Fr. Paul D. Scalia: Sinners, But Not Hypocrites

By Fr. Paul D. Scalia, The Catholic Thing, Sept. 27, 2020

Fr. Paul Scalia is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington, Va, where he serves as Episcopal Vicar for Clergy. His new book is That Nothing May Be Lost: Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion.

What’s the difference between a hypocrite and a sinner? They look an awful lot alike. The hypocrite presents himself one way and then acts another. The sinner deliberately chooses what he knows he should not choose. They both suffer an interior division. Indeed, we ourselves may feel like hypocrites when we sin, when we choose contrary to what we believe. Still, we sense a difference between the two. We rightly intuit that not everyone who sins is for that reason a hypocrite.

The distinction lies in this. The hypocrite has made peace with the division within himself; the sinner fights against it. Now, he might fight poorly and fail more often than not, but he nevertheless keeps pushing against that interior dis-integration. The sinner repents and tries to conform his life to what is true. The hypocrite refuses to repent and instead tries to twist reality to fit his way of living. He has, perhaps without even realizing it, grown comfortable with his interior division.  …