First let me begin by saying, I love the Catholic Church. In large part, it made me the person I am today. But as a self-identified mystic Christian-without-a-church, who admittedly entertains many heretical beliefs and practices, I think the church has gone very, very astray from the teachings and Spirit of Christ over the centuries, but especially in the past few decades.
According to 95-year old Jesuit theologian, Fr. Roberto Busa, "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."
His thoughts were expanded upon by Msgr. Wojciech Giertych, theologian to the papal household (every household should have its own theologian, don't you think?), who said the most difficult sin for men to face was lust, followed by gluttony, sloth, anger, pride, envy and greed, and that, for women, the most dangerous sins were pride, envy, anger, lust, and sloth.
Well, first, I have to question the control groups being used in this experiment, who include only Italian Catholics who are prone to going to confession. It's noteworthy that Italy suffers some of the worst Catholic church attendance in Europe. Their masses are sparse and rote, despite the rich beauty of their buildings.
Dig deeper, and you will find that there's a difference between what's easy to confess and what's hard to confess. In a macho culture like Italy, you would get off easy confessing lust. It's expected, and perhaps even a point of national identity. The fact that the Catholic church is unnecessarily fixated on sexual behavior (which culturally gets laid on men's laps), makes this a no-brainer. On the other hand, it takes bone-shaking insight -- often great pain -- to realize when you've been prideful, because once you have, you've probably already really hurt someone.
In other words, it's easy to tell a stranger, "I looked at my buddy's girlfriend lustfully (lust), I ate too much pizza last night (gluttony), and I should have visited my mother instead of playing with my Wii (sloth, or something else masquerading as sloth)." But you have a lot more soul-searching to confess, "I won't call my brother because of something he said five years ago that pissed me off (pride/anger), I drank too much last night because I hate my job and feel trapped (anger), when I see my brother's wife and apartment I feel inadequate (envy), and I took credit for my co-worker's idea so that I would get the raise (greed).
I'd like to have a discussion with these theologians about the nature of sin at some point.
Women are every bit as lusty as men. If you don't know this first-hand, trust me on this. They are. They just don't talk about it. Especially to priests in confession. For starters, they don't feel so guilty about it. However, because women (generally) instinctively place a higher value on relationship, they know what pride can do. So of course they will confess pride before lust. In the confessional, these women know not to sweat the small stuff.
According to Pope Benedict, "We are losing the notion of sin." He said, "If people do not confess regularly, they risk slowing their spiritual rhythm."
Sorry, Benny. People are confessing, but not to you, and not to the priests. (I speak in general terms here.) They are confessing to their therapists, their spiritual directors, their friends, their online buddies, wherever they find it safe, and the ears compassionate.
To be a worthy confessor, you need to create a safe space, a non-judgemental space, that doesn't threaten with hell.
That is all. Here's the article, from BBC:
Two sexes 'sin in different ways'
 Italian confession boxes have been used less in recent years |
Women are prouder than men, but men are more lustful, according to a Vatican report which states that the two sexes sin differently.
A Catholic survey found that the most common sin for women was pride, while for men, the urge for food was only surpassed by the urge for sex.
The report was based on a study of confessions carried out by Fr Roberto Busa, a 95-year-old Jesuit scholar.
The Pope's personal theologian backed up the report in the Vatican newspaper.
"Men and women sin in different ways," Msgr Wojciech Giertych, theologian to the papal household, wrote in L'Osservatore Romano.
"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."
Msgr Giertych said the most difficult sin for men to face was lust, followed by gluttony, sloth, anger, pride, envy and greed.
For women, the most dangerous sins were pride, envy, anger, lust, and sloth, he added.
Secretive department
Catholics are supposed to confess their sins to a priest at least once a year. The priest absolves them in God's name.
 | HIS AND HERS - THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS  Men 1. Lust 2. Gluttony 3. Sloth 4. Anger 5. Pride 6. Envy 7. Greed Women 1. Pride 2. Envy 3. Anger 4. Lust 5. Gluttony 6. Avarice 7. Sloth |
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into Hell".
Traditionally, the seven deadly sins were considered: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth.
The Apostolic Penitentiary, one of the Vatican's most secretive departments, which fixes the punishments and indulgences handed down to sinners, last year updated its list of deadly sins to include more modern ones.
The revised list included seven modern sins it said were becoming prevalent during an era of "unstoppable globalisation".
These included: genetic modification, experiments on the person, environmental pollution, taking or selling illegal drugs, social injustice, causing poverty and financial greed.
The report came amid Vatican concerns about the declining rate of confessions.
A recent survey of Catholics found nearly a third no longer considered confession necessary, while one in 10 considered the process an obstacle to their dialogue with God.
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."
2 comments:
Oh, the Vatican. Poor souls.
BTW I am totally male according to that chart! LOL
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