According to [Thomas Aquinas] the root of despair is to be found in what has been termed acidie: for want of a better word, we usually translate this as sloth or inertia, by which very much more, and something deeper, is meant than mere idleness, than lacking the inclination to be active. According to Thomas this metaphysical inertia is identical with the “sorrow of the world,” the “worldly grief” of which Paul says that it produces death (2 Corinthians 7:10).
JOSEPH RATZINGER To Look on Christ
