What are the seven deadly sins?

The seven deadly sins are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth. They are also called capital sins because they can become sources of many other sins (CCC 1866).

What each one means. These sins describe disordered tendencies that can take many forms:

1. Pride exalts oneself above God or other people. It resists dependence, correction, and gratitude.
2. Avarice, or greed, is an excessive desire to possess or keep wealth and material goods.
3. Envy feels sorrow at another person's good or desires to deprive that person of it (CCC 2539).
4. Wrath is disordered anger that seeks revenge or harm. Anger at injustice can be righteous, but hatred and vengeance are sinful (CCC 2302-2303).
5. Lust is disordered desire for sexual pleasure apart from its proper place within marriage (CCC 2351).
6. Gluttony is excessive attachment to food, drink, or consumption.
7. Sloth is spiritual laziness or sorrow about the good God asks of us. It can appear as neglect of prayer, duty, charity, or repentance (CCC 2094).

Why they are called deadly. The traditional word "deadly" does not mean that every feeling or action connected with these tendencies is automatically a mortal sin. Mortal sin requires grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent (CCC 1857-1859). A passing envious thought that is rejected differs greatly from a deliberate plan to destroy someone's reputation out of envy.

These sins are called capital because they act like roots. Pride can produce contempt and disobedience. Avarice can lead to fraud. Lust can lead to adultery or exploitation. Wrath can lead to cruelty. When freely cultivated, such habits weaken freedom and make further sin easier.

How to fight them. Christian tradition opposes these vices with virtues and concrete practices. Fight pride with humility and gratitude, greed with generosity, envy with rejoicing in another's good, wrath with patience and forgiveness, lust with chastity, gluttony with temperance and fasting, and sloth with diligence and faithful prayer.

Begin with one honest examination of conscience. Identify the recurring root beneath your actions. Bring serious sins to confession, choose a specific opposing virtue, and practice it in small acts. Grace heals and strengthens us, but it also calls for real cooperation (Phil 2:12-13).