Sermon about Detraction

Introduction

Probably you know that since a few weeks, in the USA, the website Church Militant is conducting a media campaign against the Society of Saint Pius X. In response to it, my confreres in the US have published a Statement on April 28th, which is available on internet. There is nothing to add to what is said in that statement. But these circumstances prompted me to speak today about the sin of detraction. That sin is common among the medias, but also unfortunately among good people and it does a lot of spiritual harm.

I will speak first about reputation and then about the sin of detraction.

1.      Reputation

Among all the goods which we have, there are material goods like our physical health, money, land, car, house, clothes…; there are also spiritual goods which are our talents, skills, honor, reputation… What is reputation? It is the appreciation which people have of somebody’s life and morals. Reputation is really a good, an asset which we acquire for ourselves by our honesty, our faithfulness to fulfil our duties, by keeping good morals and practicing good works. And this asset is very valuable, very important: if we lose our reputation, that is to say the good appreciation of others, then we suffer a lot of inconveniences: our social life becomes difficult, we cannot do business easily, we may lose our job or not to get one… The Book of Proverbs in the Bible says: “A good name is better than great riches” (Pr 22; 1). Better to be poor with a good reputation than to be rich with a bad one.

Because of the importance of reputation, everybody is bound to take care of his own. As everybody has to take care well of the material goods God has entrusted to him so that he may use them for his own good and for the relief of the needy, so everybody has to take care of his own reputation. The Holy Ghost Himself in the Bible says: “Take care of a good name: for this shall continue with you, more than a thousand treasures precious and great. A good life has its number of days: but a good name shall continue for ever” (Eccli 41; 15). So, as we are not morally allowed to waste our material goods, so we are not allowed to put at risk our reputation without serious reasons. Even we must forbid the tarnishing of our reputation as much as possible, especially if it would have consequences on our neighbour. For example, a priest whose reputation is attacked by detraction must not keep quiet and let it go, because his parishioners may lose their trust in him and all his ministry would be affected. Question: may we tarnish our own reputation? Yes, if we expect some good effects greater than the bad ones: for example, when St Augustine wrote his Confessions, on one side he tarnished his own reputation by revealing to the public his sins, but on the other side through his Confessions, he gave honor to God, edified the good people and encouraged the sinners to amend their life. The good effects were much greater than the bad ones.

So, reputation is a valuable personal property. Let us see now what detraction is. Before, take note that all what we say on this issue of reputation and detraction is valid also for the dead. It is not because we die that we lose our right to our good reputation.

2.      Detraction

Detraction is the unjust denigration of somebody’s reputation. The word “denigration” is from the latin word “niger” which mean “black”: denigration is “to blacken”. If the good reputation of somebody is like a brightness making him shine in the eyes of others, detraction tends to darken, to tarnish this brightness unjustly, that is to say without a good reason. There are many ways of detracting somebody: by accusing him falsely a some faults or defects, by exaggerating a real fault he committed or defects which he has, by revealing it when it is hidden, by interpreting wrongly some action which he did or by diminishing his merits. We diminish the merits of somebody when we deny his good works; or when we lower the value of his good actions; when we keep ostensibly silence while the others are praising him or when we praise him reluctantly.

Detraction is very common among people and many forget that considered as such, it is a mortal sin against justice and charity, because of the high value of reputation as explained earlier. The Roman catechism says that detraction is: “a detestable passion and habit ... a plague from which are born more numerous and more serious damages and evils than can be believed; ... a criminal action repeatedly condemned by Scripture”. St Augustine, in order to deter his guests from detracting, had put above his dining table these words: “Whoever likes to nibble the life of others by his talks, let him know that this table is forbidden to him”. This is a good idea to follow in our homes! St Bernard said: “The tongue of the detractor is more harmful than a viper’s one: in one bite, it kills the talker and the listener and the one detracted.” Saint Francoise Romaine, for indulging in a conversation where charity was not totally kept, received from her Guardian Angel, -from this beautiful Angel whose sight delighted her, whose gentleness consoled her in all her sorrows - a blow so strong, that she was in pain for several days. Imagine then what disgust our Angels must feel when they hear us lacerating cheerfully our neighbour’s reputation!

Detraction, considered as such, is a mortal sin. However, it turns to be a venial sin only if we commit it by lack of attention: for example somebody very talkative will easily can say some detraction against the others by inadvertence; or also by lack of knowledge: for example somebody having a wrong understanding of the virtue of obedience can consider Archbishop Lefebvre as having been disobedience to the Pope.

Detraction turns to be a venial sin also if the damage caused by the detraction is light. But how to appreciate the importance of the damage? We must consider several elements: firstly, the seriousness of what is said: revealing that somebody is a thief is more harmful to him than revealing he is a glutton. We must consider also the status of the detractor: the more he is considered as somebody serious and prudent, the more what he says will be impactful on the audience and harmful to the victim. We must consider also the dignity of victim: the higher dignity he has, the more harmful is the detraction against him because he needs more especially the good appreciation of the others in order to exercise properly his functions: for example, it is a serious detraction to accuse the Pope to be a liar, even if to lie is in itself usually a venial sin. We must consider also the number of people listening to the detraction: the more numerous they are, the more harmful the detraction is: it is quite obvious. And at last we must consider the motivation of the detractor: the less excuse or reason he has to do so, the more unfair he is to the victim. If in the light of this, you consider the media campaign of Church Militant against the SSPX, you can make an estimation of the gravity of their detraction: the accusations themselves are very serious, they introduce themselves as defenders of the Catholic Faith, they defame priests and bishops, they spread their detractions to thousands of people through internet, and their main motivation is not for justice to be done or for the protection of innocents or for helping the development of Catholic Tradition in the world, but simply to tarnish the SSPX out of hatred… God will judge them.

Good reasons for revealing the others’ faults

Now, comes up a question: are there good reasons for revealing the faults committed by others? Yes, it happens sometimes that not only it is not sinful to reveal the others’ faults, but we must do it. We must do it for the protection of the common good of a community: for example, if you discover a student spreading secretly pornographic materials in your school, you must report it to the Principal. We must do it also for the good of the wrongdoer: for example, if you see a boy frequenting bad companions, let his parents know so that they can correct him before it is too late. We may reveal sometimes the others’ faults for our own good: to defend ourselves against false accusations, or in order to get a piece of advice or some comfort. We must reveal sometimes the other’s faults for the protection of our neighbour: for example, to warn our neighbour against a thief.

But even if we have an serious reason to reveal the others’ fault, we must be careful not to reveal it to more people than strictly necessary, not to reveal more than what is necessary, and to keep always a right intention which is to look for the good of the others. Let us be careful not to give ourselves false “good reasons” to speak ill about the others! So easily, we speak ill of the others because we pretend to work for their amendment, because we “love” them and want them to be perfect… Well, let us never forget what Our Lord said: “You hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of your own eye, and then shall you see to cast out the mote out of your brother’s eye.” (Mt 7;5).

Conclusion

Detraction as such is a serious sin against justice and charity. So easily committed, but repaired with so much difficulty: it is very hard indeed to repair all the damages caused by detraction… So, let us be careful to avoid that vice totally. How? First of all, let us keep away from detractors: Holy Scriptures say: “My son, fear the Lord and the king; and have nothing to do with detractors, for their destruction shall rise suddenly.” (Pr 24; 21). Secondly, let us always remember our own weakness and fragility, as St Paul said: “He that thinks himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall” (I Cor 10;12). Let us keep the spirit of silence: by avoiding useless and idle talks, we will avoid most occasions of detracting others. And at last, let us imitate the meekness of the Sacred Heart of Jesus during his life on earth: far from slandering us for all our many sins, He helped us instead, to the extent to give his life for our salvation. Be it the same for us, disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ.