Men and Women Sin Differently

March 3, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) - Women are prouder than men, and men are more lustful than women, according to a Vatican report which states that the two sexes sin differently.

BBC News reports that a Catholic survey found the most common sins for men are lust, followed by gluttony, sloth, anger, pride, envy and greed. Women are more guilty of pride, followed by envy, anger, lust, and sloth,

The report was based on a study of confessions carried out by Fr Roberto Busa, a 95-year-old Jesuit scholar, and the Pope’s personal theologian backed up the report in the Vatican newspaper, the BBC said.

“Men and women sin in different ways,” Msgr Wojciech Giertych, theologian to the papal household, wrote in L’Osservatore Romano, according to the BBC. “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.”

Catholics are supposed to confess their sins to a priest, who absolves them in God’s name, at least once a year. However, 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, according to the news report. The BBC said Pope Benedict, who reportedly confesses his sins once a week, last year issued his own voice of disquiet on the subject saying, “We are losing the notion of sin. If people do not confess regularly, they risk slowing their spiritual rhythm.”

Traditionally, the seven deadly sins, per the Bible, are pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth.

According to BBC News, 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 the Penitentiary said were becoming prevalent during an era of "unstoppable globalization," including genetic modification, experiments on the person, environmental pollution, taking or selling illegal drugs, social injustice, causing poverty, and financial greed.

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