The seven deadly sins: what the Church teaches

The seven deadly sins are pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth. The Catholic Church calls them the capital sins, because each one is a source that other sins grow from (CCC 1866). They describe the habits underneath the things you confess, and each one has a virtue that heals it.

What are the seven deadly sins?

Here is each one in plain words, with an example of how it tends to show up in ordinary life.

• Pride. Loving your own excellence more than you should, and putting yourself where God belongs. It looks like never admitting you were wrong, needing to be noticed, or quietly looking down on people.
• Greed (avarice). A disordered love of money and possessions, and of the power they bring (CCC 2536). It looks like always needing more, cutting corners for gain, or being tight-fisted with people in need.
• Envy. Sadness at someone else's good, and wanting it for yourself, even unjustly (CCC 2539). It looks like a sour feeling when a friend succeeds, or a small pleasure when they fail.
• Wrath (anger). The Catechism describes sinful anger as a desire for revenge (CCC 2302). It looks like holding grudges, cutting words, or replaying an argument so you can win it next time.
• Lust. A disordered desire for, or enjoyment of, sexual pleasure sought for its own sake, cut off from love and life (CCC 2351). It looks like treating people as objects, in your mind or on a screen.
• Gluttony. Excess in food and drink, the opposite of temperance (CCC 2290). It looks like eating or drinking to numb yourself rather than to live well.
• Sloth (acedia). More than laziness about chores. Spiritual sloth is a sadness or indifference toward God and the good things he offers, which can go as far as being repelled by his goodness (CCC 2094). It looks like letting prayer slide, putting off Confession for months, or not caring much either way.

Why does the Church call them capital sins?

"Capital" comes from the Latin caput, head. The Catechism says they are called capital "because they engender other sins, other vices" (CCC 1866). They sit at the head of a family of sins.

That's why they're useful. Envy rarely stays a feeling. It grows into gossip, running someone down, and quiet joy when things go badly for them. Pride grows into boasting, contempt and refusing correction. Greed grows into fraud, lying and a hard heart toward the poor. When you see the root, the scattered sins on your list start to make sense.

The list comes from the early monks. St. John Cassian, writing in the fifth century, described eight principal vices he had learned from the monks of the desert. Pope St. Gregory the Great, in the late sixth century, set out seven, with pride as the root of them all. The Catechism names both men when it gives the list (CCC 1866).

Are the seven deadly sins mortal sins?

Not every act of them. "Deadly" describes how dangerous these habits are, because any of them can lead to grave sin. It doesn't mean every flash of envy or every second helping is a mortal sin.

Each act is judged the usual way. A sin is mortal only when it involves grave matter and is committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent (CCC 1857). We explain those three conditions in what is a mortal sin.

The Catechism gives two clear examples. Anger becomes a mortal sin when it reaches a deliberate desire to kill or seriously wound someone (CCC 2302). Envy becomes a mortal sin when it wishes grave harm to a neighbor (CCC 2539). A moment of irritation in traffic or a pang of jealousy at a friend's new house is a different thing. Those are usually venial, or not sins at all if you didn't choose them.

That last point matters. Feelings themselves are neither good nor evil (CCC 1767). A surge of anger, a flicker of envy or a tempting thought is not yet a sin. Sin begins when you freely consent to it, by deliberately dwelling on it or by acting on it. For more on how the two kinds of sin differ, see mortal vs venial sin.

Which virtue overcomes each deadly sin?

Catholic tradition pairs each capital sin with an opposite virtue. You don't beat a vice only by resisting it. You crowd it out by practicing its opposite, in small and concrete ways.

1. Pride and humility. Admit a mistake out loud this week. Ask someone for advice and take it.
2. Greed and generosity. Give something away that you'd rather keep, or give to the poor before you've worked out whether you can afford it.
3. Envy and charity. When someone you envy succeeds, congratulate them, and pray for them by name.
4. Wrath and meekness. Wait before you answer. Let someone else have the last word. Pray for the person you're angry with. More in overcoming anger.
5. Lust and chastity. Guard what you look at, and see the people around you as whole persons. We go further in how to overcome lust.
6. Gluttony and temperance. Keep a small fast on Fridays. Leave one thing on the plate. Notice when you're eating to escape something.
7. Sloth and diligence. Keep one small daily prayer, at the same time every day, even when you don't feel like it.

How do I find my own root sin?

Most people have one or two capital sins that drive much of what they confess. Spiritual writers have long called this your predominant fault. Finding it makes your effort far more focused.

Look at your last few Confessions, or the last few weeks. Take each sin and ask why you did it. Snapping at your kids might come from anger, but it might come from sloth: you were tired of the effort that patience takes. Scrolling late into the night might be sloth, or it might be lust, or simply escape. The same sin can have different roots in different people.

A good way to start is an examination of conscience on the seven capital sins, which goes through each one with questions. A short examination every evening helps even more, because patterns show up over days that you can't see in a single night.

How do I confess the capital sins?

Name the concrete acts, and mention the root if it helps. "I was envious" tells the priest very little. "I resented my sister's promotion and said unkind things about her to my mother, twice" tells him what happened and gives him something to work with.

You can add the pattern you've noticed: "I think pride is behind a lot of this." Priests welcome that. It helps them suggest a penance and advice that fits.

Mortal sins need to be confessed by kind and, as far as you can, by number. Venial sins don't have to be confessed, though the Church warmly recommends it (CCC 1458). Bringing your everyday faults to Confession is one of the best ways to work on a capital sin, because the sacrament gives you grace against the habit itself.

Where to start

You don't have to fight all seven at once. Pick the one that showed up most this month. Ask God for the opposite virtue by name: "Lord, give me humility," or "Lord, make me generous." Practice it once tomorrow in something small. Then bring what you find to your next Confession, and let God do the deeper work. He's more patient with your progress than you are.