Detraction

[1][2] Detraction differs from the sin of calumny and the civil wrong of defamation, which generally involve false accusations rather than unflattering truths.

[2] A commonly cited parable in this regard concerns a priest, often said to be Philip Neri, who gave a woman who had confessed to spreading gossip the penance of retrieving feathers that had been scattered on the wind—a task as impossible as undoing the damage she had done.

[6] Pope Francis accused other Catholics of detraction when they criticized his appointment of Juan Barros Madrid.

[7] On the other side of this issue, the counting of detraction as a sin has been criticized as "a kind of spiritual blackmail"[8] when used to silence victims of abuse.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln specifically cited detraction among other reasons why it would not participate in the study leading to the John Jay Report.