"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...
The BBC's headline concludes Women are prouder than men, but men are more lustful, according to a Vatican report which states that the two sexes sin differently. Well, maybe. All the usual problems about surveys which rely on self-reporting arise here. But the confessional presents interesting further twists, too. In a society where women are supposed to be humble and self-effacing and men proud, wouldn't more women than men confess to pride even if (as if one could measure it) there were equal amounts in each sex? And if sexuality is considered part of healthy masculinity, wouldn't you expect more men to confess to lust? The BBC reporter not only failed to raise these sorts of questions, but mentioned that pride is traditionally considered the worst of the vices without putting two and two together.
