Ingratitude

INGRATITUDE. - It is the disposition of soul (vice) of one who does not acknowledge and does not appreciate the benefits received. It can take concrete form in a purely negative attitude of not acknowledging, of not thanking, of not repaying the good received; it can also assume a positive attitude of opposition in one who judged the good received as inferior to his own merit, as a harm and not an advantage, or who repaid the benefactor with insults or other injustices.

Morally, i. (the negation of the virtue of gratitude, a specific virtue, distinct from piety and religion and a potential part of the virtue of justice) is always a sin. With respect to its object, the sin is held by common doctrine to be light inasmuch as it does not directly contradict the order of charity; whether by reason of the end (through hatred of the benefactor or contempt for him) or by reason of the circumstances (for example, one who, being able, refused to help a person in need, when he had received notable benefits from that person) it can become a grave fault.

I. is always a moral fault; in legal systems it is not considered a crime; however, i., in the cases exhaustively provided for, can be grounds for revoking a donation (Italian Civil Code, art. 801). According to the CIC, the i. of the rector of a Church or of its administrators cannot be invoked to revoke a donation made to the Church (can. 1536 § 4).

Luigi Oldani