'We are losing the notion of sin,' he said. 'If people do not confess regularly, they risk slowing their spiritual rhythm.'
Feb 20, 2009
Lustful men, proud women
Vatican report lists their different vices
VATICAN CITY: Lust leads men to sin. For women, pride is their biggest downfall.
This, according to a new Vatican report, is how the sexes struggle differently with the seven deadly sins of pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth.
The report was based on a study of confessions carried out by a 96-year-old Jesuit scholar, British media reported.
Pope Benedict XVI's personal theologian has backed the report. Monsignor Wojciech Giertych said there was 'no sexual equality' when it came to sin.
'Men and women sin in different ways,' he wrote in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.
Pride ranks only at No. 5 for men, who are likely to have indulged in so much lust and gluttony that they are too slothful to feel angry, proud, envious or avaricious, the Times of London said.
Women are not averse to lust, but are primarily occupied with pride, envy and anger. Sloth does not set in until after gluttony and avarice, the British newspaper added.
'When you look at vices from the point of view of the difficulties they create, you find that men experiment in a different way from women,' Monsignor Giertych said.
His own observations had confirmed the survey, an analysis of confessional data carried out by Father Roberto Busa, 96, a Jesuit priest celebrated for his computerised study of the works of St Thomas Aquinas.
He said: 'Diverse cultural contexts generate diverse habits - but human nature remains the same.'
Monsignor Giertych said that human weaknesses could 'purify faith' provided that they were 'admitted and offered up to God'.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the seven deadly sins, which carry the threat of eternal damnation, can only be forgiven by confession and penance, the Daily Mail said.
However, 30 per cent of Catholics no longer considered confession to a priest necessary, and 10 per cent even said that it 'impeded their personal dialogue with God', the Times report said.
Many believers accept the broad seven deadly sins or 'capital vices' laid down in the 6th century by Pope Gregory the Great and popularised in the Middle Ages by Aquinas, and by Dante in The Inferno. These are:
# Lust: Excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature.
# Gluttony: Over-consumption of or overly indulging in anything to the point of waste.
# Sloth: The failure to utilise one's talents and gifts.
# Anger: Inordinate and uncontrolled feelings that can manifest as vehement denial of the truth or self-denial, or generally wishing to do evil or harm to others.
# Pride: The desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to compliment others and excessive love of self.
# Envy: Resentment of another person for having something one lacks, and wishing the other person to be deprived of it.
# Greed: Excessive acquisition of material goods.
Last year, the Vatican added seven new ones: genetic modification; human experimentation; polluting the environment; social injustice; causing poverty; 'financial gluttony'; and taking or selling drugs.
Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican body that oversees confessions, said that two mortal sins which continued to preoccupy the Vatican were abortion and paedophilia.
The latter had even infected the clergy itself, and so had exposed the 'human and institutional fragility of the Church'.
Pope Benedict, who reportedly confesses his sins once a week, last year issued his own voice of disquiet on the subject.
'We are losing the notion of sin,' he said. 'If people do not confess regularly, they risk slowing their spiritual rhythm.'
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