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AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND
SCRIPTURAL UNDERSTANDING

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THE SACRAMENT OF
RECONCILIATION
AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND
SCRIPTURAL UNDERSTANDING

Robert L. Fastiggi

Hillenbrand Books°®

Chicago / Mundelein, Illinois

Nihil Obstat Imprimatur
Reverend Daniel A. Smilanic, Jcp Very Reverend Ronald A. Hicks, pmin
Vicar for Canonical Services Vicar General
Archdiocese of Chicago Archdiocese of Chicago
October 17, 2016 October 17, 2016

The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are declarations that the material is free
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THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND

ScripTURAL UNDERSTANDING © 2017 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy
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DAZ
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ISBN: 978-1-59525-043-8

HSR
 ‘This book is dedicated first to Pope Francis in gratitude
for the 2015-2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
It is dedicated secondly to all priests who have faithfully served
as ministers of Christ’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Finally, it is dedicated to Mary, Mater Ecclesiae and
Mater Misericordiae.
Contents

Preface vit

Abbreviations ix

Introduction <xit

Chapter 1: Sin, Sorrow, Forgiveness, Asceticism, and Purification 1

Sin: Original and Personal 3
Contrition, Repentance, and Conversion 5
Forgiveness and Reconciliation 6
Asceticism and Purification 6
Divine Mercy, Grace, and the Paschal Mystery 7
Purgation, Divinization, and Glorification 8

Chapter 2: Anthropological Foundations 10

Human Failure and Finitude 10
Social Effects of Offenses: The Need for Reparation
and Reform 13
Sin and Sacrifice in Primitive and Ancient Religions 14
‘The Religions of India and China 17
Islamic Perspectives 18

Chapter 3: Old Testament Foundations 20

Sin Leads to Alienation from God 21
Sin Requires Repentance and Conversion 25
There Must Be Signs of Repentance 26
God Forgives Sins, but the Temporal Punishment Can
Still Remain 27
Chapter 4: New Testament Foundations 29
Call to Repentance 29
Repentance, Faith, Healing, and Forgiveness 31
Repentance and Baptism 33

Chapter 5: The Sacrament of Penance in Church History 37

Penance during the Early Patristic Age (prior to aD 500) 37
Penance during the Later Patristic Age (500-800) 43
The Penitentials 46
Medieval Theology of Penance: Latin and Eastern Churches 47
The Council of Florence on Penance (1439) 55
The Challenge of the Protestant Reformers 55
The Council of Trent (1545-1563) 59
Post-Tridentine Magisterial Interventions on Penance 62

Chapter 6: Recent Magisterial Teachings on Penance 71

St. John XXIII (1958-1963) 71
Documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) 74
BI. Paul VI (1963-1978) 76
St. John Paul II (1978-2005) 83
Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013) 87
Pope Francis (2013-) 89

Chapter 7: The Key Components of the

Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation 92
The Matter and Form of the Sacrament of Penance 93
The Recipient of the Sacrament 94
The Minister of the Sacrament 96
The Recognition of Sin: Contrition 97
The Examination of Conscience 99
The Confession of Sins 100
Absolution 103
Satisfaction: The Reasons for the Penance 107
The Effects of the Sacrament 108
Nonsacramental Means of Purification 108
Conclusion: The Sacrament of Reconciliation and the New
Evangelization 110
New Evangelization Begins in the Confessional 111
The Sacrament of Reconciliation Communicates
God’s Mercy 113
The Compassionate Heart of Christ in the Sacrament
of Reconciliation 115

Appendix A: The Faculty to Serve as

a Minister of the Sacrament of Penance 117

Appendix B: The Seal of Confession 122

Appendix C: Catholic Teaching on Indulgences 126

Appendix D: The Various Rites for Celebrating the

Sacrament of Reconciliation 138

Appendix E: The Sacrament of Penance in the

Eastern Christian Churches 142

Selected Bibliography 149

Index 153
Preface

The Catechism ofthe Catholic Church tells us that “there is not a single
aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the
question of evil” (CCC, 309). Sin is another name for the moral evil of
human failure and iniquity. The “good news” is that sin has been
overcome by the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Incarnate
Word, Jesus Christ. Yet sin still persists in the world, even in the lives
of the faithful. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is a great
gift to the Church. It is a privileged means for experiencing the mercy
of God. ‘This sacrament enables us to undergo purification and detach-
ment from sin, which is necessary for authentic growth in holiness.
It has been a blessing to write this book during the 2015-2016
Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis. I will
forever remain grateful for the graces received during this Jubilee Year.
Writing this book has deepened my appreciation of how the
Sacrament of Reconciliation enables us “to touch the grandeur of
God’s mercy” and experience “true interior peace” (MV, 17).
I wish to thank all those who have assisted me in writing
this volume. In a special way, I wish to thank Kevin Thornton, the
editor and founder of Hillenbrand Books, for inviting me to write
this work and for his extraordinary counsel, kindness, and patience in
the process. I am also grateful to each of the following: Claire
Gilligan for her careful copyediting; Anna Manhart, for her beautiful
cover design; Juan Alberto Castillo, for his layout of the pages;
Christian Rocha and Michael A. Dodd for their proofreading the
final pass; Fr. Christiaan Kappes, s.p>—academic dean of SS. Cyril
and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA—for
insights about Penance in the Byzantine Rite; Msgr. Francis Marini,
JD, Jcop— juridical vicar of the Eparchy of St. Maron, Brooklyn,
NY—for information about Confession in the Maronite Rite; and my
colleague Dr. Edward Peters, jp, Jcp for reviewing some canonical
aspects of this book.
Ultimately, I wish to thank Jesus Christ, for instituting the
Sacrament of Reconciliation, and for offering his mercy and
Vili Preface

forgiveness to us through the sacred ministry of priests. I am deeply

grateful to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mater Misericordiae, for her
maternal love and constant intercession for us poor sinners now and
at the hour of our death.
Abbreviations

AG Second Vatican Council. Ad gentes (Decree on the

Mission Activity ofthe Church). In The Documents of Vatican IT
(Strathfield, Australia, and Staten Island, NY: St. Paul’s,
2009).
So Catechism ofthe Catholic Church. 2nd ed. Washington,
DC: Libreria Editrice Vaticana—United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops, 2000.
CIC 1983 Code of Canon Law (Codex Iuris Canonici [CIC]):
Latin-English Edition: New English Translation.
Washington, DC: Canon Law Society of America, 1998.
CCEO 1990 Code of Canons ofthe Eastern Churches (Codex Canonum
Ecclesiarum Orientalium [CCEO]) auctoritate Ioannis Pauli
pp. I promulgatus, fontium annotatione auctus. Vatican City:
Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1995.
CCL Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina. Turnholt [Turnhout],
Belgium: Brepols, 1953ff.
Den Denzinger, Heinrich, and Peter Hiinermann, eds.
Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations on
Matters ofFaith and Morals. 43rd ed. Latin-English edition
edited by Robert Fastiggi and Anne Englund Nash.
San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012.
DM John Paul II. Dives in misericordia (Rich in Mercy).
Encyclical letter. November 30, 1980. Boston: Pauline Books
and Media, 1980.
DTC Dictionnaire de théologie catholique. Paris: Letouzey, 1903ff.
EG Francis. Evangelium gaudium (The Joy ofthe Gospel).
Apostolic Exhortation. November 24, 2013. Washington,
DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2013.
EN Paul VI. Evangelii nuntiandi (Evangelization in the Modern
World). Apostolic Exhortation. December 8, 1975. Boston:
Pauline Books and Media, 1976.
GS Second Vatican Council. Gaudium et spes (Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World). In The
Abbreviations

Documents of Vatican II (Strathfield, Australia, and Staten

Island, NY: St. Paul’s, 2009).
ID Paul VI. Indulgentiarum doctrina. Apostolic Constitution.
January 1, 1967. Appendix in Apostolic Penitentiary.
Enchiridion Indulgentiarum: Normae et Concessiones (Manual
ofIndulgences: Norms and Grants). 4th ed. United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops. Washington, DC, 2006.
LG Second Vatican Council. Lumen gentium (Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church). In The Documents of Vatican II
(Strathfield, Australia, and Staten Island, NY: St. Paul’s,
2009).
MV Francis. Misericordiae vultus. Bull of Indiction of the
Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. April 11, 2015. Appendix
in Pope Francis, The Name of God Is Mercy:A Conversation
with Andrea Tornielli, trans. Oonagh Stransky (New York:
Random House, 2016).
OF Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the
Sacraments. Ordo penitentiae (Rite ofPenance). December 2,
1973. In The Rites ofthe Catholic
Church as Revised by the Second Vatican Council (New York:
Pueblo Publishing Company, 1976).
PA John XXIII. Paenitentiam agere. Encyclical Letter.
July 1, 1962. http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en
/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_01071962
_paenitentiam.html.
PG J. P. Migne, ed. Patrologia cursus completus, Series Graeca.
Paris, 185 7,f.
Bi J. P. Migne, ed. Patrologia cursus completus, Series Latina.
Paris. 1844 ff.
PO Vatican II. Presbyterorum ordinis (Decree on the Ministry and
Life ofPriests). In The Documents of Vatican II (Strathfield,
Australia, and Staten Island, NY: St. Paul’s, 2009).
Rue: John Paul II. Reconciliatio et paenitentia (Reconciliation and
Penance). Apostolic Exhortation. December 2, 1984.
Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2003.
SC Vatican II. Sacrosanctum concilium (Constitution on the Sacred
Liturgy). In The Documents of Vatican IT (Strathfield,
Australia, and Staten Island, NY: St. Paul’s, 2009).
 ABBREVIATIONS Xi

SP Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Sacramentum

poenitentiae: Pastoral Norms for General Absolution.
June 16, 1972. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia
/congregations/cfaith/documents/re_con_cfaith
_doc_19720616_sacramentum-paenitentiae_en.html.
ST Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica. Translated by Fathers
of the English Dominican Province. 5 vols. Reprinted.
Allen, Texas: Christian Classics, 1981.
Introduction

Let us not forget this word [mercy]: God never ever tires offorgiving
us! . . . The problem is we do not want to ask; we grow weary of.asking for
forgiveness. He never tires offorgiving, but at times we get tired ofasking
for forgiveness.
(Pope Francis, Angelus Address, March 17, 2013)

Pope Francis has made mercy one of the hallmarks of his pontificate.
In his homily of March 13, 2015, during a Lenten penitential service,
he announced an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, which would begin
on December 8, 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception,
and end on November 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.
Pope Francis placed the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the center of
the year of mercy. In Misericordiae vultus, the bull of indiction of the
extraordinary jubilee of mercy, he asks that we “place the Sacrament of
Reconciliation at the center once more in such a way that it will enable
people to touch the grandeur of God’s mercy with their own hands. For
every penitent, it will be a source of peace.”! For Pope Francis, “mercy is
the very foundation of the Church’s life,” and “nothing in her preaching
and her witness to the world can be lacking in mercy” (MV, 10). The
Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the most important and profound
incarnations of mercy in the life of the Church.
In the Second Vatican Council’s dogmatic constitution Lumen
gentium, we are told that “the Church, embracing in her bosom sinners,
at the same time holy and always in need of being purified, always
follows the way of penance and renewal” (LG, 8). The life of penance
and renewal is at the heart of the universal call to holiness expressed
so eloquently at the Second Vatican Council (cf. LG, 39-42). The
spiritual tradition of the Catholic Church, going back to patristic
times, has always understood the mystical path as one of purgation,
illumination, and union. The way of purgation, the via purgativa,

1. Francis, Misericordiae vultus, Bull of Indication of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy

(April 11, 2015), 17. This Bull is published as an appendix to Francis, The Name of God is Mercy:
A
Conversation with Andrea Tornielli, trans. Oonagh Stransky (New York: Random House, 2016),
103-105.

Xii
 INTRODUCTION Xili

is necessary for detaching us from sin. But this path is never separated
from Christ, who came “to expiate the sins of the people” (Heb 2:17).
This book is about the Sacrament of Penance (paenitentia),
which is the traditional word used for the sacrament, not only at the
Councils of Florence and Trent but also at Vatican II (cf. LG, 11).
This sacrament—which the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
also calls the sacrament of conversion, confession, forgiveness, and
reconciliation (cf. CCC, 1423-1442)—is a necessary means for
pursuing the spiritual path of purgation. Although the Sacrament of
Baptism imparts the life of grace and erases original sin, the material
effects of original sin—such as weakness and the inclination to
sin—remain. Therefore, in the present life, we are summoned “to
spiritual battle” (CCC, 405).
The call to holiness involves the recognition of our sinfulness
and need for forgiveness. The Sacrament of Penance, recognized in
Church tradition as “the second plank [of salvation] after the ship-
wreck of lost grace,” is a great gift of God’s mercy and love. ‘This
book will situate the Sacrament of Penance in the larger context of the
biblical revelation and Catholic dogmatic theology. In a special way,
it seeks to understand the sacrament in the context of spirituality,
what has sometimes been called ascetical and mystical theology.
Chapter 1 explores the key terms and concepts of the
Sacrament of Penance. Because the sacrament is directed toward the
forgiveness of sin, the meaning of sin, both original and personal, will
be central to the presentation. We will also examine other important
terms, such as contrition, repentance, asceticism, and purification.
Chapter 2 investigates the anthropological foundations of the
Sacrament of Penance. The human person, from a metaphysical
perspective, is finite and incomplete. From a social perspective,
human beings live in community with other human beings, and there
arise inevitable conflicts, injuries, and damaged relationships. ‘Thus,
the Sacrament of Penance reflects a human need for reconciliation
and forgiveness. This human need is also manifested in the various
nonbiblical religions of the world: primitive and ancient; the living
religions of India; as well as Islam. An exploration into patterns of sin
and purification in various world religions will help us understand

2. Tertullian, De paenitentia 4:2.

Xiv Introduction

how the Sacrament of Penance is deeply rooted in the human

condition.
Chapters 3 and 4 deal with Sacred Scripture, both the Old
Testament (chapter 3) and the New Testament (chapter 4). Here we
will see how sin and its expiation are central to salvation history,
which culminates in the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Passion, Death,
Resurrection, and Ascension into glory. The problem of evil is at the
heart of the biblical message, but this evil is countered by God’s
merciful love, which conquers human sin and purifies sinners by grace.
Chapters 5 and 6 are largely historical, with chapter 5 tracing
the development of the Sacrament of Penance from patristic times to
the pontificate of Pope St. John XXIII. Chapter 6 explores the
teachings on penance, mercy, and reconciliation from Vatican II to the
present time. We will see that the Church’s Magisterium has tried to
underscore the importance of the Sacrament of Penance during an age
in which there is a tragic loss of the reality of sin.
Chapter 7 provides a systematic overview of the key compo-
nents of the Sacrament of Penance, with a special focus on the respon-
sibilities of the penitent and the responsibilities of the confessor. ‘This
chapter also investigates the spiritual effects of this sacrament and the
relation of Penance to other sacraments, especially Baptism and the
Eucharist. In addition, nonsacramental means of detachment from
sin are discussed, all within the overall context of the mystical ascent
of purgation, illumination, and union with God.
In the conclusion, we will see how the Sacrament of Penance
is central to the new evangelization called for by Pope St. John Paul II
and his successors. At the heart of the new evangelization is the
proclamation of Christ, who is the Incarnate Word, who has come
into the world to reconcile sinful human beings with the transcendent
love of the Triune God. For those living in a post-Christian world,
the powerful message of God’s merciful love expressed through the
Sacrament of Penance is a most salutary means of knowing the “joy
of the Gospel” (EG, 1).
Chapter 1

Sin, Sorrow, Forgiveness,

Asceticism, and Purification

This chapter provides an overview of some of the key terms and

concepts associated with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It should
first be noted that the sacrament is known by three names:
Reconciliation, Penance, and Confession. In terms of Catholic history,
the traditional term has been Penance (paenitentia). This is the term
used at the Second Council of Lyon (1274),! the Council of Florence
(1439),? the Council of Trent (1551),? and the Second Vatican Council
(1964, see LG, 11). Pope Leo I in 452 refers to the sacrament as both
s “the medicine of penance” and “the door of reconciliation.”* The
Synod of Verona in 1184 lists “the confession of sins” among the
sacraments of the Church,° and St. John Paul II speaks of both
“penance and reconciliation” (see RP). The Catechism ofthe Catholic
Church mostly refers to the sacrament as “Penance” (CCC, 1422),
but it explains that the sacrament can referred to as the sacrament
of conversion, Penance, confession, forgiveness, and Reconciliation
(see CCC, 1423-1442). Both the 1983 Latin Code of Canon Law and
the 1990 Eastern Catholic Code refer to the “Sacrament of Penance.”®

1. Heinrich Denzinger and Peter Hiinermann, eds., Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and
Declarations on Matters ofFaith and Morals, 43rd ed. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012), 860
[henceforth D-H].
2. Ibid., 1323.
3. Ibid., 1667-1693, 1701-1715.
4. Ibid., 308.
5. Ibid., 761.
6. See Codex Iuris Canonici (1983) [CIC] cc. 959-997 and Codex Canones Ecclesiarum
Orientalium (1990) [CCEO] cc. 718-736. Unless otherwise specified, the Code of Canon Law
refers to the 1983 CIC throughout this book.
The Sacrament ofReconciliation

Why do we need the Sacrament of Penance? ‘The 1983 Code

of Canon Law tells us that: “In the Sacrament of Penance the faithful
who confess their sins to a legitimate minister, are sorry for them, and
intend to reform themselves obtain from God through the absolution
imparted by the same minister forgiveness for the sins they have
committed after Baptism and, at the same time, are reconciled with
the Church which they have wounded by sinning” (c. 959).
In this description we can see some mention or allusion to
some key terms such as “sins,” “sorrow,” “forgiveness,” ‘reconciliation,”
and “reform.” The Council of Trent taught in 1551 that there would be
no need for this sacrament if Christians “constantly preserved the
justice they had received at Baptism.”’ Because God knows our
weaknesses and because he is “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), “he has given
a remedy of life also to those who after Baptism have delivered
themselves up to the bondage of sin and [the] devil’s power.”® This is
the Sacrament of Penance, “whereby the benefit of Christ’s death is
applied to those who have fallen after Baptism.”?
As a prelude to our study of the Sacrament of Penance, it will
be helpful to have a basic grasp of some of the key terms such as sin,
sorrow, forgiveness, asceticism, and purification.° The Sacrament of
Penance cannot be separated from a Christian anthropology, which
understands the human condition in the light of Christian revelation.
‘The Sacrament of Penance must, therefore, be seen in light of the
eschatological call of human beings to everlasting happiness with God
in the communion of saints. The human call to eternal life in the
presence of the triune God has been made possible by the life, death,
and resurrection of Christ. The Sacrament of Penance is a privileged
means of receiving divine mercy and grace communicated to us through
the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Passion, Death, Resurrection, and
Ascension into heaven. Our ultimate call is not only to be forgiven for
our sins but to be divinized and glorified (2 Pt 1:4, Rom 8:30).

7. D-H, 1668.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Some of these terms will be examined again in light of scriptural terminology in
chapters
3 and 4.
 Sin, Sorrow, Forciveness, ASCETICISM, AND PuRIFICATION

SIN: ORIGINAL AND PERSONAL

What does the Church mean by sin?"! The Catechism ofthe Catholic
Church offers three basic definitions (CCC, 1849):
eStats ; :
1. “Sin is an offense against reason, truth and right conscience.”
2. Sin “is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a
perverse attachment to certain goods.”
3. Sin is “an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.” ”
Sin is also variously described as “an offense against God” and
“disobedience.”13
Scripture uses a number of words for sin. In the Old
Testament, three Hebrew words are commonly used for sin: Aatta’,
which means missing the mark; pesha’, which means rebellion; and
‘aw6n, which means iniquity or guilt. In Psalm 51, known as the
“Miserere,” all three of these terms are used (51:3-6):
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in your abundant compas-
sion, blot out my offense (pesha’). Wash away all my guilt (won), and
from my sin (Aatta’t) cleanse me. For I know my offense (pesha’); my sin
(hatta’t) is always before me. Against you alone have I sinned (Aazta’);
I have done evil (7a’) in your sight.

In the New Testament, the principal term for sin is hamartia

(Greek). Thus, Jesus is described as the “Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin (Aamartia[n]) of the world” (Jn 1:29),'° and he tells the
paralytic: “Child, your sins (Aamartia[i]) are forgiven” (Mk 2:5). The
New Testament also employs other words related to sin such as
lawlessness (anomia, e.g., Rom 4:7), darkness (skotos, e.g., Jn 8:12),

11. Some of this material on sin is adapted from my book, What the Church Teaches about Sex:
God's Plan for Human Happiness (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2009), 57-59.
12. For the third definition, cf. Augustine, Contra Faustum 22, in PL 42, 418; ST I-I, 71, 6.
13. CCC, 1850.
14. See also William E. May,An Introduction to Moral Theology, 2nd ed. ee IN:
Our Sunday Visitor, 2003), 186.
15. Cf. May, An Introduction to Moral Theology, 186-187.
16. Here the reference is to the “sin” of the world, but in the Agnus Dei of the Mass, Jesus is
invoked as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins (peccata) of the world.” The “sin of the
world” can be understood as original sin that Jesus takes away at Baptism. But it’s equally true
that he takes away personal sins as well.
The Sacrament ofReconctliation

and injustice (adikia, cf. Rev 22:11). Scripture not only recognizes
the reality of sin but it also teaches that certain sins can lead to
spiritual death and exclusion from God’s kingdom.
The Catholic Church distinguishes original sin from personal
sin. The fall of Adam and Eve resulted in a human nature “deprived
of original holiness and justice” (CCC, 404). This inherited depriva-
tion of holiness and grace has been variously described as a “stain”
on the soul or an inborn “guilt.” In reality, though, original sin “does
not have the quality of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants”
(CCC, 405). It is a sin “contracted” but not “committed” it is “a state
and not an act,” and in this sense it is only sin “in an analogical
sense” (CCC, 404).
Sin has left human nature in a weakened state subject to
ignorance, suffering, bodily death and the “inclination to evil that is
called ‘concupiscence” (CCC, 405). Concupiscence is not sin itself,
but the tendency to sin, especially with respect to self-assertion
(pride), lust and greed.” It has been spoken of as “the tinder or fuel
for sin,” but it can be overcome by the grace of Christ (CCC, 1264).?°
Personal sin, as opposed to original sin,” involves a freely
chosen “thought, word, deed or omission” (CCC, 1853) that is con-
trary to the law of God. As a personal act, sin engages the intellect
and the will,’ and the person must freely choose to transgress the
moral law. Sins are further distinguished as to whether they proceed
from ignorance (due to lack of knowledge); weakness (giving in to strong
passion or desire); or malice (emerging from an evil will or desire to
harm).”? Most sexual sins, for example, proceed from weakness rather

17. Cf. May, 186.

18. Cf. Deuteronomy 30:17; Matthew 25:41—46; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21;
Revelation 21:8; 22:15.
19. See 1 John 2:16: “For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a
pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world.” This is sometimes called the
“threefold concupiscence.”
20. Cf. Council of Trent (1546), in D-H, 1515. The “tinder for sin” in Latin is fomes peccati;
see CCC, 1264.
21. Cf. Dominic Priimmer, op, Handbook ofMoral Theology, trans. J.G. Nolan (New York: PJ.
Kenedy & Sons, 1957), no. 158, p. 67.
22. Ibid., no. 159, p. 68.
 Sin, Sorrow, Forciveness, ASCETICISM, AND PuRIFICATION

than malice, and in sins of passion, full and deliberate consent of the
will may more easily be lacking.”8
Sins engaged in freely and repetitively inevitably result in
“perverse inclinations, which cloud conscience and corrupt the con-
crete judgment of good and evil” (CCC, 1865). These perverse
inclinations to sin can also be called vices, which are habits that “have
arisen through the repetition of acts.””4 Following St. John Cassian
(c. 360-433) and St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-604), Church tradi-
tion has emphasized seven capital sins or vices; they are called “capi-
tal” because “they engender other sins, other vices” (CCC, 1866).
‘These seven sins or vices are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony,
and sloth (or acedia).

CONTRITION, REPENTANCE, AND CONVERSION

Contrition can be understood as “the act or virtue of sorrow for one’s
sins.”?° It has deep scriptural roots, as in Psalm 51:17: “A broken and
contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.” The Council of Trent
described contrition as “the sorrow of soul and the detestation of the
sin committed, together with the resolve not to sin anymore.””°
Repentance is another word used for contrition. It also refers to sorrow
for having offended God along with a firm resolve “to amend one’s
conduct by taking the necessary means to avoid the occasions of sin. 27

Conversion refers to the change that takes place in those who have
repented, confessed their sins, and tuned back toward God. Adults
who convert to the Christian faith turn away from the sins of their
prior life. The Sacrament of Penance involves conversion from the sins
committed after Baptism. In chapter three we will examine the Old
Testament understanding of repentance, and in chapter four we will
consider the New Testament theology of metanoia, which is a Greek
word meaning change or conversion.

23. Cf. Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Certain Problems
of Sexual Ethics, Persona humana (December 29, 1975), no. 10, in Vatican Council II: More Post
Conciliar Documents, ed. Austin Flannery, op (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1982), 494.
24. Priimmer, Handbook ofMoral Theology, no. 171, p. 75.
25. John A. Hardon, sj, Modern Catholic Dictionary (Bardstown, KY: Eternal Life, 2011), 130.
26. D-H, 1676.
27. Ibid., 463.
The Sacrament ofReconciliation

FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION

The Catechism ofthe Catholic Church recognizes penance as the sacra-
ment of forgiveness because “by the priest’s sacramental absolution
God grants the penitent ‘pardon and peace” (CCC, 1424). Forgiveness
refers to the “pardon or the remission of an offense.”** In Catholic
theology, God does not merely cover over our sins; rather, he forgives
our sins and no longer holds us guilty for them. The Sacrament of
Penance is also the Sacrament of Reconciliation “because it imparts
to the sinner the love of God who reconciles” (CCC, 1424).
Reconciliation involves “the act or state of re-establishing friendship
between God and a human being, or between two persons.””? St. Paul
teaches that we have received “reconciliation through Christ”
(Rom 5:11), and we are entrusted by God with the “message of
reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:19). The Sacrament of Penance is often called
the “Sacrament of Reconciliation” because it establishes and strength-
ens our friendship with God.

ASCETICISM AND PuRIFICATION

The Church teaches that the absolution received in the sacrament

“takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has
caused” (CCC, 1459). The spiritual cleansing of the wound has begun,
but now it needs to heal. Being healed from the temporal effects of sin
requires detachment from sin through purification. Asceticism can be
described as “spiritual effort or exercise in the pursuit of virtue.”*°
It comes from the Greek word askésis, which means exercise, self-
effort, and discipline. Because the Sacrament of Penance is directed
toward human sanctification and union with God, there is a need for
penitents to practice asceticism in order to be healed from the effects
of sin and attraction to sin. Asceticism is not self-denial for a merely
human goal. Instead it “consists in the practice of the Christian
virtues in order to effect the union of the soul with God.”3! The

28. Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary, 216.

29. Ibid., 458.
30. Ibid., 43.
31. Pietro Parente et al., Dictionary ofDogmatic Theology, trans. Emmanuel Doronzo, om1
(Milwaukee: The Bruce Company, 1951), 22.
 SIN, SoRROw, Forciveness, ASCETICISM, AND PurRIFICATION

pursuit of union with God, of course, is not a merely human endeavor.

It necessarily involves the cooperation of human freedom with divine
grace in what may be called synergy—the coming together of the
human will with divine omnipotence.
Asceticism is linked closely with purification or purgation
from sin. ‘The classic mystical ascent has been described according to
three ways or stages of the spiritual life: purgation, illumination, and
union.* As will become clear throughout this book, the Sacrament of
Penance is directed toward human purification and union with God.
Asceticism is also a discipline that pertains to everyday life.
It applies to personal sacrifices on behalf of others. Thus parents
practice asceticism in their care for their children, and adult children
caring for elderly parents are engaged in ascetical work. Personal acts
of self-denial such as fasting, abstinence, and almsgiving are forms of
asceticism, and a disciplined life of prayer is likewise ascetical.
Conscious service on behalf of others is a form of asceticism as is the
patient acceptance of the sufferings of life. In general, Christian asceti-
cism may be distinguished from most non-Christian forms by a
humble openness to the grace of the present moment and “abandon-
ment to divine Providence.” ?

Divine Mercy, GRACE, AND THE

Pascua. MysTeEry
The Sacrament of Penance is the great sacrament of divine mercy, or
misericordia. As will be seen in the subsequent chapters, mercy is one
of the great themes of the Bible. God’s mercy, misericordia, is an
expression of his attitude toward sinners. The Latin word is derived
from two roots, miseria (misery, wretchedness) and cor/cordis (the
heart, of the heart). God’s mercy is the response in his heart to our
misery and wretchedness. His mercy is a grace, a free and unmerited
gift coming forth from his “benevolent disposition.”** God’s mercy
32. See Reginald Garrigou-Lagange, op, The Three Ages ofthe Interior Liife, 2 vols., trans. M.
Timothea Doyle, op (Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, 1989).
33. See Jean-Pierre de Caussade, sj, Abandonment to Divine Providence, trans. John Beavers
(New York: Image Books, 1975). See also B. Haring, “Asceticism (Theological Aspect)” in New
Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., ed. Berard Marthaler, orm Conv (Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2003),
1:777-778.
34. Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary, 236.
The Sacrament ofReconciliation

toward sinful humanity is expressed most supremely in the Paschal

Mystery, which describes the “redemptive work of Christ.
As mentioned before, the Paschal Mystery is the Passion, Death,
and Resurrection of Christ, but it also extends to his Ascension into
heaven and his return in glory.

PuRGATION, DIVINIZATION, AND GLORIFICATION

The Sacrament of Penance has an eschatological orientation. It is
directed toward our ultimate beatitude in the end times (eschaton).
Because “nothing unclean will enter” heaven (Rev 21:27), the souls
who depart from this life still in need of purification undergo a
process of purgation or post-mortem purification. This is the dogma
of purgatory, which teaches that those who “die in God’s grace and
friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their
eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to
achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (CCC, 1030).
The Sacrament of Penance includes satisfaction for sin
(CCC 1459), which can be understood as the “expiation of
wrongdoing.”*¢ In some cases this expiation involves making repara-
tion for the harm caused to others. In other cases, the satisfaction is
directed more toward healing the harmful effects of the sin on ourselves.
Although absolution in confession takes away the guilt of sin, “it does
not remedy all the disorders it has caused” (CCC, 1459). The penance
assigned by the priest can be understood as medicinal since it is aimed
at healing the disorders caused by sin. According to Catholic theol-
ogy, this cleansing from the effects of sin can take place either in this
life or after death in purgatory. Expiation or satisfaction, however, is
not a merely human activity; it involves the synergy of human coop-
eration with divine grace. Satisfaction is best understood as part of the
mystical stage of purgation, which is necessary for the stages of
illumination and union with God. Satisfaction for sin—in addition to
the purpose of reparation—is also a means of asceticism directed
toward spiritual purification.

35. Ibid., 405.

36. Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary, 490.
 Sin, Sorrow, Forciveness, ASCETICISM, AND PuRIFICATION

The ultimate goal of purification is participation in the life of

God, which can be understood as divinization or theosis—the process
by which we come to share in the divine nature (2 Pt 1:4). In the
heavenly kingdom, the saints, divinized by the grace of Christ, come
to share in his glory. This is the glory that Christ, sent by the Father,
came into the world to share with his disciples (Jn 17:22). Sharing in
the divine glory, however, is incompatible with sin. This is why the
Sacrament of Penance is directed toward human divinization and
glorification. It frees us from the sins that hinder our participation in
the life of God.
In this chapter we have provided an overview of the key terms
and concepts related to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In the next
chapter we will explore how Catholic penitential practices correspond
to an anthropology of sin and repentance manifested by the various
religious and cultural expressions of the world.
Chapter 2

Anthropological Foundations

HuMAN FaILuRE AND FINITUDE

Some people are under the impression that the Sacrament of Penance
is a uniquely Catholic phenomenon. ‘They think that the sacrament is
an expression of a Catholic emphasis on guilt and sin. This perspec-
tive, however, fails to take note of the Eastern Orthodox recognition
of penance as one of the seven sacraments or mysteries.'It also fails
to appreciate the deep anthropological foundations of the Sacrament
of Penance and Reconciliation.
This chapter will provide an anthropological basis for the
Sacrament of Penance. By anthropological we mean what corresponds
to the human person and human beings in communion with each other.
The Second Vatican Council, in its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in
the Modern World, Gaudium et spes, recognized that the followers of
Christ know that “nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in
their hearts” (GS, 1). In other words, the Catholic faith responds to the
deepest needs and aspirations of human beings in their search for
meaning and hope. In light of this, it should come as no surprise that
the Sacrament of Reconciliation finds parallels in other cultures and
religions. ‘There are, of course, differences along with the similarities,
but the desire for human beings, both individually and communally, to
make up for failures and seek reconciliation is clearly evident. To
recognize failure and seek forgiveness is not merely a Catholic preoccu-
pation. It is a reality deeply rooted in human experience.

1. See Timothy (Metropolitan Kallistos) Ware, The Orthodox Church, new ed. (London:
Penguin Books, 1993), 274-290.

IO
 ANTHROPOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS II

The Sacrament of Penance, therefore, needs to be understood in light

of the human condition. Christian revelation sheds light on what we
can grasp through natural reason, namely, that we are imperfect, finite
creatures who are dependent on God, our Creator. The Catholic
Church at Vatican I solemnly taught that the one, true God can be
known by natural reason apart from divine revelation.? The recogni-
tion of God is essential for a proper anthropology. As Vatican II
teaches, “Without the Creator, the creature would disappear” (GS, 36).
‘The Sacrament of Penance, however, requires more than just an
awareness of God, the Creator. It also requires an understanding of
God as a personal being to whom we are responsible both morally and
spiritually. As the Letter to the Hebrews makes clear: “Anyone who
approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those
who seek him” (Heb 11:5). This sense of moral responsibility before
God, our Creator, Teacher, and Judge, is the most primordial anthro-
pological foundation for the Sacrament of Penance.
Another anthropological foundation is the recognition of our
condition as fallen human beings in need of healing. In Genesis 1:27
the bible reveals that we, as human beings, are created in God’s image
and likeness. This means that we have a rational nature that makes us
“capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession,” and of freely giving
ourselves and “entering into communion with other persons”
(CCC, 357). Being made in the divine image and likeness, we are
capable of knowing, loving, and serving God. The divine image also
elevates us above all the creatures of the earth, giving us dominion
over them (Gn 1:28). God also created us as body and soul (Gn 2:7;
CCC, 362-368) and male and female (Gn 1:28; 2:2-25; CCC,
369-373). Ultimately, it “is only in the mystery of the Word made
flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear” (GS 22; CCC, 359).
The Bible reveals that the human race was originally consti-
tuted in a state of holiness (Gn 1:31; CCC, 374-379). In the state of
original justice, there was no need for either Baptism for the forgive-
ness of sins or the Sacrament of Penance for the forgiveness of post-
Baptismal sins. Prior to the fall, man was free from sin even though
there was still the possibility of sinning.*

2. Vatican I, Dei Filius, ch. 2, c.1,in D-H, 3026.

3. Cf. Augustine, De corruptione et gratia, 12, 33, in PL 44, 936.
I2 The Sacrament ofReconctliation

If original sin had never occurred, the human race would still have
required elevation to the state of final beatitude—a state removed
from the possibility of sinning. As we know from both experience
and revelation, however, the human race is fallen, and the tragic
effects of the fall are all too evident in the world around us. ‘The
fathers of the Second Vatican Council explained the fall into original
sin in vivid terms:
Although he was made by God in a state of holiness, from the very onset
of his history man abused his liberty, at the urging of the Evil One. Man
set himself against God and sought to attain his goal apart from God.
Although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, but their
senseless minds were darkened and they served the creature rather than
the Creator (cf. Rom 1:21-25). What divine revelation makes known to
us agrees with experience. Examining his heart, man finds that he has
inclinations toward evil, too, and is engulfed by manifold ills which can-
not come from his good Creator. Often refusing to acknowledge God as
his beginning, man has disrupted also his proper relationship to his own
ultimate goal as well as his whole relationship toward himself and others
and all created things.

Therefore man is split within himself. As a result, all of human life,

whether individual or collective, shows itself to be a dramatic struggle
between good and evil, between light and darkness. Indeed, man finds
that by himself he is incapable of battling the assaults of evil successfully,
so that everyone feels as though he is bound by chains. But the Lord
himself came to free and strengthen man, renewing him inwardly and
casting out that “prince of this world” (Jn 12:31) who held him in the
bondage of sin (cf. Jn 8:34). For sin has diminished man, blocking his
path to fulfillment. (GS, 13)

This passage from Gaudium et spes accurately describes the human

condition in the fallen state. Jesus came to redeem us from original
sin, and the sacrament of Baptism bestows the saving grace of Christ
and turns us back to God, but “the consequences for nature, weakened
and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual
battle” (CCC, 405).
One way of understanding the effects of original sin is to
distinguish between its formal and material aspects (or effects).
Original sin, in its formal aspect, is “the deprivation of original
 ANTHROPOLOGICAL FoUNDATIONS 13

holiness and justice.” In other words, it is the inheritance of a human

nature deprived of sanctifying grace, the grace that enables the soul
to be subject to God. This deprivation of sanctifying grace is overcome
by Baptism, which, “by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases
original sin and turns a man back towards God” (CCC, 405). The
material aspects of original sin are the dominion of death, ignorance,
suffering and concupiscence. These persist in man after Baptism and
“summon him to spiritual battle” (CCC, 405; ST I-II, q. 82, a. 3).
Unlike Luther, the Catholic Church does NOT believe that
concupiscence is sin; instead it is the inclination towards sin. So we do
not believe that we become justified solely by the imputation of
Christ’s justice. Instead, we really become just by Christ’s grace.4
Furthermore, the Catholic Church, unlike Luther and Calvin, does
not believe that human nature has been rendered totally depraved by
original sin or that the free will of man has been lost or extinct after
the fall.° The Catholic Church agrees with Luther and Calvin that we
need the grace of Jesus Christ to be saved, but unlike Luther and
Calvin, the Catholic Church does not believe that human nature has
been totally corrupted by original sin. Original sin did not do away
with the image of God or free will, but it left us in a wounded state
and in need of redemption.

SocIAL EFFECTS OF OFFENSES: THE NEED FOR

REPARATION AND REFORM
An important anthropological foundation for the Sacrament of
Penance is our reality as social and communal beings. Both Scripture
and the Magisterium recognize the communitarian nature of human
beings and the interdependence of the human person and human
society (see GS, 24-25). There is also the reality of family life and the
intimate relations between husband and wife, parents and children,
brothers and sisters. The social reality of human existence helps us
understand how sin injures not only individuals but also other people,
and the Church, as a communal body. This is why the Sacrament of

4. Heinrich Denzinger and Peter Hiinermann, eds., Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and
Declarations on Matters ofFaith and Morals, 43rd. ed. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012), 1529,
1561 [hereafter D-H].
5. D-H, 1555.
14 The Sacrament ofReconciliation
4

Penance includes the need for reparation and reform. As the Catechism
ofthe Catholic Church points out,
Sin damages or even breaks fraternal communion. ‘The sacrament of
Penance repairs or restores it. In this sense it does not simply heal the one
restored to ecclesial communion, but has also a revitalizing effect on the
life of the Church which suffered from the sin of one of her members.
(CCC, 1469)

As will become clear in later chapters, the need for penance

requires reparation not only for the damage sin has done to us as
individuals but also reparation to others within the Body of Christ.
When appropriate “one must do what is possible to repair the harm
(e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone slandered,
pay compensation for injuries)” (CCC, 1459). This is not only a matter
of basic justice; it is also a way of restoring harmony to broken rela-
tionships and reforming the social reality injured by sin.

SIN AND SACRIFICE IN PRIMITIVE AND

ANCIENT RELIGIONS
The anthropological foundations for the Sacrament of Penance are
manifested in the various practices of primitive and ancient religions,°
which can be understood as “seeds of the Word” (AG, 11, EN, 53).
and a preparation for the Gospel (see LG, 16). St. Justin Martyr
(c. 100-165) affirmed that the “seed of the Logos” (sperma logou) is
“implanted in every race of men.”’ He also believed that non-Christian
philosophies contain the “seminal Word” (Jogos spermatikos).8 the
Second Vatican Council’s Decree on the Missionary Activity ofthe
Church, Ad Gentes, extends St. Justin’s metaphor to non-Christian
religions, which contain “seeds of the Word” (semina Verbi) (AG, 11).
Pope Paul VI, in his 1975 Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi,
likewise states that non-Christian religions “are all impregnated with
innumerable seeds of the Word (semina Verbi)” (EN, 53). The
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith also refers to the “seeds of

6. See Ninian Smart, The Religious Experience, 4th ed. (New York: Macmillian, 1999), 27-53.
Smart prefers to speak of “primal religious” rather than “primitive religions.”
7. Justin Martyr, Second Apology, 7 (8) PG 6 457A.
8. Ibid., ch. 13.
 ANTHROPOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS ss)

the Word” in its document of the jubilee year 2000, Dominus Iesus
(no. 21).
Within many primitive religions and ancient religions,
sacrifice often functions as a means of restoring the harmony caused
by transgressions. On a primordial level, there is the recognition that
sin, or human failure, affects not only the family and tribe but also the
cosmos. Within these ancient religions, various sacrifices, therefore,
are needed to restore the social and cosmic harmony lost by human
transgression. ‘This reality of sacrifice reflects an anthropological basis
for the dynamics of penance: when disorder is caused by transgression,
there is a need to do something to atone for the transgression and
reestablish the lost harmony. Although sacrifice in primitive cultures
was sometimes done to ward off evil spirits or placate gods, there was
an ethical dimension as well. As one scholar of religion notes:
Even very “primitive” people have ideas of higher beings that approve and
keep watch over moral behavior. Furthermore, not only in the high cul-
tures but in primitive religions as well, expiatory sacrifice is often accom-
panied by a confession of sins. A more highly developed form of the ideas
underlying expiatory sacrifice may be linked to the concept of representa-
tion or substitution, especially when the role of substitute is freely
accepted (self-sacrifice).°

The word sacrifice comes from the Latin sacrificium, which

derives from the Latin words, sacer (holy) and _facere (to do or make).
Sacrifice, therefore, can be understood as an act of sanctifying or
making something holy.'° While sacrifices can be offered for the
purposes of praise, thanksgiving, or supplication, they can also be
offered for expiation, which presupposes “consciousness of a moral
fault that can be punished by a higher being who must be placated by
suitable acts on the part of the human beings involved.”" On a very
primitive level, expiatory sacrifices are “rites of purification and
elimination for the removal of all evils,”!?such as spirits and demons.
On a higher level, expiatory sacrifices seek to restore the order

9. Joseph Henninger, “Sacrifice” in The Encyclopedia ofReligion, ed. Mircea Eliade (New
York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1995), 12:550.
10. Henninger, “Sacrifice,” 544.
11. Ibid., 549.
12. Ibid.
16 The Sacrament ofReconciliation
4

disturbed by some moral fault or unintentional failure. When there is

belief in a benevolent god or gods, the sacrifice is intended to restore
the relationship broken or injured by the transgression or failure.’
The recognition of sacrifice as a primordial expression of
expiation is not meant to suggest that the Catholic Sacrament of
Penance corresponds to a primitive mechanism. Instead, it shows that
the desire to do something to repair the damage inflicted by human
failure has a deep anthropological basis. In ancient Judaism, sacrifices
of expiation “were intended to reestablish a communion that had been
interrupted through offense.” * Sacrificial atonement was especially
made by blood, “because it is blood, as the seat of life, that makes
atonement” (Lv 17:11). The expiatory blood sacrifices of the Old
Covenant, however, were not able to make adequate atonement for
human sins. This is why Jesus offered himself as the perfect sacrifice
for sins “once for all” (Heb 10:10).
Because Jesus made atonement for the sins of the whole world
(1 Jn 2:2), Protestant Christians have resisted both the Sacrament of
Penance and the doctrine of the Mass as a sacrifice. They see these as
challenging the all-sufficiency of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. As will be
explained later is this book, both the Sacrament of Penance and the
sacrifice of the Mass draw their entire efficacy from the Paschal
Mystery of Christ (SC, 6, 9). The sacraments do not take away from
the all-sufficiency of Christ; rather, they apply and make present the
power and reality of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection to the
needs of the faithful.
Even non-Christian religions have rituals and ascetical
practices directed toward spiritual purification and expiation. Of
course, these rituals and practices do not have the efficacy of the
Catholic Sacraments. The Church, however, recognizes that “the
various religious traditions contain and offer religious elements which
come from God, and which are part of what ‘the Spirit brings about
in human hearts and in the history of peoples, in cultures, and in
religions.”*Moreover, “some prayers and rituals of other religions
may assume a role of preparation for the Gospel, in that they are

13. Ibid., 550.

14. “Sacrifice” in The New World Dictionary-Concordance to the New American Bible (Charlotte,
NC: C.D. Stampley and World Bible Publishers, 1970), 590.
15. Congregation for the Doctine of the Faith, Dominus Iesus (2000), 21.
 ANTHROPOLOGICAL FouNDATIONS
yi

occasions or pedagogical helps in which the human heart is prompted

to be open to the action of God.”

THe RELIGIONS OF INDIA AND CHINA

The religions of India (Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism) understand
sin in terms of karma, “the law and record of moral action and
consequences.””” Bad actions bring about a bad karmic effect that
requires purification, often through ascetical means. Although the
idea of a personal God is present in Hinduism, it is more or less
absent in Jainism and Buddhism, at least in their original articula-
tions.'* The notion of karma and its consequences, therefore, is
generally not conceived as moral accountability before a transcendent
moral authority and judge. Instead, moral failures affect one’s progress
toward liberation or release from samsara, the cycle of birth and rebirth
through successive reincarnations.!? Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism
all accept karma and reincarnation as foundational doctrines, but they
differ with respect to the means to attain liberation (referred to as
moksha in Jainism and Hinduism and nirvana in Buddhism).
Ascetical practices in Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism can
be understood as expiatory in the sense that they detach one from
desires, actions, and attitudes that hinder spiritual progress toward
liberation. In devotional Hinduism, known as Bhakti Hinduism,”°
“ritual actions properly performed are meritorious, and ascetical
meditation leads to release,” but the ultimate salvation comes from
devotion to God conceived in a personal form, such as Krishna.*1
Bhakti Hinduism (along with its counterparts in devotional
Buddhism) has some affinity to the Catholic understanding of pen-
ance done to reestablish harmony with God. ‘The religious framework

16. Ibid.
17. Ward J. Fellows, Religions East and West (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979),
125;
18. Later Buddhism, influenced by devotional Hinduism, developed the idea of the Buddha
as “the supreme being of the universe.” See Thomas Berry, The Religions ofIndia (New York: The
Bruce Publishing Company, 1971), 169.
19. Fellows, Religions East and West, 126.
20. Ibid., 109-110.
21. William K. Mahony, “Karman: Hindu and Jain Concepts” in The Encyclopedia ofReligion,
ed. Mircea Eliade (New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1987), 8:265.
18 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

of karma, reincarnation, and liberation, however, is quite different

than the Christian view of salvation. Ascetical practices in the reli-
gions of India are ultimately directed toward liberation from samsara;
they are not done in repentance for sins that injure one’s relationship
with God.
The Chinese traditions of Confucianism and Taoism (also
called Daoism) never developed clearly defined penitential doctrines
and practices.?? Confucius (c. 551-479 Bc) was not so much a religious
teacher as an ethical and social reformer. He was mostly concerned
with righteousness and propriety in the present life. He was not
focused on seeking communion with the divine.”? Confucius speaks
of various duties within the family and the social order, and the
veneration of ancestors as a moral requirement. There are, however,
no penances assigned to those who fail in these duties. Ultimately,
Confucianism is a moral humanism.
The Chinese religion of Taoism (or Daosim) tends towards
a naturalism that is not very concerned with moral duties that affect
one’s destiny after death. The main focus is on cultivating a mystical
intuition of the way of things (the Tao) rather than following God as
a personal being. Ultimately, Taoism is a type of “nature mysticism.”4

IsLAMIC PERSPECTIVES
Islam certainly teaches that human beings are morally accountable
before God (Allah), the almighty creator, lawgiver, and judge.
Muslims believe in a final day of reckoning or judgment during which
human beings will be judged by their deeds. Although prayer, alms-
giving, and fasting are pillars of the Islamic faith, there are no sin
offerings or anything like the Sacrament of Penance. In this sense,
there is a similarity between Islam and Protestantism. There is no
human mediation of divine mercy and forgiveness in a sacramental
way. ‘The believer needs to appeal to God directly.

22. Whether these traditions should be called religions is a matter of controversy. Much
depends on how one defines religion.
23. Confucius did not deny the reality of life after death, but he did not focus his attention on
it. He did not deny the existence of spirits or gods, but they were not his concern. If Confucius
did believe in God, it was as Heaven (T”ien), understood more as a transcendent, ethical force or
order. See Fellows, Religions East and West, 217.
24. See Fellows, Religions East and West, 246-249,
 ANTHROPOLOGICAL FouNDATIONS 19

Is it possible to discern a penitential dimension in the Muslim

practices of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting? The answer is yes because
these are believed to have a purifying effect on the believer and his or
her relationship with God. Likewise, the Aajj, the pilgrimage to
Mecca, includes a ritual stoning of a pillar that represents the devil.?5
This might be understood as a ritual purification from sins, even
though it is not formally described as such.
Islam has a definite doctrine of repentance, even if it does not
have a specific penitential ritual. Those who repent must return to the
way of the truth and do good deeds (see Qur'an 6:54, 25:70; 42:25-26).
Almsgiving, especially, is considered an ongoing and efficacious sign
of repentance (Qur'an 9:112; 66:5).
Although non-Christian cultures and religions manifest an
awareness of human failures and the need for purification, it is in
biblical faith of the People of Israel that provides the most profound
preparation for the Gospel. As we will see, a deep sense of sin and the
need for reconciliation with God emerges in the faith of ancient Israel,
and this faith represents a true response to God and his mercy.

25. John Sabini, Islam:APrimer (Washington, DC: Middle East Editorial Associates, 1988), 23.
Chapter 3

Old Testament Foundations

In chapter 2, we examined the anthropological foundations of Penance

and Reconciliation. Now we turn to Sacred Scripture, which is not
only a vivid narrative of salvation history but also divine revelation.
In the Bible, human failure, sin, and reconciliation with God are
central themes. Sacred Scripture, in fact, can be understood as the
revelation of God’s merciful response to sinful humanity. The story
of salvation history begins with the Old Testament. The Catholic
Church teaches that the Old Testament foreshadows what is revealed
more fully in the New Testament. In the books of the Old Testament
“the mystery of our salvation is present in a hidden way” (DV, 15).
This is especially true with respect to the Sacrament of Penance.
In the Old Testament, we learn about the human fall from
grace, the harmful effects of sin, and the steadfast love of the merciful
God. We also learn about how sinful human beings yearn to be restored
to communion with God, and how God is “merciful and gracious”
toward sinners (Ps 103:8). In the Old Testament, several words are
used for repentance. One is the Hebrew word nacham or naham,!
which means “to sigh,” “to pant,” but in the biblical usage it means
“to grieve” or “to lament.”? The more common Hebrew word for
repentance, though, is Swb (s4ué), which literally means “to turn,” and
is used over 1,050 times.* In Job 42:6, the verbal root nacham is used
when Job says, “Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust
and ashes.” In 1 Kings 8:47, the verbal root shud is used when Solomon
prays: “May they repent in the land of their captivity and be converted.”
1. A. Boyd Luter Jr.,“Repentance: New Testament,” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed.
David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 5:673.
2. B.H. Dement, “Repent” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. Geoffrey W.
Bromiley (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995), 4:135.
3. Luter, “Repentance: New Testament,”673.

20
 Op TESTAMENT FouNDATIONS 21

Both Hebrew words capture important aspects of repentance because

the person who repents not only grieves over or laments (nacham) the sin
committed, but also resolves to turn (shu) from this sin in the future.
In the Book of Genesis, we read how our first parents sinned
against God (Gn 3:1-7), and how their sin had subsequent consequences
(Gn 3:16-19). We also learn how sinful human beings grew in wick-
edness, and how murder (Gn 4), pride (Gn 11), and sexual immorality
(Gn 18-19) entered into human history. God, though, did not give up
on sinful humanity. As the Fourth Eucharist Prayer teaches:
You formed man in your own image
and entrusted the whole world to his care,
so that in serving you alone, the Creator,
he might have dominion over all creatures.
And when through disobedience he had lost your friendship,
you did not abandon him to the domain of death.
For you came in mercy to the aid of all,
so that those who seek might find you.
Time and again you offered them covenants
and through the prophets
taught them to look forward to salvation.*

There are many teachings in the Old Testament about sin and forgive-
ness. With regard to the foreshadowing of the Sacrament of Penance,
five themes merit emphasis:
1. Sin leads to alienation from God.
2. There are various kinds of sins.
3. Sin requires repentance and conversion back to God.
4. There must be signs of repentance, both exterior and interior.
5. God forgives sins but temporal punishment brought about by sin
can still remain.

Sin LEADS TO ALIENATION FROM Gop

After Adam and Eve sin, they try to hide themselves from God
(Gn 3:8). After Cain murders his brother Abel, he tries to conceal his
wicked deed from the Lord (Gn 4:9). As humans grow in wickedness
4. Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer IV, no. 117.
22 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

after the fall, “they only conceive evil in their hearts” (Gn 6:5). The
wicked cannot find refuge in God (Ps 5:5), and the arrogant cannot
stand before him (Ps 6:6). Because sin leads to alienation from God,
conversion requires the creation of a new heart (Jer 24:7; Ps 51:12),
a heart that knows God’s mercy, intimacy, and love.
As noted in chapter one, the Old Testament uses three main
Hebrew words for sin: Aatta’, which means, missing the mark; pesha’,
which means transgression or rebellion; and ‘awén, which means
iniquity or guilt (see Ps 51:3—-6).5 In some passages of the Bible, sin
involves an unwarranted violation of a divine prohibition—even if the
reasons for the prohibition do not seem clear. When the ark of God is
brought to Jerusalem on a cart drawn by oxen, Uzzah reaches out his
hand to steady the ark, which seems ready to tip. God, though, is angry
at Uzzah for touching the ark, and strikes him dead (2 Sm 6:6-7).
According to some, Uzzah’s forbidden touching of the ark was “a
violation of the domain of the numinous,”® and it reveals a “taboo-
consciousness” of sin present in some of the “older sections of the Old
Testament.”’ The dietary prohibitions related to unclean animals and
rules of ritual purity (Lv 11:1—15:33) might represent this taboo-
consciousness. Some scholars, however, believe that the dietary
prohibitions of Leviticus 11 concerned animals involved in “pagan
worship . . . sacrifice, magic, or superstitious practice.” ®
As the People of Israel grew in their understanding of God,
sin came to be understood as an offense against God and his sacred
law—and not simply a violation of a taboo.° This was especially the
case after the establishment of the covenant with God made on
Mount Sinai (Ex 19:1—24:11). The commandments given to the
Israelites on Mount Sinai include the Decalogue, the Ten
Commandments, as well as the other laws concerning domestic life,

5. See also William E. May, An Introduction to Moral Theology, 2nd ed. (Huntington, IN:
Our Sunday Visitor, 2003), 186.
6. The numinous is a word used to describe the realm of the transcendent that is frightening
and awe-inspiring. See Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy, trans. John W. Harvey (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1958).
7. J. Lachowski, “Sin in the Bible,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. (Detroit: Thomson
Gale, 2003), 13:142.
8. Roland J. Faley, ror, “Leviticus” in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, ed. Raymond
Brown, ss, et al. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990), 4:25, p. 68.
9. Lachowski, “Sin in the Bible,” 142.
 Oup TEesTAMENT FouNDATIONS 23

personal injury, property damage, social laws, and religious laws.

Although the Ten Commandments are the fundamental moral laws,
rabbinic tradition recognized a total of 613 laws in the Torah: 365
negative and 248 positive.
While all these laws were important for the ancient Israelites,
the Ten Commandments “express man’s fundamental duties toward
God and toward his neighbor” (CCC, 2072). The Ten Commandments
constitute the enduring moral law of God, while other laws of the
Old Testament are ceremonial or judicial in character. According to
St. Thomas Aquinas, the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament were
connected to the worship and ritual purity of the Old Covenant
(ST I-II, 99, 2-5). After the establishment of the New Covenant,
these ceremonial laws no longer applied because a new form of worship
was inaugurated by Christ’s Passion (ST I-II, 103, 3, 2). In a similar
way, the judicial laws of the Torah reflect the laws that ancient Israel
needed for civic peace and harmony. They applied to that particular
time and place, but they need not apply to all times and places. Just as
the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant ceased with the coming of
Christ, so did the judicial laws (ST I-I, 104, 3).1! This was not the
case, however, for the moral precepts of the Ten Commandments.
These moral precepts do not change (ST I-II, 100, 8), and Jesus came
to fulfill, not to abolish, the moral law, (Mt 5:17—20). The Ten
Commandments reveal the fundamental duties of human beings
toward God. As such, “they are fundamentally immutable, and they
oblige always and everywhere” (CCC, 2072).
The Ten Commandments are the heart of the moral law, and
they provide a privileged understanding of the expectations of God
and his attitude toward sinners. Deuteronomy 10:4 tells us that there
are ten commandments (or words), but the Bible never tells us how
to number the ten. The Catholic Church follows the numbering of
St. Augustine (based on Deuteronomy), while the Orthodox Churches
and the Protestants (except the Lutherans) follow a different tradition
of numbering (see CCC, 2066).

10. Ward J. Fellows, Religions East and West (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston: 1979),
313. The Torah refers to the Pentatech or first 5 books of the Bible.
11. See also Gal 3:21, where Paul makes it clear that the Old Law had no power to save.
Instead the Old Law “was our disciplinarian for Christ that we might be justified by faith” (Gal
3:25).
24 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

The Ten Commandments cover thoughts, words, and deeds.

They articulate the duties human beings have toward God and neighbor.
According to the Catholic numbering, the first three commandments
reveal our duties toward God, and the final seven cover the duties we
have toward others (CCC, 2067). Because the Ten Commandments
are given within the context of a covenant between God and his
People (CCC, 2060), violation of any of the commandments is not
simply a violation against a law; it is also a sin against the covenant
and a sin against God.”
The Old Testament understands sin in terms of collective
guilt and personal guilt. Collective guilt pertains to the whole People
of Israel, especially when there is a violation of the covenant made
with God. Sins, though, are also individual, and involve a personal
sense of sorrow before God. This is best communicated in the words
of Psalm 51, attributed to King David: “Against you alone have I sinned,
I have done evil in your sight” (Ps 51:6).
Although sins entail punishment, the mercy of God is shown to
be greater than his anger. Those who violate the first commandment by
hating God endure punishments down to the third and fourth genera-
tion (Ex 20:5), but those who love God and keep his commandments
receive mercy down to the thousandth generation (Ex 20:5).
In addition to the Ten Commandments, the Old Testament
provides other laws whose violation would entail other forms of sin.
The Book of Leviticus provides specific laws related to clean and unclean
food (Lv 11), personal uncleanness (Lv 15), the Day of Atonement
(Lv 16), the sacredness of blood (Lv 17), the sanctity of sex (Lv 18),
and various other rules (Lv 19). There are specific penalties attached
to the violation of these regulations (Lv 20). These laws, however,
must not be seen as ends in themselves. They are rather means for
promoting the holiness and prosperity of the People of Israel. God
promises to bless those who love him and walk in his way, “keeping
his commandments, statues and decrees” (Dt 30:16). If, though, the
people rebel “bow down to other gods and serve them,” they will
perish and not enjoy “a long life” in the land the Lord has promised
to them (Dt 30:17-18).

12. Lachowski, “Sin in the Bible,” 142.

 Op TEsTAMENT FouNDATIONS 25

Sin Requires REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION

Because sin leads to alienation from God, there is need for repentance
and conversion, which can be understood as two aspects of the same
process of turning away from sin and turning back to God. When
the People of Israel sinned, the prophets exhorted them to repentance
in vivid terms: “Turn, turn back from all your crimes, that they may
not be a cause of sin for you ever again. Cast away from you all the
crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart
and a new spirit” (Ez 18:30-31). Because sin can affect the entire
community, the prophets would call upon the whole people to repent.
In Nehemiah 9:1, we read how the Israelites had a national day of
fasting in sackcloth. In Joel, the call to repentance is also a reminder
of God’s mercy and kindness:
Yet even now—oracle of the Lorp—
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the Lorn, your God,
For he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,
and relenting in punishment. (2:12-13)

Perhaps no other passage in the Old Testament captures the

dynamics of repentance and conversion better than Psalm 51, which
expresses the sorrow of King David over his adultery with Bathsheba
and his murder of her husband:
Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my guilt.
Create a pure heart for me, O God;
renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence;
take not your holy spirit from me.
Restore in me the joy of your salvation;
sustain in me a willing spirit.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
that sinners may return to you.
Rescue me from bloodshed, O God,
God of my salvation,
26 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

and then my tongue shall ring out your justice.

(Ps 51:11-16)

This passage shows that repentance requires a turning away from sin
and a turning back toward God. This process of conversion, however,
demands reliance on God’s grace. This is why it is an appeal, a prayer
to God to bring about a cleansing of the heart that restores the life of
the spirit and the joy of salvation. The interior dimension of repen-
tance and conversion is expressed by the language of the heart. This is
why the prophets speak of conversion as the creation of a new heart.
In Ezekiel 36:26, God says: “I will give you a new heart and place a
new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and
giving you natural hearts.” In Jeremiah 4:4, we read: “For the sake of
the Lord, be circumcised, remove the foreskins of your hearts.”

THere Must BE S1ens oF REPENTANCE

The Old Testament shows that repentance involves exterior signs as
well as interior conversion. Although the renewal of the heart is
absolutely necessary, external signs are also important. Jonah 3:5—-8
describes how a fast was called when the people of Nineveh believed
God. They fasted, wore sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Daniel 9:3 reveals
how he also pleaded tothe Lord “in earnest prayer, with fasting,
sackcloth, and ashes.”
In ancient Israel, there were also ritual forms of repentance,
expressed by sin offerings (Lv 4—6) and the scapegoat ritual, during
which Aaron laid his hands on the live goat and confessed over it “all
the sinful faults and transgressions of the Israelites” (Lv 16:21). The
scapegoat then was led into the desert to carry off all the sins of the
people. After this, Aaron bathed and offered a holocaust “in atonement
for himself and for the people” (Lv 16:24). Here we see how the ritual
of being cleansed from sin involved both confession and sacrifice. The
scapegoat ritual can, therefore, be seen as a foreshadowing of both the
Sacrament of Confession and the eucharistic sacrifice.
The prophets of Israel, however, made it a point to remind the people
that true repentance must go beyond external fasting. Isaiah 58:6—7
teaches the Israelites that true fasting must also involve social justice:
Is this the manner of fasting I would choose,
 Op TEsTAMENT FouNDATIONS 27

a day to afflict oneself?

To bow one’s head like a reed,
and lie upon sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lorp?
Is this not, rather, the fast that Ichoose:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking off every yoke?
Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry,
bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own flesh?

A similar theme is found in Hosea, who teaches that true

repentance requires love not sacrifice (Hos 6:6) and likewise remain-
ing “loyal and doing right” (Hos 12:7).

Gop ForcivEs SINs, BUT THE TEMPORAL

PUNISHMENT CAN STILL REMAIN
One of the steps of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the performance
of the penance assigned by the priest. This is because “absolution takes
away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused”
(CCC, 1459). The penance assigned by the priest, therefore, is intended
to make satisfaction for the temporal punishment (or temporal effects)
due to sin. As will be seen, Protestant theologians object to the whole
concept of temporal punishment due to sins because they believe it
takes away from the all-sufficiency of Christ’s atonement for our sins
on the Cross. The Old Testament, however, provides support for
certain punishments or effects remaining after sins have been for-
given. This is seen in Genesis 3:16-19, where the sin of Adam and Eve
results in added pain in childbirth and added toil and labor. Even
though the death of Jesus has atoned for the sin of our first parents,
these temporal effects or punishments still remain. In Numbers 20:12
and 27:13-14 we read how the rebellions of Moses and Aaron result in
the temporal punishment of being deprived entry into the Promised
Land. In 2 Samuel 12:13-14, David confesses his sin, and the prophet
28 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

Nathan reveals that Lord has forgiven him and his life will be spared.
Nevertheless, because David “has utterly spurned the Lord by this
deed, the child to be born to you must surely die.” Here we see that
David’s sin has been forgiven but a temporal punishment—the death
of his child—remains.
The Old Testament provides a profound preparation for the
Gospel of Christ and the message of mercy toward sinners. In the Old
Covenant, the sense of sin, both personal and collective, is woven into
the very history of the People of Israel. But the message does not end
with sin. God’s mercy is greater than any sin and so is his forgiveness.
As Psalm 103 teaches: “Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to
anger, abounding in kindness. . . . As far as the heavens tower over the
earth, so God’s love towers over the faithful. As far as the east is from
the west, so far have our sins been removed from us” (103:8, 11-12).
Chapter 4

New Testament Foundations

The previous chapter discussed the themes of sin, repentance, and

reconciliation in the Old Testament. This chapter turns to the New
Testament and provides an overview of the key passages that treat the
topics of conversion, forgiveness, and the remission of sins. The center
of the New Testament, of course, is Jesus Christ, “who exhorted men
to repentance so that they should abandon their sins and turn whole-
heartedly to the Lord.”! Jesus, though, not only called people to
repentance, he also became the means by which sins are forgiven. He
shed his blood on the Cross “for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:28).
After his death and resurrection, he commissioned the disciples to
preach “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Lk 24:47) to all
nations. The reconciliation of sinners, therefore, is accomplished
“principally by the Paschal Mystery of his blessed Passion, Resurrection
from the dead, and glorious Ascension, whereby “dying he destroyed
our death, rising he restored our life” (SC, 5). The Paschal Mystery
is the source of the sacramental life of the Church, and in a special
way it is the source of the forgiveness of sins and the reconciliation
of sinners.

CALL TO REPENTANCE
The call to repentance is a major theme of the New Testament. ‘The
Gospel of Mark begins with John the Baptist proclaiming a “baptism
of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mk 1:4). After his baptism
and the arrest of John, Jesus initiates his public ministry with these

1. Introduction to the Rite of Penance in The Rites ofthe Catholic Church as Revised by Decree
of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and Published by Authority ofPope Paul VI, trans. The
International Commission on English in the Liturgy (New York: Pueblo Publishing, 1976), 341.

a0
30 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

words: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at

hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). The call to
repentance and the forgiveness of sins is at the very heart of the good
news preached by Jesus and by his disciples. When Jesus sends out the
Twelve two by two in Mark 6, they not only cure the sick and drive
out demons, but they also preach “repentance” (“So they went off and
preached repentance” Mk 6:12). At the end of the Gospel of Luke,
Jesus sends out his disciples to bear witness to the suffering, death,
and resurrection of the Messiah and to preach:
And he said to them,
Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise
from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
And [behold] I am sending the promise of my Father upon you;
but stay in the city
until you are clothed with power from on high. (Lk 24:46—49)

The New Testament uses a number of Greek words to express

repentance. The noun, mefanoia, is used twenty-four times, and the
verb, metanoeé, is used-an additional thirty-four times.* Although
metanoia is usually translated as “repentance” (as in Mk 1:4 and
Lk 24:47), it literally means “a change in thinking”? or a “change of
mind.”* In addition to thirty-four uses of the verb, metanoeo, there are
also six uses of the Greek verb, metamelomai, which means “to regret”
or “feel sorrow.” Regret or sorrow can be a true expression of repen-
tance, but it must be accompanied by a humble request for forgiveness
from the Lord. In Matthew 27:3, we read how Judas “deeply regret-
ted” (metameletheis) his betrayal of Christ.
‘Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply
regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the
chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent

2. A. Boyd Luter Jr.,“Repentance: New Testament” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David
Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 5:672.
3. Ibid. 674.
4. Ibid. 672.
 New Testament FounDATIONS 31

blood.” They said, “What is that to us? Look to it yourself.” “Flinging the
money into the temple, he departed and went off and hanged himself.”
(Mt 27:3-5)

Judas failed, however, to seek forgiveness from the Lord, The

Greek words metanoia, metanoed, and metamelomai, are used thirty-five
times in the Greek Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word, naham,°
which literally means “to sigh,” “to pant,” but also means “to grieve” or
“lament.”° The most common Hebrew word for repentance, however,
is Swb, which literally means “to turn,” and is used over 1,050 times.”
In the Septuagint Swh is not translated into Greek as metanoeo but as
epistrepho, which means “to turn” or “be converted.”® Although
metanota, metanoed, and metamelomai are the more common New
Testament words for “repentance” and “repent,” epistrephd is used in
some important passages. In Acts 3:19, Peter urges his listeners to
“repent (metanoésate), therefore, and be converted (epistrephare) that
your sins may be wiped away.” In Acts 26:20, Paul tells King Agrippa
that in obedience to his heavenly vision he preached the need “to
repent” (metanoin) and “turn to God” (epistrephein). Here we see that
repentance must be accompanied by conversion or a turning back to
God. This turning back to God should be manifested by certain signs
such as prayer, almsgiving and fasting (cf. Mt 6:1-18). Ultimately, the
true sign of repentance is the willingness to take up one’s cross and
follow in the footsteps of Jesus (cf. Lk 9:23-24).

REPENTANCE, FAITH, HEALING,

AND FORGIVENESS
In the New Testament, repentance is linked to faith in Jesus. In his
farewell speech at Miletus, Paul says: “I earnestly bore witness for
both Jews and Greeks to repentance and to faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ” (Acts 20:21). The Pauline letters and the Gospel and letters of
John understand repentance as “included in faith.”’ In John 8:23-24,
5. Ibid., 673. ;
6. B.H. Dement, “Repent,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. Geoffrey W.
Bromiley (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995), 4:135.
7. Luter, “Repentance: New Testament,” 673.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
32 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

Jesus tells his opponents: “You belong to this world, but I do not
belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your
sins. For if you do not believe that IAM, you will die in your sins.”
Repentance, therefore, is not only sorrow for sins but a turning to
Jesus in faith. Because Jesus can forgive sins (cf. Mk 2:10), repentance
involves a turning to Christ who can forgive our sins and heal our
iniquities.
The New Testament joins repentance, faith, healing, and
forgiveness together. Mark 2:1-12 tells the story of Jesus’ healing of
the paralytic. When Jesus sees the great faith of the people, he says to
the paralytic: “Child, your sins are forgiven” (Mk 2:5). Healing,
though, is not only physical but also spiritual. Those trapped in sinful
lives are in need of Jesus, the Divine Physician. To those who question
his association with sinners, Jesus responds: “Those who are well do
not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the
righteous but sinners” (Mk 2:17; cf. Mt 9:13 and Lk 5:32).
The Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32 provides
a vivid paradigm of how God welcomes repentant sinners with mercy
and reconciles them to the family of faith. The prodigal son experi-
ences remorse for his transgressions:
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have
sinned against heaven-and against you. I no longer deserve to be called
your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.” So he
got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his
father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his
son, embraced him and kissed him. (18-20)

He confesses his sins to his father in a spirit of humility:

“His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against
you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.” (21)

He is then welcomed back by the father with joy and celebration:

But his father ordered his servants, “Quickly, bring the finest robe and
put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the
fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because
this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and
has been found.’ Then the celebration began. (24)
 New TEsTAMENT FounDATIONS 33

The banquet can be understood as the Eucharist “to which the

reconciled sinner is once more invited to participate.” !° The Parable of
the Prodigal Son confirms what Jesus teaches: “There will be more joy
in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous
people who have no need of repentance” (Lk 15:7). This parable shows
there are no limits to God’s mercy. As Pope Francis notes: “No human
sin—however serious—can prevail over or limit mercy.” The story of
the Prodigal Son reveals God to us as “a merciful and attentive father,
ready to welcome any person who takes a step or even expresses the
desire to take a step that leads home.” ”As Pope Francis teaches, God
“can only reveal himself as merciful. . . . He is there, staring out at
the horizon, expecting us, waiting for us.”

REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM

The New Testament call for repentance is linked to the sacrament of
baptism. In Peter’s speech at Pentecost, he tells those gathered:
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit” (Acts 3:38). Baptism for the forgiveness of sins was
prepared for by the baptism of John the Baptist (cf. Mk 1:4). Jesus,
however, makes possible a baptism in his blood (Mk 10:38; Lk 12:50),
which is also a baptism in “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Lk 3:16). After
his resurrection, Jesus commissions the Eleven to “make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). In Mark 16:16, belief, baptism,
and salvation are all linked together: “Whoever believes and is baptized
will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” John
testifies to the necessity of baptism for salvation: “No one can enter
the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” io:5).
St. Paul understands baptism as dying and rising with Christ:

10. Paul Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery (Herefordshire, UK: Gracewing, 1999), 116.
11. Francis, The Name of God is Mercy (New York: Random House, 2016), 51.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. John 3:5 is cited in Lumen gentium, 14 as support for “the necessity of faith and baptism”
for salvation.
34 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

What then shall we say? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound?
Of course not! How can we who died to sin yet live in it? Or are you
unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
we too might live in newness of life. For if we have grown into union with
him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the
resurrection. We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that
our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in
slavery to sin. (Rom 6:1-6)

This passage clearly sees baptism as bringing about death to

sin and newness of life. Although Paul does not explicitly state here
that adults who come to baptism must also repent, he certainly
believes that those who are baptized cannot persist in sin—something
he also emphasizes in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. The Church would later
recognize that repentance or sorrow for sins must precede baptism for
the sacrament to be licit for adults.’
It’s important to recognize the link between baptism for the
forgiveness of sins and the Sacrament of Penance. If baptism is “the
instrumental cause” of justification, ' then the Sacrament of Penance
is “the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck of lost grace.” ”
St. Paul teaches that certain sins can deprive believers of the kingdom
of God (1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-21). He also makes clear that the
grace of God can be received in vain (2 Cor 6:1). While baptism
brings salvation (1 Pet 3:20—21), grievous sins committed after bap-
tism can deprive those baptized of “the kingdom of Christ and of
God.”?8 This is why the Council of Trent anathematized those who
claim “that a man once justified cannot sin again and cannot lose
grace.”?These sins would come to be known as mortal sins because

15. See the 1860 Instruction of the Holy Office to the Apostolic Vicar of Zhejiang, China, in
D-H, 2837: “But certainly faith and repentance are required in an adult so the sacrament may be
received licitly and the fruit of the sacrament may be obtained; but the intention is necessary for
obtaining it validly.” See also the Response of the Holy Office of March 30, 1898, which instructs
missionaries to exhort adult converts to sorrow for their sins before conferring baptism on them
at the point of death: D-H, 3333.
16. Council of Trent, Decree on Justification, ch. 7, in D-H, 1529.
17. Tertullian, De paenitentia 4, 2, in D-H, 1542.
18. Eph 5:5; see also 1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-21; 2 Pt 2:20-22.
19. Council of Trent, Decree on Justification, ch. 23: D-H, 1573.
 New TesTaMENnT FouNnDATIONS 35

they kill the life of grace in the soul. 1 John 5:16-17 provides a New
Testament foundation for the distinction between deadly (mortal) sins
and venial (nondeadly) sins.
_ Because Christ knew the baptized could lose the grace of
justification by mortal sins, he “instituted the Sacrament of Penance
for those who fall into sin after baptism.””° He did this after his
resurrection when he breathed the Holy Spirit on his disciples and
said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven
them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (Jn 20:22—23). Since
only God can forgive sins (Mk 2:7) and Jesus possesses this divine
power (Mk 2:10), he needed to breathe the Holy Spirit on the dis-
ciples so they could be ministers of his divine authority to forgive sins.
‘The power to reconcile sinners is also expressed by the power of
binding and loosing (Mt 18:18) and the power of the keys given by
Christ to Peter (Mt 16:19).*1 Binding and loosing are “rabbinic
technical terms that can refer to the binding of the devil in exorcism”
and “to the juridical acts of excommunication and definitive decision
making.””? The Church has understood the power of the binding and
loosing as the power given by Christ to priests who “represent him as
presiding judges” so they “might pronounce the sentence of remission
or retention of sins.”
The power of binding and loosing, given by Christ to the
apostles, has been passed on by apostolic succession to bishops and to
priests. The passage in James 5:16, which says “confess your sins to one
another” has been interpreted by some as a sign that all Christians can
serve as ministers of reconciliation. In a broad sense, this is true, but
the power of binding and loosing sins in the Sacrament of Confession
belongs only to bishops and priests by means of apostolic succession.
St. Thomas Aquinas states that “James speaks on the presupposition
of the divine institutions: and since confession had already been

20. Ibid., ch. 14: D-H, 1542.

21. These are the Scriptures cited by the Council of Trent in its Doctrine on the Sacrament of
Penance, ch. 5, in support of the belief that “our Lord Jesus Christ left priests to represent him as
presiding judges to whom all mortal sins into which the faithful of Christ would have fallen
should be brought that they, through the power of the keys, might pronounce the sentence of
remission or retention of sins” (D-H, 1679).
22. Benedict T. Viviano, op, “The Gospel According to Matthew,” in The New Jerome Biblical
Commentary, ed. Raymond B. Brown, ss, et al. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990), 659.
23. Council of Trent, Doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance, ch. 5, in D-H, 1679.
36 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

prescribed by God to be made to a priest, in that He empowered them,

in the person of the apostles, to forgive, as related in John 20:23, we
must take the words of James as conveying an admonishment to
confess to priests.”*4
The New Testament provides a solid foundation for the
Sacrament of Penance. There is the recognition of the need for repen-
tance, confession of sins, and the authorization of priests via apostolic
succession to be ministers of the sacrament. While it’s clear that the
Sacrament of Penance has been instituted by Christ, the actual form
of the administration of the sacrament will need to develop within the
Church’s tradition.
The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, like all the
sacraments, derives its efficacy from the Paschal Mystery. The forgive-
ness of sins cannot be separated from the passion, death, and resurrec-
tion of Christ. The Council of Trent teaches that Christ’s sacrifice is
the “meritorious cause” of our justification. This is because Jesus, out
of his great love (cf. Eph 2:4), “merited for us justification by his most
holy Passion on the wood of the Cross.””5

24. ST Suppl. 8.1.1.

25. Council of Trent, Decree on Justification, ch. 7, in D-H, 1529.
Chapter 5

The Sacrament of Penance in

Church History

‘The Catechism ofthe Catholic Church tells us that the “concrete form” in
which the Church has exercised her power received from the Lord to
forgive sins “has varied considerably” (CCC, 1447). Nevertheless, all
the essential elements of the Sacrament of Penance have been present
since apostolic times.1 The Council of Trent defined Penance as a
sacrament “instituted by Christ our Lord to reconcile the faithful with
God himself as they fall into sin after Baptism.”? The evidence from
the earliest centuries of the Church testifies to this truth.

PENANCE DURING THE EARLY PaTrRISTIc AGE

(PRIOR TO AD 500)
In the first two centuries of the Church’s history, there is clear evi-
dence that sins were confessed and sinners reconciled after Baptism.
The Didache (c. 85-120) exhorts those who gather for the Eucharist
on the Lord’s Day to first confess their sins.* St. Clement of Rome,
writing around ap 96, admonishes certain Christians in Corinth to
“submit to the presbyters, and accept chastisement for repentance.”*
St. Ignatius of Antioch, writing around 107, teaches that sinners must

1. Peter Riga, Sin and Penance (Milwaukee: the Bruce Publishing Company, 1962), 90.
2) D=H; 1701: .
3. Didache, 14, 1. See Cyril C. Richardson trans. and ed., Early Christian Fathers (New York:
Touchstone Books, 1996), 178, and Aaron Milavec trans., The Didache: Text, Translation, Analysis,
and Commentary (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press), 35.
4. Clement, Letter I to Corinth, 57, 1: translation by Francis X. Glimm, STL in The Apostolic
Fathers, ed. Ludwig Schopp (New York: Christian Heritage, 1947), 53.

3f
38 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

do penance and be reconciled with their bishop.° The Shepherd of

Hermas (c. 180) recognized the need to reconcile sinners with the
Church through penance—though he seemed to believe that certain
mortal sins could only be forgiven once.° Testimony to early forms of
the Sacrament of Penance can also be found in St. Justin Martyr
(c. 100-165), Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215), St. St. Irenaeus
(c. 130-202), and Tertullian (c. 155-225).” During his Christian
phase, Tertullian wrote De paenitentia, in which he makes no distinc-
tion between forgivable sin and unforgiveable sin. After becoming a
Montanist, however, he held that the sins of adultery, idolatry, and
murder could not be forgiven.’
The Apostolic Tradition (c. 215)—attributed to St. Hippolytus
of Rome (170-236)—clearly links episcopal ordination “to the author-
ity to forgive sins.”’ Bishops, in turn, would ordain priests to serve as
ministers of the Sacrament of Penance. Origen (c. 185-254) speaks
of the various ways sins may be remitted—including Baptism, mar-
tyrdom, almsgiving, forgiving others, turning others from sin, and the
practice of charity.!! In addition to these six, he adds a seventh way:
The remission of sins through penance, when the sinner washes his pillow
in tears, when his tears are day and night his nourishment, and when he
does not shrink from declaring his sin to a priest of the Lord and from
seeking medicine. . . . In this way there is fulfilled that too, which the
Apostle James says: “If, then, there is anyone sick, let him call the presby-
ters of the Church, and let them impose hands upon him, anointing him
with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick
man, and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him.” ”

5. See Ignatius of Antioch, Lefter to the Philadelphians, 8; see Schopp, ed., The Apostolic
Fathers, 116, and Richardson, trans. and ed., Early Christian Fathers, 110.
6. Paul Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery (Herefordshire, UK: Gracewing, 1999),121.
7. E. Amann, “Pénitence: Le IIe Siécle, Les Documents” in Dictionnaire de Théologie
Catholique [DTC] (Paris: Libraire Letouzey et Ané, 1933), vol. 12, pt. 3, pp. 764-770.
8. See Riga, Sin and Penance, 84-87.
9. Apostolic Tradition, 2, in William A.Jurgens, trans. and ed., The Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1
(Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1970), n. 394a, p. 167.
10. Amann, in Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique, vol. 12, pt. 1, p. 777.
11. Origen, Hom. in Leviticum, Il, 4 in Jurgens, ed., The Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1, n. 493, p. 207.
12. Ibid. Here Origen applies James 5:13-14 to the Sacrament of Penance and not just to the
Anointing of the Sick.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHURCH HisTorY pe!

St. Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258) makes it clear that “the

sacramental act of reconciliation follows also from the fact that its
efficacy is dependent on its administration by the official ministers
of the Church.”3Moreover, it pertains to “the priests of God” to
determine “the appropriate duration of penance—iustum tempus—to
supervise it, and to examine its sufficiency.” “
During the third and fourth centuries various rigorist groups
emerged. The followers of Novatian (c. 200-258) believed that those
who committed apostasy during times of persecution could not be
reconciled with the Church. St. Cyprian (c. 200-258), however,
defended the authority of the Church to forgive all sins, even apostasy.
In his treatise De /apsis, Cyprian taught that bishops could receive the
lapsed back into ecclesial communion after confession (confessio or
exomologesis) and a period of penance.” The actual confession of sins
was not public, but the penitential rite concluded “with the imposition
of hands by the bishop and clergy . . . for the obtaining of peace.”8
This reconciliation would be done by the bishops or “the presbyters
who were united with him in the dignity of the priesthood.” ? In cases
of extreme necessity, this could also be done by deacons,”° but it’s
uncertain whether such diaconal reconciliation involved absolution
13. Bernhard Poschmann, Penance and the Anointing ofthe Sick, trans. Francis Courtney, sj
(New York: Herder and Herder, 1964), 60; see Cyprian, Epistle 66, 5: see Corpus Christianorum
Series Latina (henceforth CCSL) III C, Sancti Cypriani Episcopi Opera Pars II, 2 (Turnhout,
Belgium:1996), pp. 439-440.
14. Poschmann, Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, 60, Cyprian, Epistle 4, 4; see CCSL II
B (1994), pp. 22-24.
15. The Rigorists were those who wanted a pure Church free from those who had
compromised the faith. This is why they were sometimes called “the Cathars” (the pure
ones)—though this term is mostly used in reference to later Medieval Rigorist groups such as the
Albigensians. Among the early Rigorists movements of the early Church were the Novatianists,
named after the antipope Novatian (c. 200-25 8). They claimed that Christians who had
committed certain grave sins such as apostasy were to be permanently removed from the Church.
A later rigorist movement was that of the Donatists, named after the fourth-century North
African bishop Donatus. The Donatists believed that the sacraments performed by sinful bishops
and priests were invalid. See P.H. Weyer, “Novatian (Antipope) and Novatianism” in New
Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., 10:464-466; and D. Faul, “Donatism” in New Catholic Encyclopedia,
2nd ed., 4:861-864.
16. See Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery, 122.
17. Poschmann, Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, 60-61.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid., cf. Cyprian, Epistle 61, 3.
20. See Cyprian, Epistle 18, 1; Council of Elvira (c. aD 303), c. 32 in Jurgens, ed., Faith ofOur
Fathers, no. 611s, p. 255.
40 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

from sin or only from excommunication.”! In the fourth century,

St. Ambrose (339-397) taught that the ministry of the Sacrament of
Confession is given “only to priests” (solis . . . sacerdotibus).”? In the
fifth century, Pope St. Leo I (c. 400-461) likewise taught that forgive-
ness for sins through the Sacrament of Penance can only be attained “by
the prayers of the priests” (nisi supplicationibus sacerdotum).”°
With regard to the lapsed, the Council of Nicaea (in 325)
upheld Cyprian’s approach. In canon 8 of this council, the Novatians
(called Cathars) who wished to return to the Catholic Church were
required “to follow the decrees of the catholic and apostolic
Church.”*4 Among these decrees was the willingness to be in commu-
nion “with those who have lapsed in time of persecution and for
whom a period [of penance] has been fixed and an occasion [for
reconciliation] allotted.”*>
The Donatists in North Africa were another rigorist group
who believed that sacramental validity was lost if the bishop or priest
was not holy. This doctrine put many penitents into doubt over the
validity of their sacramental reconciliation. St. Augustine (354-430)
opposed the Donatist heresy, and he laid out the conditions for sinners
to be reconciled through the Sacrament of Penance. While daily sins
could be expiated by “alms, good works, prayer, etc.,” grave sins
required “canonical penance,” which included confession of sins,
voluntary separation from the Eucharist, and satisfaction for sins
according to the penance imposed by the bishop.”° Those fulfilling the
penance imposed by the bishop would belong to a special ordo poeni-
tentium (order of penitents). For Augustine, this ordo served not only
the needs of the penitent but also those of the community because
it provided an example for others to see.?”
Pope St. Leo I (r. 440-461) also opposed the Donatists, and
he taught that sins should be confessed to a bishop or priest in private,
21. Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, trans. Patrick Lynch (St. Louis: Herder,
1958), 439.
22. Ambrose, De Poenitentia I, 2,7: PL 16 392 B: “jus enim hoc solis permissum sacerdotibus est.”
23. Pope Leo I, Epistle 108, 2. PL 54 1174 A: “nisi supplicantibus sacerdotum nequeat obtineri.”
24, Norman Tanner, sj, ed. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils (Washington, DC: Georgetown
University Press, 1990), 1:9-10.
25. Ibid., 10.
26. Riga, Sin and Penance, 92-97.
27. Ibid., 96.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHuRCH History AI

even if the penance is done publicly.”8 In his June 11, 452 letter to
Bishop Theodore of Fréjus (southern France), he speaks of “the
medicine of penance” that enables sinners to “attain forgiveness of
their offenses.””? Christ Jesus, the mediator between God and men
(1 Tm 2:5), “has bestowed this power upon those in charge of his
Church, so that they may impose the performance of a penance on
those who make their confession and also admit them to the commu-
nion of the sacraments through the door of reconciliation once these
(persons) have been cleansed by salutary reparation.”2° St. Leo also
teaches that those “who beg for the assistance of penance and of
speedy reconciliation in time of necessity” are not to be refused. This
is “because we are not able to place boundaries upon the mercy of God
or impose limits of time upon him in whose presence a sincere repen-
tance experiences no delays in obtaining pardon.”*! In Pope Leo I, the
basic components of the sacrament—contrition, confession, and
satisfaction—are clearly evident.
How was the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation
celebrated during the first four centuries of Church history? It seems
that practices varied. In his De paenitentia, Tertullian mentions
penitents wearing sackcloth and ashes. ‘The sackcloth symbolized
“goats separated from Christ’s flock,” and the ashes symbolized
“exclusion from the paradise of the Church.”** There were also peni-
tential practices such as “kneeling, prayer, fasting, and works of
charity.”*4 There is evidence of public confessions being made before
the Church community in both Tertullian and St. Cyprian.*° Some
historians maintain that “up to the end of the fourth century, public
confession of even secret sins was generally required,” and they cite

28. Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery, 123.

29. D-H, 308.
30. Ibid.
31. Ibid., 309.
32. Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery, 124.
33. J. Dallen “Penance, Sacrament of,” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., ed. Berard
Marthaler, orm Conv (Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2003), 11:68. For more details on the forms of
penance, especially liturgical forms, see James Dallen, The Reconciling Community: The Rite of
Penance (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991), 44-76.
34. Dallen, “Penance,” 68.
35. See Poschmann, Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, 44 (for Tertullian) and 60 (for
St. Cyprian).
42 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

passages from the Didascalia and the Apostolic Constitutions.** This

testimony, however, is inconclusive, because it’s not always clear
whether these sources are “imposing public satisfaction” or “merely
counseling public confession.”* In the fifth century, however, Pope
St. Leo I forbade requiring penitents to read a list of their sins in
public.*8 He did not, however, stop the practice of doing public
penances after sins had been confessed privately.
The Rite of Reconciliation during the first four centuries took
on a liturgical and communal dimension. Although lesser-sins could
be expiated by various penitential practices, serious sins needed to be
confessed to the bishop or his appointed priests. After this, the penitents
“entered the order of penitents in a public liturgical rite.”*? The
Church historian Salaman Hermes Sozomen (c. 400-450) provides
some details on the rite of penance in the late fourth century. He
mentions that priests (bishops) saw that “it was burdensome for the
people to confess their sins in public and with the whole church as
witness.”*°Therefore, presbyters (priests) were appointed so that
people could confess their sins to the presbyter privately. They would
then be enrolled into the order of penitents. Sozomen mentions that a
special place was set aside in churches for those doing penance, “where
they stand mourning and weeping, as it were, until the completion of
the Divine Liturgy, not being privileged to participate with the
initiates” and they would “throw themselves prostrate on the ground,
with groaning and lamentation.”*! The bishop would then face the
penitents, prostrate himself on the pavement, and join in their weeping.
The whole community would likewise weep. The bishop then would
raise up each of the penitents and dismiss them.’ After a set period
of penance, the penitents would return to the church for another
ceremony, signifying that they had been released from the punish-
ment for their sins and received back into the eucharistic assembly.

36. E.F. Latko and eds., “Confession, Auricular” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., 4:76.
37. Ibid.
38. See Leo I, Letter 168, 2 in PL 54 1431 A, and also Dallen, The Reconciling Community,
67; cf. D-H, 308-309.
39, Dallen, “Penance,” 69.
40. S.H. Sozomen, History of the Church, Book 7, 16, 1 as cited in Jurgens, 3:253.
41. Ibid.
42. Ibid.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHURCH History 43

This ceremony of reconciliation would usually have the bishop or

priest impose his hands over the reconciled sinner.“
‘This public form of reconciliation was often connected with
Lent, with the reconciliation of public penitents taking place on Holy
‘Thursday after a full Lenten period of penance and prohibition from
the Eucharist.** This Lenten period of public penance persisted into
the Middle Ages and was known as the paenitenia solemnis. This
medieval “solemn penance” was “the last genuine offshoot of the
‘canonical’ penance” of the Patristic Age.“

PENANCE DURING THE LATER PaTristic AGE

(500-800)
The practice of the Sacrament of Penance during this period saw a
gradual move from public to private penances. The Catechism ofthe
Catholic Church provides this summary of the move from public to
private reconciliation:
Over the centuries the concrete form in which the Church has exercised
this power received from the Lord has varied considerably. During the
first centuries the reconciliation of Christians who had committed par-
ticularly grave sins after their Baptism (for example, idolatry, murder, or
adultery) was tied to a very rigorous discipline, according to which peni-
tents had to do public penance for their sins, often for years, before
receiving reconciliation. To this “order of penitents” (which concerned
only certain grave sins), one was only rarely admitted and in certain
regions only once in a lifetime. During the seventh century Irish mission-
aries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental
Europe the “private” practice of penance, which does not require public
and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with
the Church. From that time on, the sacrament has been performed in
secret between penitent and priest. This new practice envisioned the pos-
sibility of repetition and so opened the way to a regular frequenting of
this sacrament. It allowed the forgiveness of grave sins and venial sins
to be integrated into one sacramental celebration. In its main lines this

43. See Dallen, The Reconciling Community, 46, where he cites the early third-century Syrian
text the Didascalia apostolorum,as providing evidence that the laying on of hands was a “central
element” of the rite of reconciliation.
44, Poschmann, Penance and the Anointing ofthe Sick, 144.
45. Ibid., 154.
44 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

is the form of penance that the Church has practiced down to our day.
(CCC, 1447)

Pope Leo I, in his March 6, 459, letter to the bishops of

Campania, had already affirmed secret confession to a priest as an
“apostolic regulation.”*6 He made it clear that “it suffices that the states
of consciences be made to the priests alone in secret confession.”*”‘The
question, though, was whether certain sins required public penance
and enrollment into the order of penitents. The Third Council of
Toledo in 589 upheld the older discipline requiring public penance for
certain sins. In canon 11, the Council document states:
It came to our knowledge that in some Churches in Spain people go
through the discipline of penance for their sins, not according to the
canons, but in a most shameful manner, viz., as often as they happen to
fall into sin they ask for reconciliation from the priest. To eradicate this
execrable presumption this holy Council commands that penance be
granted according to the old canons, which means that [the priest] first
suspends from communion the person who repents of one’s deeds, then
he lets the person come frequently to the imposition of hands along with
the other penitents, that after he or she has completed the time of satis-
faction with the approval of the priest, the priest restores the person to
communion. But those who fall back into their former vices, either during
the time of penance or after reconciliation, should be condemned in
accordance with the severity of the earlier canons.*®

This was clearly a reaction to the new practice of private

penance coming from Ireland and England to France and Spain.*?
‘The practice of private penance from Ireland and England was due to
the influence of the monasteries and the monastic influence on the
lives of those living in rural areas.°° There might have also been a later
Eastern influence in England and Ireland after the appointment of
Theodore of Tarsus as Archbishop of Canterbury in 668.5! From the
sixth century onward, monks from the British Isles and Ireland
46. D-H, 323.
47. Ibid.
48. Jacques Dupuis, sj, ed., The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic
Church, 6th rev. and enl. ed. (New York: Alba House, 1996), no. 1607, p. 621.
49. See ibid., Introduction, 620.
50. Riga, Sin and Penance, 102-103.
51. Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery, 126.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHURCH HisTory 45

brought the practice of private penance to the continent of Europe.

‘They also encouraged priests to make use of manuals of penance
called /idri poenitentiales in assigning penances to penitents.
Gradually, the practice of private penances became the norm in
continental Europe. In spite of the strong reaction of the Third
Council of Toledo “the new penitential procedure” was for the most
part introduced “without friction and without opposition.”? As a
result, public excommunications were no longer tied to sins confessed
in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Instead, they were mostly
imposed for public transgressions. Bishops, though, could reserve the
reconciliation of certain sins to themselves.*4 By the year 800, how-
ever, public penances had mostly disappeared—though they contin-
ued to be enforced for public sinners.*
In the ninth and tenth centuries, there was still a separation
of confession from reconciliation and readmittance to Holy
Communion. According to the Celtic order of penance, “the sinner
should only be admitted to the altar after the fulfillment of the
penance laid on him.”*¢ In practice, though, many sinners were
readmitted after only a short period of penance, or—if they confessed
at the beginning of Lent—they were readmitted to the reception of
Communion on Holy Thursday.°*’ Because of the difficulties involved
in summoning people to a second Rite of Reconciliation, confession
and reconciliation were eventually joined together. By the year 1000,
“the contraction of the penitential procedure into one act” had become
the general practice.** Previously, absolution was given because of the
possibility of death before subsequent reconciliation. Now absolution
was given for the remission of sins. The penance, therefore, came to
be seen as a means of purification from the temporal punishment
or effects of sin rather than the means for the forgiveness of sins.

52. See John T. McNeill and Helena M. Gamer, Medieval Handbooks ofPenance (New York:
Octagon Books, 1963). See also Riga, 105.
53. Poschmann, Pennance and Anointing of the Sick, 132.
54. Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery, 126.
55. Poschmann, Pennance and Anointing of the Sick, 135-136.
56. Ibid., 143.
57. Ibid., 144.
58. Ibid., 145.
46 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

It would, however, take several centuries of development for this

understanding to become the norm.

Tue PENITENTIALS
The /ibri poenitentiales or penitential books were widely used during
the late patristic and early medieval periods. They were, in effect,
confessor guides composed mostly by unknown authors,” although in
some cases the authors were known. Because of the severity of some
of the penitentials, several local councils, such as the Council of Paris
(829), condemned them.* The penitential books, however, continued
to be used, and they reveal how certain sins were regarded as requir-
ing more penance than others. For example, in the Pentitential of
Theodore (668-690), “any woman who puts her daughter upon a roof or
into an oven for the cure of a fever” shall do penance for seven years.©
This, no doubt, was due to the connection of such a cure with pagan
superstition. Someone who slays a child before the child’s Baptism
must do penance for ten years or (under advisement) for seven.
Fornication with a sister requires penance for fifteen years. If a
layman slays another layman the penance is for seven years, with three
of them requiring abstinence from flesh or wine.® If a layman slays a
monk or cleric, he is to do penance for seven years and place himself
before the judgment of his bishop for further possible penalties.
A priest who kisses a woman from desire must do penance for forty
days.°’ If the priest masturbates, he must fast for three weeks.°8
A woman who conceives and slays her child in the womb shall do
penance for one year if the slaying is done forty days or less after

59. Riga, Sin and Penance, 105.

60. McNeill and Garner, Medieval Handbooks ofPenance, 27.
61. Pierre J. Payer, Sex and the Penitentials: The Development ofa Sexual Code 550-1150
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984), 58.
62. McNeill and Gamer, Medieval Handbooks ofPenance, 198.
63. Ibid.
64. Ibid., 186.
65. Ibid., 187.
66. Ibid.
67. Ibid., 191.
68. Ibid.
 Tue SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHURCH HisTory 47

conception.” If, though, the slaying takes place after forty days, she is
to receive the same penance as for homicide, which lasts ten years.”°
These penitential books were not official documents of the
Magisterium, and, as noted above, some local councils censured them
because of perceived errors.”! These penitentials, though, continued to
be used until the late Middle Ages.” After that time, it was up to the
priest to assign appropriate penances according to his own spiritual
and pastoral discretion. In evaluating the penitential books of the early
Middle Ages, we need to keep in mind that it “was a matter of waging
war on the savagery and vice of the still half-children of nature, on
bloodshed, drunkenness and all kinds of natural and unnatural forms
of unchastity.””3 In spite of some abuses—such as paying others to
perform one’s own penance”“—“the penitential books sought to meet
the danger of penance becoming a mechanical business by laying the
greatest emphasis on the truth that the performance of penance is
only efficacious where there is sincere contrition and conversion.”

MEDIEVAL THEOLOGY OF PENANCE: LATIN AND

EASTERN CHURCHES
From the ninth through the thirteenth centuries, the practice
and theology of the Sacrament of Reconciliation developed into a
form very familiar to Catholics of today. One of the questions that
needed to be resolved was whether the performance of the penance
(i.e., the satisfaction) was “the real efficient cause of the forgiveness of
sins” or whether it came from the absolution.” In the ninth and tenth
centuries, confession was primarily a means for the priest to determine
a penance suitable to the severity of sins committed.’” Confession to
the priest was often a means to demonstrate “an emotion of remorse

69. Ibid., 197.

70. Ibid.
71. Riga, Sin and Penance, 105.
72. Ibid.
73. Poschmann, Penance and Anointing of the Sick, 128.
7A. Ibid.
75. Ibid.
76. Ibid., 141.
77. Ibid.
48 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

from the penitent,” which could be both “verbal and non-verbal.”” It

was often expected that the penitent would lie prostrate on the ground
and “bring forth from the depths of his heart groans and sighs and
tears just as God should give to him.”” In the ritual ordinals (ordines)
of the ninth and tenth centuries, “the expectation of tears and other
manifestations of internal remorse were commonplace.”*? In some
rituals for public penance, the confessor was also expected to lie
prostrate with the penitents.*! Confessors were often expected to
recite or sing the seven penitential psalms with the penitent and to
pray together with tears and sighs.** In sermons given to penitents,
confessors would frequently speak of their own sinfulness. In one ordo,
the priest says: “Brother, do not be ashamed to confess your sins, for
I am also a sinner and perhaps I have done worse deeds than you have
done.”* One ordo actually states that “the priest ought to name
individual sins to the one to whom he gives penance, saying: ‘man is
weak, my son. I have committed such and such a sin; if you have done
the same thing, tell me, because I am like you in my sins.”*4
Because the emphasis in these ordines was on the sorrow and
the acts of penance, the words of absolution were almost always
deprecatory or supplicative, i.e., they took the form of an appeal to
God for forgiveness. In the early Middle Ages, sacramental absolution
“had the general senseof an intercessory prayer emanating from one
who possessed the power of loosing, and for this reason a special
efficacy.” ®° During this period, there was no “fixed formula of
absolution.”* Instead of the later medieval formula of “I absolve you”
(ego te absolve), the bishop or priest would call “upon the mercy of
God in a series of prayers, many of which invoke the prayers and

78. Karen Wagner, “Cum Aliquis VeneritAd Sacerdotem: Penitential Experience in the Central
Middle Ages,” in Abigail Firey, ed.,4New History ofPenance (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2008),
208.
79. Ibid.
80. Ibid., 209.
81. Ibid., 213.
82. Ibid., 214.
83. Ibid., 215.
84. Ibid.
85. Poschmann, Penance and Anointing of the Sick, 148.
86. Ibid., 149.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHURCH History 49

intercessions of Mary, Peter, and all the saints.”8” The absolution by

the priest would be in the form of a prayer of supplication. One form
used was: “Almighty and eternal God, out of your mercy take away
the sins confessed to you by this your servant N.”®
During the early medieval period, “satisfaction was still
considered the real efficient cause for the forgiveness of sins.”®?
Because of this, it was sometimes believed that “a man obtains the
grace of forgiveness more easily if he confesses the shame of his sin to
several persons.””° Although mortal sins needed to be confessed to a
priest, confession to laymen and laywomen came to be seen as a form
of “spiritual therapy” and as “an ordinary means for the remission of
venial sins.”?! St. Bede the Venerable (673-735) recommended this
type of confession of venial sins based on James 5:16: “Confess your
sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be
healed.” In actuality, this custom of mutual confession “gained only
slight acceptance,” while the practice of ecclesiastical penance for
grave sins was “universally recognized.””> For St. Thomas Aquinas
(c. 1225-1274), confession to a layperson could remit venial sin
(ST Suppl. 8, 3), but confession to a priest would be necessary for
sacramental absolution (ST Suppl. 8, 6, 3).
It was during the Middle Ages that Penance came to be
universally recognized as one of the Seven Sacraments. ** While the
word sacrament (sacramentum) had been used for Penance from the
earliest centuries of the Christian era.* St. Peter Damian
(c. 1007-1072) saw the Sacrament of Confession (sacramentum confes-
sionis) as the seventh of twelve sacraments.”° By the twelfth century,
however, the Sacrament of Confession—now generally called the

87. Wagner, “Cum Aliquis Venerit,” 217.

88. This form of absolution is taken from the Gelasian Sacramentary, ed. H. Wilson (Oxford,
1894), 65, as cited by Wagner, “Cum Aliquis Venerit,” 217. For some other forms of absolution
see Amann, in DTC, vol. 12, pt. 1, pp. 905-907.
89. Poschmann, Penance and Anointing of the Sick, 141.
90. Ibid., 141-142.
91. Ibid., 142.
92. Ibid.
93. Ibid.
94. Amann, in DTC, vol 12, pt. 1, p. 944.
95. Ibid.
96. Ibid.
50 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

sacramentum paenitentiae®’—was listed as one of the Seven

Sacraments. Peter Lombard (1100-1160) solidified this listing in his
Four Books ofSentences, which became the standard theological textbook
up to the sixteenth century.”* The Profession ofFaith ofEmperor
Michael Paleologus—read aloud during session 4 of the Second
Council of Lyon (1274)—affirmed Seven Sacraments, including
Penance (paenitentia).°? The Decree for the Armenians of the Council
of Florence (November 22, 1439) specified the “Seven Sacraments
of the New Law,” with Penance (paenitentia) as one of them.'°° The
Council of Trent, in its March 3, 1537 Decree on the Sacraments,
defined the Seven Sacraments as all having been instituted by Jesus
Christ, and anathematized those who claim there are “more or fewer
than seven.” 10!
The Eastern Byzantine Churches, both Catholic and
Orthodox, also affirmed Seven Sacraments even if there were some
isolated departures from this number. For the most part, the
Byzantine theologians of the Middle Ages did not employ the catego-
ries of matter and form with regard to the sacraments. One exception,
however, was a Synod held in Cyprus around 1260 under Archbishop
Germain Pessimandros. ‘This synod stated that each sacrament had a
matter and a determinate form—though this might have been due to
Latin influence. ' Later Byzantine theology would prefer to speak in
terms of the visible elements of the sacrament rather than its matter. 1%
The form of absolution of the Byzantines, as well as the of Russians
and Romanians, generally has been traditionally supplicative or
deprecatory rather than indicative.°°Some Byzantine theologians
have argued that this form of absolution is preferable because it shows

97. Ibid.
98. On the listing of the seven sacraments, see Peter Lombard, IV Sentances, dist. II, c. I. On
the use of the Sentences as a theological textbook, see Ulrich G. Leinsle, Introduction to Scholastic
Theology, trans. Michael J. Miller (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 2010), 98-102.
99. D-H, 860.
100. Ibid., 1310.
101. Ibid., 1601.
102. M.Jugie, “La Pénitence dans lEglise Greque aprés le schisme” in DTC, vol. 12, pt. 1,
p. 1128.
103. Ibid., 1129.
104. Ibid., 1130.
105. Ibid., 1131.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHurRCH History 51

that Christ, not the priest, is the true minister of the sacrament. !
In reality, though, “the Greek form of absolution is deprecative (i.e.,
in the third person, “May God forgive . . . ’) whereas in the Slavonic
books it is indicative (i.e., in the first person, ‘I forgive|».seur'}:07The
Syrian Orthodox use a indicative form for the absolution of the laity
and a deprecative form for the absolution of the clergy. 1
In most Eastern Churches (Catholic as well as Orthodox)
“confessions are heard, not in a closed confessional separating confes-
sor and penitent, but in any convenient part of the church, usually in
the open immediately in front of the iconostasis.”!°’ Due to Latin
influence, many Chaldean and Maronite Catholic churches now have
confessionals, but Byzantine Catholics churches generally do not.
Although Confession can be done standing next to the priest, most
Eastern Christian Confessions have both the penitent and the priest
sitting. '!° After the confession of sins, the priest will place his stole
(epitrachelion) “on the penitent’s head, and then laying his hands upon
the stole, says the prayer of absolution.” ‘The priest can impose a
penance, but it is not considered an essential part of the sacramental
rite. '? The emphasis is on spiritual healing, and the priest will usually
give advice to this effect.
Although there are differences of practice and emphasis,
Catholics and Orthodox Christians both consider Penance or
Confession one of the Seven Sacraments or mysteries of the Church.
They both recognize the priest or bishop as the only minister of this
sacrament, and they both see this as a sacrament instituted by Christ.
At the reunion councils of Lyon II (1274) and Florence (1439-1445),
there did not seem to be any substantive disagreements over the
Sacrament of Penance.
As scholasticism developed during the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, various speculative and legal issues were treated. Many of
106. Ibid., 1131-1132.
107. Timothy (Metropolitan Kallistos) Ware, The Orthodox Church, new ed. (London: Penguin
Books, 1993), 289.
108. See Syrian Orthodox Dioceses of North American and Canada, “The Sacrament of
Repentance” (1998): http://sor.cua.edu/ Liturgy/Anaphora/Repentance.html.
109. Ware, The Orthodox Church, 288.
110. Ibid.
111. Ibid., 289.
112. Ibid., 290.
52 The Sacrament ofReconctliation

these were treated by the canonist Gratian in the middle of the

twelfth century.!!3 Among the most debated issues was what type of
sorrow was needed for the forgiveness of sins. Another issue was
whether it was the acts of the penitent or the absolution of the priest
that brought about forgiveness.
The Council of Trent, in its Doctrine on the Sacrament of
Penance (November 25, 1551), taught that “imperfect contrition” is a
“sift of God and a prompting of the Holy Spirit” that disposes the
sinner “to obtain the grace of God in the Sacrament of Penance.”
This helped to resolve a medieval controversy of the thirteenth century
between those who held that perfect sorrow or contrition was neces-
sary for the remission of sins in confession, and those who believed
that imperfect sorrow, called attrition, was sufficient for obtaining
forgiveness. Alan of Lille (d. 1202) used the term attrition (a¢tritio)
“to express a certain displeasure for sin, but one not deep enough to
prompt the sinner to a firm purpose of amendment.”!> Alan believed
that those who have attrition are less evil, “but they do not cease to
be evil until they are perfectly contrite.”"° William of Auvergne
(d. 1249) held a more positive view of attrition, regarding it “as the
first step in the removal of sin.”!!” He looked upon contrition as
“motivated by the love of God and informed, informata, by sanctifying
grace, which leads to justification with the remission of sin and eternal
suffering.”"8He saw attrition as “a sorrow for sin which is not yet
informed by charity.” To William of Auvergne, attrition was sufficient
to approach the Sacrament of Confession. To obtain pardon for sins,
however, attrition needed to be changed into contrition. This is
brought about by absolution, which transforms attrition into contri-
tion ex opere operato.

113. See Joseph Goering, “The Scholastic Turn (1100-1500): Penitential Theology and Law
in the Schools” in Firey, ed. 4 New History of Penance, 219-237.
114. Ibid., 1678.
115. P. F Palmer, “Attrition and Attritionism” in Berard L. Marthaler, orm Conv, ed., New
Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., (Detroit: Thomas Gale, 2003), 1:842.
116. Alan of Lille, Regulae de sacra theologia, 85; cited in Palmer, “Attrition and Attritionism,”
842.
117. Palmer, “Attrition and Attritionism,” 842.
118. A. Michel, in DTC, vol. 12, pt. 1, p. 955 (author's translation).
119. Ibid.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHURCH History 53

St. Bonaventure (c. 1217-1274) and St. Thomas Aquinas

(c. 1225-1274) took the side of William of Auvergne in this contro-
versy. In deference to Peter Lombard, however, they maintained that
contrition was the only proper disposition for Sacrament of
Reconciliation. Nevertheless, they both believed that attrition, “when
informed by the priest’s absolution would result in perfect contrition
and the remission of sins.” !2°
St. Thomas Aquinas likewise helped to resolve the question
of whether forgiveness of sins is brought about by the absolution of the
priest or the works of the penitent. He did this by specifying the
works of the penitent—contrition, confession and satisfaction—as the
matter of the sacrament and absolution as the form.'7! In the Sacrament
of Reconciliation, “the matter and form do not produce their effect
separately, but only in combination of a single cause—una causa—so
that the personal acts of the penitent as well as the power of the keys
are the cause of the forgiveness of sins.”!??The absolution by the priest
(or even the desire for this absolution) “delivers a person from eternal
punishment as well as the guilt” (ST Suppl., 10, 2). But the person
still remains bound to make satisfaction for the temporal punishment
that remains after the sin has been forgiven. A person can cleanse
himself from such temporal punishment in this life or, if need be, in
post-mortem purification or purgatory. The Church, by the power of
the keys, can also offer indulgences to help the faithful be purified
from the temporal effects of sin (ST Suppl., 25-27).
Throughout the Middle Ages, a strong penitential spirit was
manifested by clergy and laity alike. In many monasteries, the monks
would practice self-flagellation “as a method of mortification and
penitence.”4 This was later taken up by the medicant friars, espe-
cially the Franciscans. Members of the laity would also undertake this
discipline. Throughout the medieval and into the early modern period,
there were “penitential pilgrims, known as flagellants for their signal
120. See Palmer, “Attrition and Attritionism,” 842-843, and Bonaventure, In IVSent.,
17.2.2.3 in St. Bonaventure, Opera Omnia [Quaracchi ed.] (Florence: Typographia Collegii S.
Bonaventurae, 1889) vol. 4, p. 430; see also ST Suppl., 3a, 81, 1. ‘
121. See ST III, 90, 1-3 (on contrition, confession, and satisfaction).
122. Poschmann, Penance and Anointing of the Sick, 168; cf. Thomas Aquinas, IV Sent., 22, 2,1,
1; ST II, 86, 6.
123. Indulgences are treated more extensively in Appendix C.
124. Poschmann, Penance and Anointing of the Sick, 152-153.
54 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

behavior” who “traveled from city to city, expiating the sins of the
world through the mortification of their own flesh.”’” Pilgrimages to
holy places also became forms of doing penance. Such penitential
pilgrimages eventually became ways of gaining indulgences along
with participation in the Crusades. 17°
In addition to the Second Council of Lyon (1274), two other
medieval councils touched on the Sacrament of Penance. ‘The Fourth
Lateran Council (1215) established the precept of Confession at least
once a year along with yearly reception of the Eucharist (at least
during Easter).!?” Lateran IV also laid out the obligation of the
confessor, especially the obligation not to betray the sinner by reveal-
ing a sin. 178
In the late Middle Ages, the Council of Constance (1418)
posed various questions to the followers of John Wycliffe and Jan
Hus.'”° Two of these directly concerned the Sacrament of Confession.
Question 20 asked whether they believed that a Christian is bound to
confess only to a priest if a qualified one is available. °° Question 21
asked whether they believed that a priest “in the cases permitted to
him, can absolve from sin a sinner who has confessed and is contrite
and impose a penance on him.”15! Questions 26-28 asked whether
they accepted the power of the pope and bishops to grant

125. Gretchen Starr-LeBeau, “Lay Piety and Community Identity in the Early Modern
World,” in Firey,ANew History ofPenance, 396.
126. Dominique Iogna-Prat, “Topographies of Penance in the Latin West (c. 800—c. 1200)”
in Firey,4 New History ofPenance, 161-163.
127.vD-H, 812.
128. Ibid., 813-814. This was clearly meant to protect the confessional secret, a topic treated
in Appendix B.
129. The Council of Constance was held from Dec. 5, 1414 until April 22, 1418, and it is
considered the sixteenth ecumenical council by the Catholic Church. The council’s greatest
achievement was the ending of the schism caused by three simultaneous claimants to the papacy.
It also posthumously censured 45 propositions of the English theologian John Wycliffe (1324—
1384), who had translated the Bible into English without proper authorization and had
anticipated later Protestant themes such as predestination and sola scriptura. The Council also
condemned 30 errors of the Bohemian (Czech) theologian Jan Hus (1369- 1415), who repeated
many of the teachings of Wycliffe and held that that Communion must be received under both
species to receive the full Christ.TheCouncil of Constance not only condemned the 30 errors of
Hus; it also handed him over to the civil authorities for execution. See the introduction to “the
Council of Constance” in D-H, 1150-1230.
130. D-H, 1260.
131. Ibid., 1261.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHURCH History 55

indulgences,” and questions 32-33 asked whether they accepted the

power of the pope and other prelates to excommunicate those guilty
of disobedience or obstinacy. !33

Tue Councit oF FLORENCE ON PENANCE (1439)

The Council of Florence was intended to be a reunion council that
would bring the separated Eastern Churches back into full commu-
nion with the Catholic Church. In its 1439 Decree for the Armenians,
Florence presents Penance (paenitentia) as the fourth of Seven
Sacraments. It specifies the actions of the penitent as the “quasi-mat-
ter” of the sacrament. These actions are: (a) sorrow for sin with the
firm resolution not to sin in the future; (b) the oral confession to one’s
priest of all the sins remembered in their integrity; and (c) “satisfaction
for sins according to the judgment of the priest, which is mainly
achieved by prayer, fasting and almsgiving.”*4
The Decree for the Armenians also identifies the form of the
sacrament as “the words of absolution” pronounced by the priest.1°°
The minister “is the priest who has either ordinary authority to absolve
or that commissioned by a superior,”°° Finally, the effect of the
sacrament “is absolution from sins.” 15” It is noteworthy that the effect
is the absolution from sins. This is a clear development from the early
medieval notion that forgiveness of sins is brought about by the
penitential acts of the penitent.

THe CHALLENGE OF THE PROTESTANT

REFORMERS
We have already seen that questions were posed to the followers of
Wycliffe and Hus. These questions indicate that the followers of
Wycliffe and Hus were challenging Catholic teachings on the

132. Ibid., 1266-1268.

133. Ibid., 1272-1273.
134. Ibid., 1323.
135. Ibid.
136. Ibid. Appendix A treats the faculties required for a priest to be a minister of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation.
137. D-H, 1323.
56 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

Sacrament of Penance, indulgences, and the authority of the Church

to excommunicate. Similar problems emerged in Spain with the
publication of a book, De confessione, by the Salamanca professor
Petrus Martinez of Osma.138 In his papal bull of August 9, 1479, Pope
Sixtus IV condemned eight errors of Peter of Osma, which had been
previously condemned in Spain.8?Among these errors are: confession
of sin in detail is established by the Church and not by divine law; '°
both the guilt and the punishment of mortal sins can be taken away
by contrition alone without confession to a priest; the Roman
Pontiff cannot remit the punishment of purgatory;'” and the bestowal
of grace by the Sacrament of Penance is not an institution of either the
Old or the New Testament.
Martin Luther (1483-1546) not only criticized the Church’s
practice of indulgences; 4 he also challenged many teachings associ-
ated with the Sacrament of Confession. Cardinal Cajetan’s efforts of
October 1518 to have Luther recant did not succeed, !*° nor did the
disputations of Johannes Eck with Luther during the summer of
1519.14 As a result, Pope Leo X issued a papal bull, Exsurge Domine,
138. Petrus (Peter) Martinez of Osma, or Pedro Martinez of Osma (d. 1480), was a professor
of theology at the University of Salamanca in Spain from 1463 until some of his positions were
condemned as heretical by the Spanish Inquisition in 1479. Some of his ideas on confession and
indulgences resembled those of Wycliffe and Hus. See Joseph O'Callaghan,4 History ofMedieval
Spain (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press), 634.
139. See Introduction to D-H, 1411-1419.
140. D-H, 1411.
141. Ibid., 1412.
142. Ibid., 1416
143. Ibid., 1418.
144. Indulgences were grants issued by the Catholic Church for the remission of temporal
punishment due to sin. Although indulgences encouraged various acts of piety and spiritual
communion between the living and the dead, certain abuses crept in—especially when donations
were able to substitute for acts of piety. This gave the impression of paying for the remission of
sins. See Robert Fastiggi, “Introduction: A Short History and ‘Theology of Indulgences” in
Edward N. Peters, 4Modern Guide to Indulgences (Chicago: Hillenbrand Books, 2008), 1-13.
Today most Catholics concede that Luther was correct to protest against the abuses of
indulgences. His protests, however, extended beyond the practice of indulgences.
145. Thomas de Vio/Cardinal Cajetan (1469-1534) was a great Dominican theologian
known for his commentaries on St. Thomas Aquinas. He was sent by Pope Leo X in 1518 to
persuade Luther to renounce his errors.
146. See Leo X, Bull Exsurge Domine (1520), introduction, in D-H, 145 1-1492. Johannes or
Johann Eck (1486-1546) was a Catholic professor of theology at the German University of
Ingolstadt who engaged Luther in a series of debates at the University of Leipzig during the
summer of 1519. Both sides claimed victory in the debate. See John Dillenberger, ed., Martin
Luther: Selections from His Writings (New York: Doubleday, 1961), xxii.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHURCH History 57

censuring 41 propositions of Luther.” Some of these errors go right

to the heart of the Church’s doctrine on Penance." For example,
Luther denied that the three parts of Penance (contrition, confession,
and satisfaction) had any foundation in Sacred Scripture or the
ancient Church." He believed that a contrition which emerges from
a detestation of sin and the fear of eternal damnation makes a person
a hypocrite and a greater sinner than before.!°°He taught that it’s not
the priest’s absolution that remits sin but the belief that one is
absolved.'*! Luther also described indulgences as “a pious fraud,” and
he rejected their salutary benefit for the living and their efficacy for
the dead.1?
During his lifetime, Luther “fluctuated in his attitude toward
the Sacrament of Penance.”' In his 1520 treatise On the Babylonian
Captivity ofthe Church, he wrote: “Private confession . . . though it
cannot be proved from Scripture, is wholly commendable, useful, and
indeed necessary.”4 Luther, however, reduced the sacrament to God’s
“word of promise” and our faith.> He did not believe there was a true
sign instituted by Christ connected with the Sacrament of Penance,
and, therefore, he expressed some ambivalence over its status as a

147. These propositions were extracted from various writings and sermons of Luther. For a
list see the introduction to D-H, 1451-1492.
148. The footnotes in D-H pp. 1451-1492, provide references to Luther's writings that relate
to each of the errors.
149. D-H, 1455.
150. Ibid., 1456. Luther believed that this fear of hell made one a hypocrite because it
emerged from a confidence in one’s own works for salvation rather than the merits of Christ. See
A. Michel in DTC, vol. 12, pt. 1, p. 1059.
151. Ibid., 1461-1462.
152. Ibid., 1468, 1470, 1472.
153. Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery, 127.
154. Martin Luther, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, as cited in Documents ofthe
Christian Church, 3rd ed., Ed. Henry Bettenson and Chris Maunder, (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1999), 221.
155. Ibid. See also A. Michel in DTC, vol. 12, pt. 1, p. 1060, where he cites Luther's Werke,
6:543-544.
58 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

sacrament. !°° Although he sometimes referred to it as a sacrament,

he also denied it sacramental status because “it was simply a return to
the grace of Baptism, not a means of accessing grace beyond
Baptism.”57Ultimately, he saw confession to a pastor as a way for the
sinner to return to the promises of God received at Baptism.'** Luther
also obscured the priestly power of the keys to remit sins and the need
for doing penances for satisfaction. °° According to Luther, true penance
is the observance of the commandments and a new life according to the
law of God." For him, the idea of obligatory penance seemed too
connected to justification by “works.”'*! He and his followers did,
though, develop “a reformed version of private confession” consisting of
“confession of sin and absolution.” Because of Luther’s understand-
ing of imputed or forensic justification, however, he did not believe
Confession brought about any “real interior forgiveness.” ' Instead, it
was a reminder to have faith in Christ’s promise to cover over human
sin with his righteousness. It was seen as “an effective way of provid-
ing the faithful with confidence of divine forgiveness, even as they
experienced seeming divine absence and wrath.” !*
The Swiss Protestant Reformer Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)
was even more opposed to penance than Luther. In his Sixty-Seven

156. Luther's ambivalence regarding Penance as a true sacrament is reflected in his Sma//
Catechism, which states that only Baptism and the Lord’s Supper measure up to the definition of
a sacrament as “a sacred act, instituted by Christ.” Nevertheless, there is a section of the Catechism
devoted to “The Ministry of the Keys and Confession.” See G. Gausewitz, ed., Doctor Martin
Luther's Small Catechism (Milwaukee: Northwest Publishing House, 1956), 191-218. This
ambivalence seems to be reflected in Lutheran confessional stances today. The Evangelical
Lutheran Church of America names only Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as sacraments; see
“What is a sacrament for Lutherans?” in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Worship
Formation and Liturgical Resources: Frequently Asked Questions (2013), http://www.elca.org
/worshipfaq. The Missouri Synod Lutherans, however, believe that “absolution” can be considered
a sacrament, even though they don't seem to insist on this.
157. Ronald K. Rittgers, “Embracing the “True Relic’ of Christ: Suffering, Penance, and
Private Confession in the Thought of Martin Luther” in Firey, ed. A New History ofPenance, 392,
fn. 61.
158. See A. Michel in DTC, vol. 12, pt. 1, p. 1060, citing Luther's Werke, 6:572.
159.vSee Haftner, TheSacramental Mystery, 127; Poschmann, Penance and Anointing ofthe Sick,
200; and A. Michel, in DTC, vol. 12, pt. 1, pp. 1060-1062.
160. A. Michel, in DTC, vol. 12, pt. 1, p. 1062, citing Luther's Werke, 1:534.
161. Haffner, Sacramental Mystery, 127.
162. Rittgers, “Embracing the “True Relic’ of Christ,” 390-391.
163. Haffner, Sacramental Mystery, 127.
164. Rittgers, “Embracing the “True Relic’ of Christ,” 393.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHURCH HisTorY 59

Articles, he wrote: “Christ has borne all our pains and labors. Therefore
whoever assigns to works of penance what belongs to Christ errs and
slanders God” (article LIV). He also believed that “anyone who
pretends to remit to a penitent being any sin would not be a vicar of
God or St. Peter, but of the Devil” (article LV).1%
John Calvin (1509-1564) was willing to accept Confession as
“a primitive and useful institution”!” that might be helpful to those
“who suffer anxiety for their sins.”‘* Ultimately, though, he rejected it
as a sacrament in his Institutes of Christian Religion.’ He maintained
that “the Romanists and Schoolman” were guilty of “falsehood and
imposture” for establishing this “fictitious sacrament.” !”° He believed
that a Christian who sins should recall “the forgiveness of sins which
was promised to him at Baptism.”!”! Thus Calvin obscured the
distinction between the Sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation.

THE Counclit oF TRENT (1545-1563)

The Council of Trent is considered the nineteenth ecumenical council
by the Catholic Church. The desire for a general or ecumenical
council to counter the teachings of the Protestants was requested in
1529 by Emperor Charles V. Because of various political factors and
disputes about location, it was not begun until December 13, 1545.
There were three major periods of the council and 25 sessions lasting
from December 1545 until December 1563.1”
In response to the above Protestant challenges, the Council
of Trent provided a detailed document on the Sacrament of Penance
(November 25, 1551) and a brief summary and affirmation of the
Church’s teaching on indulgences (December 4, 1563). Trent’s
Doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance contains nine chapters and 15
canons. The chapters cover: (1) the necessity and the institution of the

165. Ulrich Zwingli, Sixty-Seven Articles, in Samuel Macauley Jackson, ed., Selected Works of
Huldreich Zwingli (Philadelphia: Longmans, Green & Company, 1901), 116.
166. Ibid.
167. Poschamann, Penance and Anointing ofthe Sick, 200, fn. 6.
168. Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery, 127.
169. John Calvin, Institutes ofthe Christian Religion, bk. III, ch. 4; bk. IV, ch. 19.
170. Ibid., bk. IV, ch. 19, n. 17.
171. Ibid.
172. See introduction to D-H, 1500-1870.
60 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

Sacrament of Penance; (2) the differences between the Sacraments

of Penance and Baptism; (3) the parts of Penance and its effects;
(4) contrition; (5) confession; (6) the minister of the sacrament and
absolution; (7) the jurisdiction and reservation of cases; (8) the neces-
sity and fruit of satisfaction; (9) the works of satisfaction. ’”°
The fifteen canons reaffirm the Church’s belief that: (1) the
Sacrament of Penance was instituted by Christ; (2) Baptism and
Penance are really distinct; (3) the Church received the power of
forgiving and retaining sins from Christ through the Holy Spirit
(Jn 20:22ff,); (4) there are three acts are required of the penitent:
contrition, confession, and satisfaction; (5) contrition emerging from
hatred of sin is something good; (6) sacramental confession was
instituted by divine law as necessary for salvation; (7) it is necessary to
confess each and all mortal sins that are remembered; (8) confession
of all sins is possible; (9) the sacramental absolution by a priest is a
true juridical act; (10) priests in mortal sin can still absolve; (11)
bishops have the right to reserve certain cases to themselves; (12)
satisfaction to expiate the effects of sin is something good; (13) there
is the need to make satisfaction for the temporal punishment due
to sin; (14) atoning for sin through Christ Jesus is from God and
not from men; and (15) priests through the power of the keys can
impose penances. 4
The Council of Trent helped to clarify Catholic teaching on
the sacrament, and it defined various truths about the sacrament that
Catholics must hold. Many of the anathemas of the fifteen canons
were clearly directed against positions of the Protestant reformers, but
some of them helped to clarify matters that were under dispute in the
Catholic schools. Trent clearly teaches that Penance is a true sacra-
ment instituted by Christ. It also maintains that imperfect contrition,
which is called attrition, is sufficient to dispose the sinner to receive
the grace of the sacrament.’ Trent makes it clear that all mortal sins
remembered must be confessed to a priest. 17° It upholds the absolution
of the priest (even one in mortal sin) as a true juridical act, and it
teaches that priests “exercise the office of forgiving sins as ministers

173. D-H, 1667-1693.

174. Ibid., 1701-1715.
175. Ibid., 1678.
176. Ibid., 1680, 1707.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHURCH History 61

through the power of the Holy Spirit conferred in ordination.”177

Bishops have the right to reserve certain sins to themselves,'”8 and
true satisfaction for the temporal punishment due to sin is made to
God by carrying out the penances assigned by the confessor. 1”
The Council of Trent not only refuted the errors of the
Protestants regarding the Sacrament of Penance; it also resolved a
number of issues for Catholics. As Msgr. Bernhard Poschmann writes:
‘The primary importance of the Council for the development of dogma
consists in the fact that it sanctioned definitively the teaching that had
been inaugurated by St. Thomas and had soon become general, that the
sacrament is the efficient cause of the forgiveness of sins. Moreover, it
swept away forever the theory of the merely declarative character of abso-
lution.1°

This teaching of Trent on the true remission of sins by priestly

absolution left intact the need to do penance for the expiation of the
temporal effects of sin. These penances “greatly detach penitents from
sin” and “they heal the after-effects of sin and destroy evil habits.”1°!
In addition to the performance of the penances assigned by the priest
in the Sacrament of Confession, the Council of Trent also affirms the
use of indulgences “as most salutary to the Christian people.”
Indulgences, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, are beneficial “for the
remission of the punishment which remains after contrition, absolu-
tion, and confession.” They are effective because of “the oneness of the
mystical body in which so many have performed works of satisfaction”
(ST Suppl. 25, 1). The Council of Trent does not provide a lengthy
discussion of the theology of indulgences. It does, however, affirm
that the Church received the power to grant indulgences from Christ,
who bestowed the power of binding and loosing on Peter and the
other apostles (Mt 16:1; 18:18).1*° While recognizing indulgences as
“most salutary,” Trent recognizes the need for moderation in the

177. Ibid., 1684; cf. 1710.

178. Ibid., 1787 and 1711; the reservation of sins is a subject taken up in Appendix A.
179. Ibid., 1690-1692, 1713.
180. Poschmann, Penance and Anointing ofthe Sick, 202.
181. D-H, 1690.
182. Ibid., 1835.
183. D-H, 1835.
62 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

granting of them, and it warns against any abuses and “all base gain
for securing indulgences.”'**
The Council of Trent remains to this day the great source for
authoritative Catholic doctrine on the Sacrament of Reconciliation
'** In spite of Trent’s clear
and, to some extent, on indulgences.
teachings on the Sacrament of Penance, the Magisterium found it
necessary to intervene on some disputes that emerged in the centuries
following the Council.

Post-I RIDENTINE MAGISTERIAL INTERVENTIONS

ON PENANCE
The Council of Trent spoke of the secret manner of confessing “to a
priest alone” and “secret sacramental confession.” !*° Questions,
though, still remained about the obligations connected with the
sacramental seal. Could a confessor, for example, who becomes the
superior of a religious community, make use of the knowledge of the
sins of others gained in Confession in his governance of the commu-
nity? Pope Clement VIII, in a May 26, 1593, Decree to All Religious
Superiors, stated that such superiors “should take the greatest care not
to make use in external governance of the knowledge of the sins of
others they have gained in confession.”18”He likewise commanded
that this “be observed by all religious superiors whatsoever, whoever
they may be.” 1%
‘The late sixteenth century also saw the introduction of the
confessional into Catholic churches of the Latin Rite. St. Charles
Borromeo (1538-1584), the Archbishop of Milan, encouraged the
placement of confessionals in churches in his 1577 instruction on
church construction and furnishing entitled Instructiones fabricae et

184. Ibid. Indulgences are discussed in more detail in Appendix C,

185. In this regard, it is worth noting how frequently Trent is cited in the Catechism of the
Catholic Church's treatment of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (CCC, 1422-1470).
While Trent is cited in the CCC, 1472, on indulgences, most of the Catechism’s references on
indulgences are from Paul VI’s 1967 apostolic constitution Indulgentiarum doctrina.
186. D-H, 1683.
187. Ibid., 1989.
188. Ibid.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHuRCH History 63

supellectilis ecclesiasticae.'*” The confessional was intended to bring

about greater secrecy, modesty, and anonymity. !*° Pope Paul V
incorporated the placement of confessionals in the Roman Ritual of
1614, and he mandated that confessions of female penitents take place
in the confessional except in cases of illness.1”
At the start of the seventeenth century, there emerged another
dispute over the thesis that “sacramental confession, following a
confession of sins transmitted to another priest by letter or some other
means, was valid.”!” ‘The Jesuits considered this to be an open ques-
tion, but the Holy Office, on June 20, 1602, ruled that the thesis of
absolution given to one who confessed from a distance was “false,
rash, and scandalous.”’3Pope Clement VIII, through the Holy
Office, ordered that “this proposition not be taught in public or private
lectures, assemblies, and conferences: and that it may never in any
circumstances be defended as probable, published, or in any way put
into practice.”14
The Spanish Jesuit Francisco Suarez (1548-1617) read the
June 29, 1602, Decree of the Holy Office carefully. This decree had
condemned the proposition “that it is permitted to confess sins
sacramentally to an absent confessor by letter or through a messenger
and to receive absolution from this same absent confessor (et ab eodem
absente absolutionem obtinere).” °° Suarez had just completed a book,
De poenitentia, late in 1601, which consisted of 57 disputations on
Aquinas’ Summa theologiae III, 84-90, dealing with the virtue and
Sacrament of Penance. Sudrez’s book, !° which was published in
September 1602, discussed the question of confession from a distance
in cases of necessity in disput. 21. sec. 4.°” Suarez knew this was a

189. Charles Borromeo, Instructiones fabricae et supellectilis Ecclesiasticae, ed. Stefano Della
Torre and Massimo Marinelli (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000).
190. Edward McNamara, “Anonymity in the Confessional” Zenit [English], April 6, 2004.
191. See “Penance—General Rules” in Rituale Romanum, ed. Philip T. Weller (Milwaukee:
The Bruce Publishing Company, 1964), accessed at www.sanctamissa.org/.
192. See introduction to D-H, 1994.
193. D-H, 1994.
194. Ibid.
195. Ibid.
196. Raoul De Scorraille, Francois Suarez de la Compagnie de Jésus, vol. 2 (Paris: P. Lethielleux,
1913), 52.
197. Francisco Su4rez, Opera Omnia, ed. L. Vivés, vol. 22 (Paris, 1866), 462-465.
64 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

matter that had been discussed in the early Church, and it dealt with
the question of whether someone (struck, for example, in battle or
suffering from a serious injury) should be denied absolution if he had
expressed his sorrow for sin before others, but, by the time the priest
arrived, was unable to confess his sins verbally. Suarez cited a letter of
Pope St. Leo I (c. 440-461), which stated that the Sacrament of
Penance is not be denied to someone in this afflicted state. 18 This led
to the hypothetical question of whether confessions and absolutions
could be done through mail or via a messenger. Suarez argued that
confessions might be possible from a distance, but the absolution must
be given by the priest in the presence of the penitent. 1”
Suarez accepted the June 20, 1602, ruling of the Holy Office,
but he understood the copulative e¢ in a conjunctive rather than a
disjunctive manner.” If understood in a conjunctive (joined-together)
manner, then the sacrament would only be invalid when oth confes-
sion of sins and the absolution occurred from a distance. If understood
in a disjunctive (separated) manner, then the sacrament would be
invalid if either the confession of sins or the absolution were separated
in time. Sudrez, therefore, maintained that the decree condemned
only the administration of the Sacrament of Penance when doth the
confession of sins ad the absolution occurred in absence of the priest.
Word of Suarez’s interpretation spread to Rome, and a question was
raised before the Holy Office of whether his understanding was
acceptable. On June 7, 1603, the Holy Office replied with this ruling:
Response: Since the words of this above-mentioned decree [of June 20,
1602] and from their form it is clearly shown that his Holiness has con-
demned not only the proposition which affirms that it is licit to obtain
absolution from an absent priest but also [the proposition which affirms]
that it is licit to confess sins sacramentally to an absent confessor and

198. See Ibid., 463, where Suarez cites Letter 89 (otherwise 91) of Pope Leo I. See also
Victor Salas and Robert Fastiggi, “Introduction: Francisco Suérez, the Man and His Work,” in 4
Companion to Francisco Suarez, ed. Victor Salas and Robert Fastiggi (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill,
2015), 19.
199. See Suarez, Opera Omnia, 22:465, and De Scorraille, vol. 2:65.
200. Suarez believed that the priest giving absolution only needed to be aware of the
disposition of the penitent. In disput. 21, sec. 4, no. 10 of De Poenitentia (Opera Omnia, 22:465), he
cites the June 20, 1602, Decree of the Holy Office, but he claims that the copulative ef was “not
to be taken as disjunctive but conjunctive” (non esse divisive, sed complexive sumendam). Thus, he
believed the Decree was only condemning the position of those who claimed that said that
“absolution could be given in absentia” (absolutionum posse dari in absentia).
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHurcH HisTory 65

[since] the words “it is licit,” as is evident from the other related elements,
are clearly used to designate what is contrary to the institution and essence
of the sacrament (as Suarez himself is forced by the truth to admit),

And [since] it is a pure invention, without any realistic foundation in the

words of the decree, to say that what is condemned there is only this
whole, conjunctive hypothesis, that is, as a single [hypothesis], and that
the same condemned hypothesis must be conceived as a copulative par-
ticle, and not as a disjunctive one, so that, from the strict sense of the
words, both members fall under the censure and the condemnation, and
not one or the other as such,

And [since] it is a vain pretext to argue from the case in which absolution
is given to one at the point of dying, based on the sole signs of penitence
given and reported to a priest who is in the process of coming, to [the case
of] confession of sins made to an absent priest, since this involves a com-
pletely different difficulty: therefore, the aforesaid authorities have judged
that the above-mentioned doctrine of Father Suarez openly contradicts
the definition of his Holiness.
?%

This ruling of the Holy Office helps us appreciate the inti-

mate, secretive, and personal nature of confession to a priest. It also
makes room for absolution to be given to a dying person who had
made previous signs of penitence. While the case of those dying and
unable to speak might have raised the initial question, the Holy Office
saw this as “a completely different difficulty” than the question of
confession of sins to an absent priest. Suarez traveled from Iberia to
Rome in 1604 to explain his position. He accepted the ruling of the
Holy Office with humility and had his reputation restored.*”” When
Paul V became pope in 1605, he expressed admiration for Suarez, and
consulted with him frequently.*”
The Council of Trent required penitents “to confess each and
all mortal sins that one remembers after a due and diligent
examination.”2°4 Questions, though, remained about how specific sins
should be confessed. In the late seventeenth century, some

201. D-H, 1995.

202. Salas and Fastiggi, “Introduction: Francisco Suarez,” 20.
203. Ibid.
204. D-H, 1707.
66 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

theologians, known as the Laxists, tried to find ways to make the

confession of sins more “benign” or “lax.”?°5 Under Pope Alexander
VII, the Holy Office condemned forty-five Laxist propositions on
September 24, 1665, and March 18, 1666. Some of the condemned
theses were clearly aimed at avoiding the full disclosure of certain
grave sins. Condemned proposition 24, for example, states: “Pederasty,
sodomy, and bestiality are sins of the same inferior species; therefore it
suffices to say in confession that one has procured a pollution.””°°
Condemned proposition 25 claims: “He who has intercourse with an
unmarried woman satisfies the precept of confession by saying: ‘I
committed a grievous sin against chastity with an unmarried woman,
without mentioning the intercourse.”?°”
Other Laxist theses were aimed at avoiding the precept of
yearly Confession or doing the penances assigned by the priest. Along
these lines, the Holy Office condemned the proposition that one
satisfies the precept of annual Confession by voluntarily making an
invalid Confession.?”
Also condemned was the proposition that “a penitent by his
own authority can substitute another for himself to fulfill penance in
his place.” Behind this proposition is a mechanical understanding
of penance that loses sight of its spiritual and medicinal purpose.
Under Pope Innocent XI, the Holy Office condemned sixty-
five more errors of moral laxity on March 2, 1679. Some of these
condemned errors reveal a certain extrinsic and minimalistic under-
standing of the moral and ecclesial precepts concerned with
Confession. Condemned proposition 56, for example, states:
“Frequent confession and Communion, even in those who live like
pagans, is a mark of predestination.”?!° Other condemned propositions
maintained that absolution should not be denied to penitents who

205. See the introduction to D-H, 2021-2065.

206. D-H, 2044.
207. Ibid., 2045.
208. Ibid., 2034.
209. Ibid., 2035.
210. Ibid., 2156.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CuuRCH HisTorRY 67

manifest no hope of amendment?" or no real intention of avoiding

near occasions of sin.?!?
At the opposite extreme of the Laxists were the Jansenists and
other rigorists who demanded more of penitents than the Church
expects. On May 5, 1667, the Holy Office needed to intervene to
impose moderation on a violent dispute between the Contritionists
and the Attritionists in Belgium. The Contritionists claimed that sorrow
motivated by fear of hell and the hope for pardon (attrition) was not
sufficient for the grace of the Sacrament of Penance unless it was
accompanied by “some act of the love of God.”?! The Attritionists
believed it was sufficient for penitents to have sorrow motivated by
the fear of hell, the desire for pardon, and the will not to sin without
any absolute necessity of an act of love for God. They claimed support
for this position from the Council of Trent.?* The Holy Office
conveyed the order of Pope Alexander VII that both sides must avoid
“any theological censure or any other insult or abuse” regarding either
one of the two opinions “until the Holy See has defined something
on the subject.”?15
In spite of this 1667 ruling, the Jansenists continued to oppose
the position of the Attritionists. After eight years of study, the Holy
Office issued a Decree on December 7, 1690, condemning thirty-one
Jansenist errors. Among these were several directly related to the
contrition—attrition controversy and Penance in general. Error 14,
for example, claims that “fear of hell is not supernatural.”?!° Error 15
states that “attrition, which is conceived from the fear of hell and
punishments, without the love of benevolence for God in himself, is
not a good and supernatural impulse.””"” Error 16 holds that satisfac-
tion for sins before absolution is demanded by the very nature of the
law and prescription of Christ.*!* This expressed a desire to go back to

211. Ibid., 2160.

212. Ibid., 2161-2163.
213. Ibid., 2070.
214. See introduction to D-H, 2070 and Trent’s acceptance of the sufficiency of “imperfect
contrition, which is called attrition” in D-H, 1678.
215. D-H, 2070.
216. Ibid., 2314
217. Ibid., 2315.
218. Ibid., 2316. Errors 17 and 18 also express a similar attitude. See especially D-H, 2318,
which claims that the “modern custom” of the Sacrament of Penance is “not a usage, but an abuse.”
68 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

the early medieval order of having satisfaction for sins precede absolu-
tion. Error 19 states that “man ought to do penance during his whole
life for original sin.””"” This implies a denial of the effect of Baptism as
taught by Trent, namely, the “full and integral remission of all sins.”?”°
Another Jansenist error states that “confessions made to religious are,
for the most part, either sacrilegious or invalid.” This was due, in
part, to the Jansenist antipathy to the Jesuits and other religious orders
who criticized them. The Jansenists were also condemned for main-
taining that it was sacrilegious to claim a right to receive Communion
before having done worthy penance for sins.””? They likewise were
censured for preventing the reception of Communion by those “who
do not yet have a most pure love of God free of any admixture.”””°
The desire for the “pure love of God” was also promoted by
the Quietists of the late seventeenth century, especially Madame
Guyon (1648-1717) and her friend, Francois de Fénelon, the arch-
bishop of Cambrai (1651-1715). On March 12, 1699, Pope Innocent
XII issued a Brief, Cum alias ad apostolatus, which censured twenty-
three errors related to the “pure love” position of Fénelon.?74 While
the aspirations of Fénelon for a “pure love” of God were certainly
admirable, some of the implications of his spirituality of “holy indif-
ference” were judged to be extreme and dangerous.?*> One of the
condemned errors of Fénelon was directly related to the Sacrament
of Confession. ‘This error required penitents to “detest their sins and
condemn themselves and desire the remission of their sins, not as a
personal purification and liberation, but as the thing God wills and
that he wills us to will because of his glory.”?26
This expectation was considered excessive because it was
connected with Fénelon’s belief that “pure love” requires a “passive and
disinterested state” devoid of any wish for “the practice of the virtues”

219. D-H, 2319.

220. Ibid., 1672.
221. Ibid., 2320.
222. Ibid., 2322.
223. Ibid., 2323.
224. Ibid., 2351-2374.
225. See Robert L. Fastiggi, “Quietism” in Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social
Science, and Social Policy, ed. Michael L. Coulter et al. (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007),
899-901.
226. D-H, 2370.
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN CHuRCH HisTorY 69

and “even love itself.”??” According to this extreme view, a person with
“pure love” would not seek purification and liberation from sin in order
to advance in virtue and holiness toward eternal salvation. This is
because in the state of “pure love” or “holy indifference” we should no
longer “seek salvation as our own salvation” or as “reward of our merits”
or as “the greatest of all our interests.”??8 Rather, we should seek
salvation because “we wish it with our whole will as the glory and good
pleasure of God.”””? According to Fénelon, pure love requires detach-
ment from all self-interest and desire, even the desire for salvation.
The Holy Office found such expectations unrealistic for the
average person seeking forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. The Council of Trent recognized imperfect contrition
or attrition as a “gift from God” and “an impulse by which the peni-
tent is helped to prepare for himself a way unto justice.”*° Jesus came
to reconcile sinners to himself, and such sinners might be prompted
initially by “the fear of hell and punishment.””*! The hope, of course,
is for sinners to move from the fear of hell to a deeper love of God.
The Jansenists and the Quietists, however, often demanded more of
penitents than the Church herself expects. The Church believes the
Sacrament of Confession comes from God “who is rich in mercy”
(Eph 2:4) and who “knows our frame” (Ps 103:14).?” It is a sacrament
for those seeking reconciliation with God for post-Baptismal sins. It is
not a sacrament for the perfect. Rather, it is a sacrament for sinners.”*°
As the Church moved into the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, she needed to contend with various forms of skepticism,
rationalism, secularism, and other offshoots of the Enlightenment.
As the Church moved into the early twentieth century, many of these
ideas of the Enlightenment helped spawn a movement known as

227. See ibid., 2369 and 2371.

228. Ibid., 2356.
229. Ibid.
230. Ibid., 1678.
231. Ibid.
232. Ibid., 1668.
233. In his 1794 constitution, Auctorem fidei, Pius VI censored some rigorist attitudes about
the Sacrament of Penance promoted by the Jansenist-leaning Synod of Pistoia of 1786.
See D-H, 2634-2636. The Synod of Pistoia questioned the sufficiency of attrition for the
reception of the sacrament and also required a “fervor of charity” similar to the “pure love” of
Fénelon. See D-H, 2636.
7° The Sacrament ofReconciliation

Modernism within the Church herself. Many Catholic Modernists

were biblical or historical scholars who raised doubts about the
institution of the Church and the sacraments.
On July 3, 1907, the Holy Office under Pope St. Pius X issued
a Decree entitled Lamentabili, which condemned sixty-five errors of
the Modernists.?°4 Several of these errors concerned the divine
institution of the sacraments, including the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. Error 46, for example, claims that “in the primitive
Church the concept of the Christian sinner reconciled by the author-
ity of the Church did not yet exist.” According to the Modernists,
such a concept of forgiveness only grew very slowly in the Church and
“even after it was recognized as an institution of the Church, it was
not called a sacrament since it would be held as a disgraceful
sacrament.””*° The Modernists also claimed that “the words of the
Lord, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’ (Jn 20:22-23)
in no way refer to the Sacrament of Penance in spite of what it pleased
the Fathers of Trent to say.”*3” Needless to say, this position under-
mines the very basis of the Catholic belief in the Sacrament of
Penance as a sacrament instituted by Christ.
In spite of the efforts of the Modernists, the Church of the
twentieth century continued to uphold Reconciliation as a true sacra-
ment divinely instituted by Christ. The twentieth century, however,
was also the century of two horrible world wars, the Holocaust, and
other mass murders. ‘This is why Pope Pius XII, in his radio message
of October 26, 1946, stated: “Perhaps the greatest sin in the world
today is that men have begun to lose the sense of sin.”238 This loss of
the sense of sin has motivated the Church since the time of Pius XII
to reinforce the need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation with even
more vigor.

234. Ibid., 3401-3466.

235. Ibid., 3446.
236. Ibid.
237. Ibid., 3447.
238. Pius XII, Radio Message of Oct. 26, 1946: https://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en
/speeches/1946/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19461026_congresso-catechistico-naz.html.
Chapter 6

Recent Magisterial Teachings

on Penance

‘The last chapter provided an overview of the Sacrament of Penance

in Catholic history from the patristic age into the twentieth century.
In this chapter we will examine a summary of Catholic magisterial
teachings on penance, asceticism, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation
from the pontificate of St. John XXIII (1958-1963) to that of Pope
Francis, who was elected on March 13, 2013. ‘The Magisterium refers
to the teaching authority of the Church made up of the pope and the
bishops united with him. The Magisterium is best understood as a gift
by Christ to guide the entire Church—clergy, religious, and laity—to
an authentic understanding of the Word of God, whether written or
handed down in Tradition (see CCC, 85-87). The bishops and the
pope, as teachers of the faith, are guided and protected by the Holy
Spirit. The more recent teachings of the Magisterium on the
Sacrament of Reconciliation provide many rich and indispensable
insights. They help us better understand how this sacrament is willed
by Christ for our detachment from sin and our experience of God’s
mercy, love, and forgiveness.

St. JOHN XXIII (1958-1963)

John XXIII is best remembered as the pope who called the Second
Vatican Council, which he announced on January 25, 1959. He was
born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli on November 21, 1881, to-a family of
peasant farmers near Bergamo, Italy, the third of thirteen children.’

1. J.N.D. Kelly, The Oxford Dictionary ofPopes (Oxford and New York: Oxford University
Press, 1986), 320.

Wp
72 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

Although referred to as “the peasant pope,” he was gifted with a sharp

intellect, and received his doctorate in theology in Rome in 1904
when he was just twenty-three.” He enlisted in the diplomatic corps
of the Holy See and served in Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, and France.
During World War II, the future pope did all he could to help Jews
and save them from deportation. In 1953, he was named cardinal and
patriarch of Venice, where he served until his October 28, 1958,
election to the papacy.
In 1959, Pope John XXIII called for a revision of canon law, a
synod for the Archdiocese of Rome, and plans for an ecumenical
council. In his apostolic constitution Humanae salutis, of December 25,
1961, he asked the Christian faithful to offer prayers as well as “volun-
tary mortification of the body” for the success of the Council (HS 12).
On July 1, 1962, a few months before the solemn opening of Vatican II,
John XXIII issued an encyclical, Paenitentiam agere, on the need for
both interior and exterior penance. This encyclical renews the request of
Humanae salutis for prayer and penance as the best preparation for the
upcoming ecumenical council. John XXIII also provided a theology of
penance in the encyclical, which he begins with these words:
Doing penance for one’s sins is a first step towards obtaining forgiveness
and winning eternal salvation. That is the clear and explicit teaching of
Christ, and no one can fail to see how justified and how right the
Catholic Church has always been in constantly insisting on this. She is
the spokesman for her divine Redeemer. No individual Christian can
grow in perfection, nor can Christianity gain in vigor, except it be on the
basis of penance. (PA, 1)

‘The encyclical covers the essential foundations and reasons for

penance—taking note of the biblical foundations; the relation of
penance to the sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation; the need
for both interior and exterior penance; and how voluntary penance
enables us to share in the work of eternal salvation. With regard to the
biblical foundations, John XXIII follows the Vulgate translation of
“do penance” (paenitentiam agite) for Matthew 4:17 and Acts 2:38.
This translation is still used in the Nova Vulgata, but most

2. Ibid.
 Recent MacisTEriaL TEACHINGS ON PENANCE 73

contemporary English editions translate the verbs metanceite (Mt 4:17)

and metanoesate (Acts 2:38) as simply “reperite.?
With regard to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, John XXIII
highlights its connection with Baptism, and he affirms the need for
remorse and discipline to “obtain the same newness and sinlessness”
in Penance as in Baptism (PA, 16). He affirms the language of Trent,
which speaks of penance as “a laborious kind of Baptism.”* When he
speaks of “internal penance,” John XXIII has in mind the detestation
of sin “and the determination to make amends for it” (PA, 28). This is
the repentance performed by “those by those who make a good
Confession, take part in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and receive Holy
Communion” (PA, 28).
John XXIII also highlights the importance of “outward acts
of penance” that help the faithful “to keep their bodies under the strict
control of reason and faith, and to make amends for their own and
other people’s sins” (PA, 28). He finds biblical support for outward
penance in 1 Corinthians 9:27, where Paul says: “I chastise my body
and bring it into subjection” (PA, 28). He also links outward penance
to “a spirit of resignation and trust in all life’s sorrows and hardships
and in everything that involves inconvenience and annoyance in the
conscientious performance of the obligations of our daily life and work
and the practice of Christian virtue” (PA, 28). Ultimately, John XXIII
sees voluntary penance as a way to share in the work of salvation accord-
ing to teaching of St. Paul in Colossians 1:24, who rejoiced in his
sufferings and offered them for the sake of Christ’s body, the Church.
In both Humanae salutis of 1961 and Paenitentiam agere of
1962, John XXIII shows how repentance and forgiveness from sins
are central to the Christian life. The call to repentance is biblical, as is
the Sacrament of Reconciliation. These writings of St. John XXIII
show how the Sacrament of Penance is part of the Church’s constant
teaching. They also show how any renewal within the life of the
Church must include both personal penance and the Sacrament
of Reconciliation.

3. See, for example, the 1986 New American Bible and the Revised Standard Version, Catholic
Edition (1966).
4. D-H, 1671, citing Gregory Nazianzen and John Damascene.
74 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

DocuMENTS OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

(1962-1965)
The Second Vatican Council does not treat the Sacrament of
Reconciliation extensively. It does, however, contain some importance
references to it. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen
gentium, affirms penance and renewal as essential to the Church's
mission:
While Christ, holy, innocent, and undefiled, knew nothing of sin, but
came to expiate only the sins of the people, the Church, embracing in her
bosom sinners, at the same time holy and always in need of being puri-
fied, always follows the way of penance and renewal. (LG, 8)

Later in Lumen gentium there is an explicit reference to the

Sacrament of Reconciliation: “Those who approach the Sacrament of
Penance obtain pardon from the mercy of God for the offence com-
mitted against him and are at the same time reconciled with the
Church, which they have wounded by their sins, and which by
charity, example, and prayer seeks their conversion” (LG, 11).
In the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on the Life and
Ministry of Priests, Presbyterorum ordinis, the Sacrament of
Reconciliation is mentioned along with the other sacraments for
which priests serve as ministers. Special emphasis, though, is given
to the recognition that it is God who is the ultimate minister of all
these sacraments:
God, who alone is holy and who alone bestows holiness, willed to take as
his companions and helpers men who would humbly dedicate themselves
to the work of sanctification. Hence, through the ministry of the bishop,
God consecrates priests, that, being made sharers by special title in the
priesthood of Christ, they might act as his ministers in performing sacred
functions. In the liturgy they continue to carry on his priestly office by
the action of his Spirit. By Baptism men are truly brought into the People
of God; by the Sacrament of Penance sinners are reconciled to God and
his Church; by the Anointing of the Sick, the ill are given solace; and
especially by the celebration of Mass they offer sacramentally the Sacrifice
of Christ. (PO, 5)

The need to reconcile sinners to God and his Church can be

traced to the effects of original sin, which is described in vivid detail
 RECENT MaAacIsTERIAL ‘TEACHINGS ON PENANCE
75

in the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church

in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes. After summarizing the original
abuse of liberty by our first parents, the constitution goes on to note
the effects of original sin on human beings:
‘Therefore, man is split within himself. As a result, all of human life,
whether individual or collective, shows itself to be a dramatic struggle
between good and evil, between light and darkness. Indeed, man finds
that by himself he is incapable of battling the assaults of evil successfully,
so that everyone feels as though he is bound by chains. But the Lord
himself came to free and strengthen man, renewing him inwardly and
casting out that “prince of this world” (Jn 12:31) who held him in the
bondage of sin. For sin has diminished man, blocking his path to fulfill-
ment. (GS, 13)

As we saw in chapter 2, there is an anthropological need for

forgiveness. Because of the effects of original sin, the followers of
Christ must cooperate with divine grace to overcome the inclinations
toward sin that still persist even after Baptism. Lumen gentium speaks
of the “royal power” communicated by Christ to his disciples so “they
might be constituted in royal freedom and that by true penance and a
holy life they might conquer the reign of sin in themselves” (LG, 36).
The Christian life, therefore, should be understood as a summons to
engage in “spiritual battle” against the threefold concupiscence of
sensual lust, greed, and pride.°
The Second Vatican Council highlights the role of the com-
munion of saints in our struggle to overcome sin and the effects of sin.
Penance, though, is not simply confined to the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. Indeed, the whole Christian life can be understood as
cooperation with the grace of God in an effort to grow in holiness and
overcome sin. Even though mortal sins must be confessed to a priest
in the sacrament, there are many extra-sacramental ways of being
cleansed from venial sins, such as fasting, prayer, almsgiving, receiv-
ing the Eucharist, and reading Sacred Scripture (see CCC, 1434-37).
The members of the pilgrim Church on earth also find great assis-
tance from the saints in heaven. As the authors of Lumen gentium
teach us:

5. See 1 John 2:16 and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 405, on the summons ,to
“spiritual battle.”
76 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

For by reason of the fact that those in heaven are more closely united with
Christ, they establish the whole Church more firmly in holiness, lend
nobility to the worship which the Church offers to God here on earth,
and in many ways contribute to its greater edification. For after they have
been received into their heavenly home and are present to the Lord,
through him and with him and in him they do not cease to intercede with
the Father for us, showing forth the merits which they won on earth
through the one Mediator between God and man, serving God in all
things and filling up in their flesh those things which are lacking in the
sufferings of Christ for his Body which is the Church. (LG, 49)

BI. Pau VI (1963-1978)

Giovanni Battista Montini, the son of a lawyer and journalist, was
born on September 26, 1897, near Brescia in northern Italy.® After
ordination to the priesthood and graduate studies in Rome, he taught
at the diplomatic academy. Eventually he was assigned to work for the
Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future
Pope Pius XII. In 1954, he was named archbishop of Milan, and in
December 1958, he was made a cardinal by Pope John XXIII.’
Following the June 3, 1963, death of his predecessor, Cardinal
Montini was elected pope on June 21, 1963. The next day he
announced his plans to continue the Second Vatican Council.®
As we have seen, the Second Vatican Council—although it
did not have extensive teaching on the Sacrament of Reconciliation—
did provide several clear passages on the importance of penance in the
pursuit of holiness. Several months after the close of Vatican II,
Pope Paul VI issued an apostolic constitution, Paenitemini, which is
dated February 17, 1966. The document is a very lucid and rich
synthesis of the reasons for doing penance. Paul VI states quite
explicitly that “by divine law all the faithful are required to do pen-
ance” (3.1.1). He links this message to the teaching of the Council.
Citing Lumen gentium 2 and 8, as well as Apostolicam actuositatem 1,
he writes: “By first of all examining more thoroughly the link which
binds [the Church] to Christ and his salvific action, [the Council]

6. Kelly, Oxford Dictionary ofPopes, 322.

7. Ibid., 322-323.
8. Ibid., 323.
 Recent MacisTERIAL TEACHINGS ON PENANCE ty.

has underlined more clearly how all its members are called upon to
participate in the work of Christ and therefore to participate also in
his expiation” (introduction).
In Paenitemini, Paul VI provides an overview of the key texts
of the Old Testament that affirm penance as a “religious, personal act”
directed toward “love and surrender to God” and also a social act,
expressed by the various “penitential liturgies of the Old Covenant”
that reflect “not only a collective awareness of sin but constitute in
reality a condition for belonging to the People of God” (introduction).
In the New Testament, Christ himself provides the perfect example of
a penitential orientation. As Bl. Paul VI writes:
Christ, who always practiced in His life what He preached, before begin-
ning His ministry spent 40 days and 40 nights in prayer and fasting, and
began His public mission with the joyful message: “The kingdom of God
is at hand.” To this He added the command: “Repent and believe in the
Gospel.” These words constitute, in a way, a compendium of the whole
Christian life. (Paenitemini, Introduction)

Entry into the Kingdom of God announced by Christ,

therefore, “can be entered only by a ‘change of heart’ (metanoia), that is
to say through that intimate and total change and renewal of the
entire man—of all his opinions, judgments and decisions—which
takes place in him in the light of the sanctity and charity of God, the
sanctity and charity which were manifested to us in the Son and
communicated fully” (Paenitemini, Introduction).
Paul VI notes how the presence of Christ makes us realize
“the holiness of God and the gravity of sin” (Paenitemini,
Introduction). Those who sin after Baptism are restored to life by the
Sacrament of Penance, and “the little acts of penitence imposed each
time in the sacrament become a form of participation in a special way
in the infinite expiation of Christ to join to the sacramental satisfac-
tion itself every other action he performs, his every suffering and
sorrow” (Paenitemini, Introduction).
In chapter 2 of Paenitemini, Paul VI states that authentic
penitence can never “prescind from physical asceticism as well.” In this
regard, he writes:
The necessity of the mortification of the flesh also stands clearly revealed
if we consider the fragility of our nature, in which, since Adam’s sin, flesh
78 The Sacrament of.
Reconciliation

and spirit have contrasting desires. This exercise of bodily mortifica-

tion—far removed from any form of stoicism—does not imply a condem-
nation of the flesh which sons of God deign to assume. On the contrary,
mortification aims at the “liberation” of man, who often finds himself,
because of concupiscence, almost chained by his own senses. Through
“corporal fasting” man regains strength and the “wound inflicted on the
dignity of our nature by intemperance is cured by the medicine of a salu-
tary abstinence.”

While physical mortification is essential to penance, Paul VI

does not wish the faithful to lapse into “any form of penitence which
is purely external.” In this regard, he affirms the “intimate relationship”
that exists between “the external act, inner conversion, prayer, and
works of charity” (Paenitemini, ch. 2).
Seeking, therefore, to avoid a merely external form of pen-
ance, Paul VI, in chapter 3 of the constitution, grants to episcopal
conferences the privilege “to replace the observance of fast and
abstinence with exercises of prayer and works of charity” outside of
Lent. The holy father upholds fast and abstinence for Ash Wednesday
and Good Friday and abstinence for all Fridays of Lent. For Fridays
outside of Lent, however, the Roman Pontiff gives permission to
episcopal conferences to “substitute abstinence and fast wholly or in
part with other forms of penitence and especially works of charity and
the exercises of piety” (Paenitemini, 3.V1.1.B). The Eastern Rites,
of course, have the right “to determine the days of fast and abstinence
in accordance” with their own traditions (Paenitemini, 3.VII]).
All bishops and pastors of souls, however, are urged to promote “more
frequent use of the Sacrament of Penance” and “extraordinary prac-
tices of penitence aimed at expiation and impetration,” especially
during the Lenten season (Paenitemini, 3.1X.1).
It is ironic that an apostolic constitution that affirms “the divine
law” (3.1.1) of doing penance, came to be associated with the relaxation
of the obligation to abstain from meat on Fridays. In reality, Bl. Paul
VI—wishing to avoid a merely external observance of Friday absti-
nence—simply granted to episcopal conferences the right to allow for
a substitution of other forms of penance, especially works of charity
and exercises of piety, in place of abstinence from meat on Fridays.
The 1917 Code of Canon Law upheld the obligation of the “law of
abstinence” for all Fridays throughout the year (CIC 1917, c. 1252 §1).
 Recent MacisTEerRIAL TEACHINGS ON PENANCE Po

This obligation was retained in the 1983 Code “according to the

prescriptions of the conference of bishops”; however, the very same
canon still upheld “all Fridays throughout the year,” along with the
time of Lent, as days of penance (c. 1250).°
Less than a year after Paenitemini, Paul VI issued another
important document touching on the Sacrament of Penance and the
need for purification from the effects of sin. This was the apostolic
constitution Indulgentiarum doctrina, issued on January 1, 1967.
Although this constitution is rightly understood as a document on
indulgences, it also provides a detailed explanation of why the
temporal effects of sins require expiation. As Bl. Paul VI explains:
It is a divinely revealed truth that sins bring punishments inflicted by
God’s sanctity and justice. These must be expiated either on this earth,
through the sorrows, miseries and calamities of this life and above all
through death, or else in the life beyond through fire and torments or
“purifying” punishments. (ID, 2)

Paul VI goes on to explain how, even after the pardon of sins,

there still remain temporal punishments that need to be endured and
expiated. He finds scriptural support for this in passages that show
that, even after God forgives the sins of Moses, Aaron, and David,
punishments are still enjoined (see Nm 20:12, 27:13-14; 2 Sm 12:13-14).
These punishments can rightly be understood as forms of expiation
from the temporal effects of sin. The Church’s doctrine of purgatory
likewise affirms the need for purification from the remnants of sin.
Bl. Paul VI provided this explanation:
That punishment or the vestiges of sin may remain to be expiated or
cleansed and that they in fact frequently do even after the remission of
guilt is clearly demonstrated by the doctrine on purgatory. In purgatory,
in fact, the souls of those who died in the charity of God and truly repen-
tant, but before satisfying with worthy fruits of penance for sins commit-
ted and for omissions, are cleansed after death with purgatorial
punishments. This is also clearly evidenced in the liturgical prayers with
which the Christian community admitted to Holy Communion has

9. Ibid., can. 1250.

10. The most notable change made by Paul VI was reducing indulgences to two kinds: partial
and plenary. See apostolic constitution, Indulgentiarum doctrina (Jan. 1, 1967), Norms, no. 2. For
more on the Church’s teaching on indulgences see this book's appendix C, as well as Edward N.
Peters, AModern Guide to Indulgences (Chicago/Mundelein, IL: Hillenbrand Books, 2008).
80 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

addressed God since most ancient times: “that we, who are justly sub-
jected to afflictions because of our sins, may be mercifully set free from
them for the glory of thy name.” (ID, 3)

Indulgentiarum doctrina is a remarkable document in that it

shows the interconnection of many Catholic doctrines and practices,
viz., contrition, confession, pardon, penance, purgatory, the commu-
nion of saints, and the expiatory power of the Eucharist. The Church’s
doctrine of indulgences can never be seen in isolation from the effects
of sin and the need for purification from these effects. All of the
Church’s practices related to sin and expiation point to the primacy
of charity in the Christian life. Indulgences and other practices are
not ends in themselves but salutary means of being joined to Christ
in charity. As Paul VI writes:
Therefore Holy Mother Church, supported by these truths, while again
recommending to the faithful the practice of indulgences as something
very dear to the Christian people during the course of many centuries and
in our days as well—this is proven by experience—does not in any way
intend to diminish the value of other means of sanctification and purifica-
tion, first and foremost among which are the Sacrifice of the Mass and
the Sacraments, particularly the Sacrament of Penance. Nor does it
diminish the importance of those abundant aids which are called sacra-
mentals or of the works of piety, penitence and charity. All these aids
have this in common, that they bring about sanctification and purification
all the more efficaciously the more closely the faithful are united with
Christ the Head and the Body of the Church by charity. The preeminence
of charity in the Christian life is confirmed also by indulgences. For
indulgences cannot be acquired without a sincere conversion of mentality
(metanoia) and unity with God, to which the performance of the pre-
scribed works is added. Thus the order of charity is preserved, into which
is incorporated the remission of punishment by distribution from the
Church’s treasury. (ID, 11)

Here we see that all these means of reconciliation, forgive-

ness, and purification are directed to union with God. They can
rightly be understood as means for undergoing the threefold mystical
path of purgation, illumination, and union with God.
When Catholics seek a plenary indulgence for themselves or
loved ones in purgatory the goal is always purification from the effects
 Recent MacisTERIAL TEACHINGS ON PENANCE 81

of sin. To pray the rosary in common is always spiritually beneficial, but

to pray the rosary in common with the direct intention of seeking a
plenary indulgence allows greater access to the merits of the saints along
with the graces of sacramental confession and the Eucharist. Christ
wishes us to draw upon these bountiful sources of grace for our own
purification and for our loved ones undergoing post-mortem purifica-
tion. Making use of such spiritual resources is truly pleasing to our Lord
because it promotes the spiritual bond between the faithful on earth, the
souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven (see CCC, 954-959).
During Paul VI’s pontificate, the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) also addressed the Sacrament of
Reconciliation with its document of June 16, 1972, entitled
Sacramentum poenitentiae: Pastoral Norms for General Absolution. This
document was issued because some bishops, due to a lack of priests,
were giving wide permission for the imparting of general absolution
to groups of penitents without individual confession of their sins. The
CDF reaffirmed the teaching of the Council of Trent about the need
for individual confession:

The Council of Trent solemnly taught that for full and perfect forgiveness
of sins three acts are required from the penitent as parts of the sacrament,
these acts being contrition, confession, and satisfaction. It also taught that
absolution is given by the priest, who acts as judge, and that it is necessary
by divine law to confess to a priest each and every mortal sin and the
circumstances that alter the species of sins that are remembered after a
careful examination of conscience."

The CDF made it clear that “the teaching of the Council of

Trent must be firmly held and faithfully put into practice” (SP, 1).
As a result, the Congregation rejected “the recent custom which has
sprung up in places by which there is a presumption to satisfy the
precept of sacramentally confessing mortal sins for the purpose of
obtaining absolution by confession made only generally or through
what is called a community celebration of penance.” The rejection of
this presumption was demanded not only by divine precept “but also

11. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Sacramentum poenitentiae: Pastoral Norms for
General Absolution (June 16, 1972), introduction; translation from Vatican website: http://www.
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19720616_
sacramentum-paenitentiae_en.html (accessed August 15, 2016). The very last sentence refers the
reader also to Sess. XIV, Canones de Sacramento Paenitentiae 4, 6-9, in DS.1704, 1706-1709.
82 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

by the very great good of souls deriving, according to centuries-long

experience, from individual confession rightly administered” (SP, 1).
Although certain conditions could allow for recourse to general
absolution, “individual and integral confession and absolution remain
the only ordinary way for the faithful to be reconciled to God and the
Church unless physical or moral impossibility excuses from such
confession” (SP, 1). Confessing our sins individually to a priest high-
lights the person-to-person dimension of Reconciliation. It also serves
as a reality check because it forces us to reveal our shortcomings to at
least one other person, a priest, who helps protect us from the tempta-
tions of self-justification and rationalization. Because sin affects
others, it is both psychologically and spiritually necessary to manifest
our sins to another person. The seal of Confession serves to protect us
from the fears of what others may think about us. ‘The priest, acting in
the person of Christ, mediates the mercy and forgiveness of God to us
and gives us the peace of knowing that our sins have been forgiven.
The Congregation laid out the situations that would allow for
general absolution, but noted that “those who have serious sins
forgiven by general absolution should make an auricular confession
before receiving absolution in this collective form another time unless
a just cause prevents them” (SP, 7). ‘The situations that would permit
recourse to general absolution would be those of serious necessity: for
example, when there is imminent danger of death, and even though a
priest or priests are present, they have no time to hear the confession
of each penitent (SP, 2). For example, another situation would be
when there are so many more penitents than confessors that individ-
ual confessions could not be heard within an appropriate time, with
the result that the penitents, through no fault of their own, would be
forced to do without sacramental grace or Holy Communion for a
long time.
This can happen especially in mission lands, but also in other
places and within particular groups where it is clear that this need
exists. It is not lawful, though, “when confessors are able to be at
hand, merely because of a great concourse of penitents such as can
for example occur on a great feast or pilgrimage” (SP, 3).

12. ‘This last sentence refers the reader to Proposition 59, condemned by Innocent XI on 2
March 1679, in DS, 2159).
 Recent MacisTEerRIAL TEACHINGS ON PENANCE 83

ST. JoHN Paut II (1978-2005)

St. John Paul II was born as Karol Wojtyta in Poland in 1920. As he
grew up he endured the oppression of both Nazi and Communist
regimes. After losing his mother at a young age, his devotion to the
Blessed Virgin Mary deepened, along with his devotion to Divine
Mercy, as revealed to St. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938). A brilliant
philosopher and theologian, he was present as a young archbishop at
the Second Vatican Council, and his writings on ethics, marriage, and
the human person caught the attention of many ranking cardinals in
the Church. After the brief pontificate of John Paul I, August 26-
September 28, 1978, Cardinal Wojtyta was elected pope on October
16, 1978. During his long pontificate (1978-2005), St. John Paul II
made frequent references to the Sacrament of Reconciliation both in his
preaching and in a number of significant documents. His November 30,
1980 encyclical Dives in misericordia highlighted the Sacrament of
Reconciliation as a privileged means for the experience of God’s mercy:
It is the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation that prepares the way for
each individual, even those weighed down with great faults. In this sacra-
ment each person can experience mercy in a unique way, that is, the love
which is more powerful than sin. (DM, 13)

Several years after this encyclical was released, the general

assembly of the Synod of Bishops met to discuss the theme “Penance
and Reconciliation in the Mission of the Church.” Following this
synod (September 29 to October 29, 1983), John Paul IT issued the
post-synodal apostolic exhortation Reconciliatio et paenitentia, dated
December 2, 1984. In this exhortation, the holy father reflected on
the meaning of penance and how it is linked to reconciliation:
The term and the very concept of penance are very complex. If we link
penance with the metanoia which the Synoptics refer to, it means the
inmost change of heart under the influence of the word of God and in the
perspective of the kingdom. But penance also means changing one’s life
in harmony with the change of heart, and in this sense doing penance is
completed by bringing forth fruits worthy of penance: it is one’s whole
existence that becomes penitential, that is to say, directed toward a con-
tinuous striving for what is better. But doing penance is something
authentic and effective only if it is translated into deeds and acts of pen-
84 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

ance. In this sense penance means, in the Christian theological and spiri-
tual vocabulary, asceticism, that is to say, the concrete daily effort of a
person . . . an effort to put off the old man and put on the new; an effort
to overcome in oneself what is of the flesh in order that what is spiritual
may prevail; a continual effort to rise from the things of here below to the
things of above, where Christ is. Penance is therefore a conversion that
passes from the heart to deeds and then to the Christian’s whole life.

In each of these meanings penance is closely connected with reconcilia-

tion, for reconciliation with God, with oneself, and with others implies
overcoming that radical break which is sin. And this is achieved only
through the interior transformation or conversion which bears fruit in
a person’s life through acts of penance. (RP, 4)

In the exhortation, John Paul II covers a wide range of topics.

He touches on the meaning of sin and the need for conversion and
detachment from wrongdoing. He also highlights the role of the
Church in the mission of reconciliation, and he brings out the associa-
tion of Mary in this ministry of reconciliation.'° His writings mani-
fest scholarly depth and pastoral concern. John Paul II has a way of
combing the brilliant mind of a philosopher with the heart of a
shepherd who loves his flock.
Because the traditional doctrine of mortal sin was under
attack by some in the decades following the Second Vatican Council,
one of the most significant teachings of the 1984 exhortation is the
reaffirmation of the Church’s teaching on the distinction between
mortal and venial sin. On this topic, the holy father writes:
Here we have the core of the Church’s traditional teaching, which was
reiterated frequently and vigorously during the recent synod. The synod in
fact not only reaffirmed the teaching of the Council of Trent concerning
the existence and nature of mortal and venial sins, but it also recalled that
mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed
with full knowledge and deliberate consent. It must be added—as was
likewise done at the synod—that some sins are intrinsically grave and
mortal by reason of their matter. That is, there exist acts which, per se and
in themselves, independently of circumstances, are always seriously wrong

13. See RP, 35: “Truly Mary has been associated with God, by virtue of her divine
motherhood, in the work of reconciliation.”
 RecenT MacisTERIAL TEACHINGS ON PENANCE 85

by reason of their object. These acts, if carried out with sufficient aware-
ness and freedom, are always gravely sinful. (RP, 17)

‘The recognition of mortal sins serves to reaffirm the impor-

tance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation because this sacrament is the
means established by Christ for the forgiveness of such grave sins.
In the exhortation (RP, 31, I-VI) John Paul II also highlights
six fundamental convictions of the Church with regard to the
Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation:
1. The conviction that “the Sacrament of Penance is the primary way
of obtaining forgiveness and the remission of serious sin committed
after Baptism”
2. The function of the sacrament as “a tribunal of mercy”, which takes
on a “medicinal character”
3. The importance of the essential parts or stages of the sacrament:
namely, contrition, confession, absolution, and satisfaction
4. The conviction that “nothing is more personal and intimate than
this sacrament, in which the sinner stands alone before God with
his sin, repentance, and trust. No one can repent in his place or ask
forgiveness in his name”
5. The recognition that reconciliation with God is “the most precious
result of the forgiveness obtained in the sacrament”
6. The importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation to the “sacred
ministry” of priests
After presenting these six fundamental convictions regarding
the sacrament, John Paul II provides a summary of the three forms of
the celebration of the sacrament. In doing so he reaffirms the Church’s
teaching that “the first form—reconciliation of individual peni-
tents—is the only normal and ordinary way of celebrating the sacra-
ment, and it cannot and must not be allowed to fall into disuse or be
neglected” (RP, 32). The second form involves “reconciliation of a
number of penitents with individual confession and absolution” after a
communal rite of reflection and sorrow. He notes that this form places
emphasis on the communal aspect of the sacrament. However, because
it culminates in individual confession, “it can thus be regarded as equal
to the first form as regards the normality of the rite.” The third form,
which is the “reconciliation of a number of penitents with general
86 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

confession and absolution,” must be understood as “exceptional in

character.” Therefore, it is “not left to free choice but is regulated by a
special discipline” (RP, 32). In this regard, John Paul II explains why
general absolution cannot be the norm. He reaffirms the conviction
that recourse to general absolution can only be allowed for serious
reasons, with the obligation remaining to confess mortal sins
individually to a priest when the opportunity emerges. Furthermore,
he underlines “the obligation of pastors to facilitate for the faithful the
practice of integral and individual confession of sins, which consti-
tutes for them not only a duty but also an inviolable and inalienable
right, besides being something needed by the soul” (RP, 33).
In many ways, John Paul II’s Reconciliatio et paenitentia can be
considered one of the most thorough and profound reflections on the
Sacrament of Reconciliation since the Second Vatican Council. In spite
of the clear teaching of this exhortation, abuses regarding recourse to
general absolution continued through the 1980s and 1990s. Because of
these abuses, the Congregation for Divine Worship and Disciple of the
Sacraments issued a circular letter on March 20, 2000, reminding
bishops of their grave duty to promote the proper celebration of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation according to Catholic doctrine and Church
law. In a special way, the Congregation addressed abuses related to
general absolution and the idea that reception of the Eucharist can be a
means for mortal sins to be forgiven. With regard to the latter, the
Congregation offered these reflections:
It is to be recalled that the “Eucharist is not ordered to the forgiveness of
mortal sins—that is proper to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The
Eucharist is properly the sacrament of those who are in full communion
with the Church.” At the same time, since the sacrifice of Christ and the
sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice, whenever the faithful
receive the Body and Blood of Christ worthily, they are strengthened in
charity, “which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity
wipes away venial sins.:” “By the same charity that it enkindles in us,
the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins.”5

14. See canon 961 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law for a listing of the reasons that would
justify general absolution.
15. Congregation for Divine Worship and Disciple of the Sacraments, Circular Letter
Concerning the Integrity ofthe Sacrament ofPenance (March 20, 2000), 9.
 Recent MacisTErIAL TEACHINGS ON PENANCE
87

One of the last great contributions of St. John Paul II to the

Sacrament of Reconciliation was his May 2, 2002, apostolic letter
issued motu proprio entitled Misericordia Dei. In this letter, the holy
father urged his brother bishops to make sure all the faithful have
recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation in its proper form, namely,
individual confession. Because of ongoing abuses of general absolution
he felt the need to reaffirm the teachings already articulated by the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1972, by the 1983 Code
of Canon Law, and by himself in Reconciliatio et paenitentia.

Pore BENEDIcT XVI (2005-2013)

Joseph Ratzinger was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1927, and he
became a priest and theologian. His brilliance was recognized early
on, and, while still in his 30s, he served as a theological expert (peritus)
at Vatican II. He was the Archbishop of Munich and Freising from
1977 until his November 25, 1981, appointment by St. John Paul II
to be the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
(CDF). Cardinal Ratzinger remained as head of the CDF until his
election as pope on April 19, 2005.
Probably the most significant contribution of Benedict XVI
to the Sacrament of Reconciliation was “the year for priests” that he
announced in 2009 in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the
death of St. John Mary Vianney (1786-1859), the Curé of Ars. In
announcing the year for priests, Pope Benedict held up the Curé of
Ars as a priest who revitalized the Sacrament of Penance during a
difficult period following the French Revolution. The holy father notes
that St. John Mary Vianney’s devotion to the Cross led him to value
above all the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Penance:
This deep personal identification with the Sacrifice of the Cross led
him—by a sole inward movement—from the altar to the confessional.
Priests ought never to be resigned to empty confessionals or the apparent
indifference of the faithful to this sacrament. In France, at the time of the
Curé of Ars, Confession was no more easy or frequent than in our own
day, since the upheaval caused by the revolution had long inhibited the
practice of religion. Yet he sought in every way, by his preaching and his
powers of persuasion, to help his parishioners to rediscover the meaning
and beauty of the Sacrament of Penance, presenting it as an inherent
88 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

demand of the Eucharistic presence. He thus created a “virtuous” circle. By

spending long hours in church before the tabernacle, he inspired the faith-
ful to imitate him by coming to visit Jesus with the knowledge that their
parish priest would be there, ready to listen and offer forgiveness. Later, the
growing numbers of penitents from all over France would keep him in the
confessional for up to sixteen hours a day. It was said that Ars had become
“a great hospital of souls.” His first biographer relates that “the grace he
obtained [for the conversion of sinners] was so powerful that it would pur-
sue them, not leaving them a moment of peace!” The saintly Curé reflected
something of the same idea when he said: “It is not the sinner who returns
to God to beg his forgiveness, but God himself who runs after the sinner
and makes him return to him.” “This good Saviour is so filled with love
that he seeks us everywhere.”®

Benedict XVI returned to the theme of this letter in his

March 11, 2010 Address to Participants in the Course on the Internal
Forum Organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary. Speaking to the assem-
bled bishops and priests as brothers, the holy father once again held
up the Curé of Ars as a model priest dedicated to the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. He then urged his brother priests to recognize the
presence of divine mercy in both the Eucharist and the Sacrament
of Reconciliation:
Dear confréres, it is necessary to return to the confessional as a place in
which to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but also as a place in
which “to dwell” more often, so that the faithful may find compassion,
advice, and comfort, feel that they are loved and understood by God,
and experience the presence of Divine Mercy beside the Real Presence
in the Eucharist.

The discussed “crisis” of the Sacrament of Penance frequently calls into

question priests first of all and their great responsibility to teach the
People of God the radical requirements of the Gospel.

In particular, it asks them to dedicate themselves generously to hearing

sacramental Confessions; to guide the flock courageously so that it does
not conform to the mindset of this world (cf. Rom 12:2) but may even be
able to make decisions that run counter to the tide, avoiding adjustments
and compromises.

16. Benedict XVI, Letter Proclaiming a Year for Priests (2009).

 RECENT MacisTERIAL TEACHINGS ON PENANCE
89

For this reason it is important that priests have a constant aspiration to

asceticism, nourished by communion with God, and that they tirelessly
dedicate themselves to keeping up to date in the study of moral theology
and the human sciences.!”

Pore Francis (2013- )

Jorge Mario Bergolio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on
December 17, 1936, the son of an Italian-born father and an
Argentinian mother of Italian descent. At age seventeen, he had a
profound experience of God’s mercy after going to confession, and he
soon made up his mind to be a priest.1* He joined the Society of Jesus
(the Jesuits) in 1958, and, after his ordination to the priesthood, he
served as a teacher, provincial, spiritual director, and confessor. When
he was named an auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992, he chose
as his episcopal motto miserando atque eligendo (having mercy and
choosing him), which comes from St. Bede the Venerable’s commen-
tary on the Gospel of Matthew. Like the tax collector and sinner,
Matthew, chosen by Christ, Pope Francis believes that his life has
been touched by the mercy of God in a special way.’ This episcopal
motto—first chosen in 1992—has remained with Pope Francis during
his years as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires (1998-2005) and now as
the Roman Pontiff. Elected Pope on March 13, 2013, the pontificate
of Pope Francis will be forever linked to the theme of God’s mercy.
For the first Roman Pontiff from the Americas, the name of God is
mercy.”° The extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, begun on December
8, 2015, places special emphasis on the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In his bull Misericordiae vultus, the holy father underlines the pro-
found link between mercy and the Sacrament of Reconciliation:
Reconciliation with God is made possible through the Paschal Mystery
and the mediation of the Church. Thus God is always ready to forgive,

17. Benedict XVI, Address to Participants in the Course on the Internal Forum Organized by the
Apostolic Penitentiary (March 11, 2010).
18. See Pope Francis, The Name of God is Mercy, trans. Oonagh Stransky (New. York: Random
House, 2016), 11-12.
19. Ibid.
20. See Pope Francis, The Name of God is Mercy, 7: “Mercy is in reality the core of the Gospel
message; it is the name of God himself, the face with which he revealed himselfin the Old
Testament and fully in Jesus Christ, the incarnation of Creative and Redemptive Love.”
go The Sacrament ofReconciliation

and he never tires of forgiving in ways that are continually new and sur-
prising. Nevertheless, all of us know well the experience of sin. We know
that we are called to perfection (cf. Mt 5:48), yet we feel the heavy burden
of sin. Though we feel the transforming power of grace, we also feel the
effects of sin typical of our fallen state. Despite being forgiven, the con-
flicting consequences of our sins remain. In the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, God forgives our sins, which he truly blots out; and yet
sin leaves a negative effect on the way we think and act. But the mercy
of God is stronger even than this. It becomes indulgence on the part of the
Father who, through the Bride of Christ, his Church, reaches the par-
doned sinner and frees him from every residue left by the consequences
of sin, enabling him to act with charity, to grow in love rather than to fall
back into sin. (MV, 22)

Pope Francis has made God’s mercy the central theme of

his pontificate, and in the Year of Mercy in 2015-2016, he reminded
us that God’s mercy is greater than any sin. In his November 20,
2015, ad limina address to the German bishops, he reaffirmed the
importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the jubilee year
and beyond:

The imminent Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy offers the opportunity to

have the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation rediscovered.
Confession is the place where one receives the gift of God’s forgiveness
and mercy. In Confession the transformation begins of every single faith-
ful and the reform of the Church. I trust that greater attention will be
given to this Sacrament, so important for a spiritual renewal in the dioc-
esan and parish pastoral plans during the Holy Year and also after.”!

For Pope Francis, the Sacrament of Reconciliation must be

placed at the very center of the Church’s call to be a minister of
God’s mercy:
Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the center once more in
such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God’s
mercy with their own hands. For every penitent, it will be a source of true
interior peace. (MV, 17)

In this chapter we have highlighted the important teachings

on the Sacrament of Reconciliation from the pontificate of St. John

21. Francis, Address to the German Bishops (Nov. 20, 2015). Translation by Zenit.
 Recent MacisTERIAL TEACHINGS ON PENANCE gl

XXIII to that of Pope Francis. As we have seen, the Sacrament of

Penance is really the sacrament of divine mercy—a theme given
special emphasis by Pope Francis and the Jubilee of Mercy. In the next
chapter, we will explore the way this mercy is concretely experienced
by looking at the key components or parts of the sacrament.
Chapter 7

The Key Components

of the Sacrament of Penance
and Reconciliation

This chapter describes the key components of the Sacrament of

Reconciliation. By key components we mean the realities and actions
that make up the sacrament. These components would include the
matter and form of the sacrament; the acts of the penitent, and the
acts of the minister. We will treat these as aspects of the sacrament.
The Catechism ofthe Catholic Church supplies a helpful overview
of the acts of the penitent in numbers 1450-1459; the actions of the
minster of the sacrament in 1461-1467; and the effects of the sacrament
in 1468-1470. The 1983 Code of Canon Law covers the celebration of
the Sacrament of Penance in canons 959-991, with indulgences
covered in canons 992-997. The 1990 Code of Canons ofthe Eastern
Churches covers the Sacrament of Penance in canons 718-736. It does
not have a separate section on indulgences because the granting of
indulgences is mostly a Latin practice. Eastern Catholic patriarchs
and major archbishops, however, can grant partial and plenary indul-
gences in churches of their own rite.’ In what follows, ten aspects of
the sacrament are discussed. Some of the more technical issues
connected with the faculties of the minister, the seal of confession,
and the granting of indulgences are reserved for appendices.

1. Apostolic Penitentiary, Manual of.Indulgences: Norms and Grants, 4th ed. (Washington,
DC: USCCB Publishing, 2006), norm 9, p. 15. The plenary indulgences include the papal
blessing three times a year and whenever it “is warranted for the good of the faithful because of a
particular religious circumstance or reason.”

92
 THe Key Components OF THE SACRAMENT 93

Tue Matter AND ForM OF THE SACRAMENT

OF PENANCE
For most of the sacraments, the matter is the sensible element and action
of the sacrament while the form is the prayer or words that complete
or give shape to the sacrament and make it efficacious.? For example
in Baptism, the matter is natural water poured over the head or into
which the one being baptized is immersed. The form in the Latin Rite
would be: “[Name], I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit”; and in Eastern Rite liturgies the standard
form is: “The servant of God [Name] is baptized in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (CCC, 1240).
For the Sacrament of Reconciliation, identifying the matter is
a bit more complex because there is not a single sensible sign or action
but several. The Council of Florence, in its Decree for the Armenians,
speaks of the “quasi-matter” of the sacrament, which consists in the
actions of the penitent: namely, contrition of the heart, oral confes-
sion, and “satisfaction for the sins according to the judgment of the
priest, which is mainly achieved by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.”$
The Council of Trent also speaks of the quasi-matter as “the acts of
the penitent himself, viz., contrition, confession, and satisfaction.”*
The form of the sacrament, according to the Council of
Florence, is “the words of absolution, which the priest pronounces
when he says: ‘I absolve you.”* The Council of Trent also recognizes
the form as the words of the minister: “I absolve you, etc.” It recog-
nizes, though, that “in accordance with a custom of the holy Church,
certain prayers are laudably added to these [words].”° These words,
however, do not “in any way belong to the essence of the form, nor are
they necessary for the administration of the sacrament.”’
Although the language of matter and form is used by the
ecumenical councils of Florence and Trent, it is not employed by the
Second Vatican Council and the Catechism ofthe Catholic Church in

See Paul Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery (Herefordshire, UK: Gracewing, 1999), 14-16.
D-H, 1323.
. Ibid., 1673, 1704.
a [bids 1323,
. Ibid., 1673.
NDXAAYWN
Ibid.
94 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

reference to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.* Prior to the Second

Vatican Council, manuals of dogmatic theology would repeat the
matter and form of the Sacrament of Penance as articulated by Trent.
There was not, however, universal agreement as to whether the
teaching of Trent on the matter and form was de fide (i.e., a dogma of
the faith revealed by God). Ludwig Ott, in his Fundamentals of
Catholic Dogma —first published in German in 1952 as Grundriss der
hatholischen Dogmatik—maintains that it is de fide that “the form of
the Sacrament of Penance consists in the words of Absolution.”? On
the other hand, Fr. Severino Gonzalez, sj, writing in Volume 4 of the
Sacrae Theologiae Summa (1951) only holds that it’s “more probable”
(probabiliter) that “the form of the Sacrament of Penance is found
in the words of absolution” (forma sacramenti paenitentiae in verbis
absolutionis reponenda est).

Tue RECIPIENT OF THE SACRAMENT

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is “for the faithful” who fall into sin
after Baptism." It is not for the unbaptized.” Those who are not
baptized and are moved to conversion and repentance have their sins
remitted by the Sacrament of Baptism. According to the Council of
Florence, the effect of the sacrament of Baptism “is the remission of
all guilt, original and actual, and also of all punishment due to the
guilt itself.”'3 This is why “no satisfaction is to be imposed on the
baptized for their past sins; and if they die before committing any

8. ‘The sacramental form continues to be stressed for the Sacrament of Matrimony. See
CCC, 1631, and c. 1108, which is preceded by the heading De forma celebrationis Matrimoni (On
the Form of the Celebration of Matrimony).
9. Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, trans. Patrick Lynch (St. Louis: B. Herder
Book Company, 1958), 436. Fr. Ott updated his Grundriss der katholischen Dogmatik in 1969, but
he still maintained that it was de fide (i.e., a dogma of faith) that “the form of the sacrament of
Penance consists in the words of absolution” (“Die Form des Bussakramentes besteht in den
Absolutionsworten”). See Ludwig Ott, Grundriss der katholischen Dogmatik, 11th ed: (Bonn:
Verlag Nova et Vetera, 2010), 590.
10. P. Severino Gonzalez, sj, Sacrae theologiae summa, vol. 4 (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores
Cristianos, 1951), p. 450.
11. Ibid., 1701.
12. Ibid., 1670.
13. Ibid., 1316.
 THE Key Components OF THE SACRAMENT 95

fault, they immediately gain access to the kingdom of heaven and the
beatific vision.” 4
The Sacrament of Penance was instituted by Christ “for
reconciling the faithful who have fallen after Baptism.”15The 1983
Code of Canon Law offers more specific guidelines on who may receive
the Sacrament of Penance:

c. 844 §1. Catholic ministers administer the sacraments licitly to Catholic

members of the Christian faithful alone, who likewise receive them licitly
from Catholic ministers alone, without prejudice to the prescripts of §§2,
3, and 4 of this canon, and c. 861§2.

§2. Whenever necessity requires it or true spiritual advantage suggests it,

and provided that danger of error or of indifferentism is avoided, the
Christian faithful for whom it is physically or morally impossible to
approach a Catholic minister are permitted to receive the sacraments of
Penance, Eucharist, and Anointing of the Sick from non-Catholic minis-
ters in whose Churches these sacraments are valid.

§3. Catholic ministers administer the sacraments of Penance, Eucharist,

and Anointing of the Sick licitly to members of Eastern Churches which
do not have full communion with the Catholic Church if they seek such
on their own accord and are properly disposed. This is also valid for mem-
bers of other Churches which in the judgment of the Apostolic See are in
the same condition in regard to the sacraments as these Eastern Churches.

§4. If the danger of death is present or if, in the judgment of the diocesan
bishop or conference of bishops, some other grave necessity urges it,
Catholic ministers administer these same sacraments licitly also to other
Christians not having full communion with the Catholic Church, who
cannot approach a minister of their own community and who seek such
on their own accord, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect
to these sacraments and are properly disposed.

§5. For the cases mentioned in §§2, 3, and 4, the diocesan bishop or con-
ference of bishops is not to issue general norms except after consultation

14. Ibid.
15. Ibid., 1670.
96 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

at least with the local competent authority of the interested non-Catholic

Church or community.’

As can be seen, canon $41§1 stipulates that Catholic ministers

may only licitly administer the Sacrament of Penance to the Catholic
faithful except under certain conditions. Likewise, the Catholic
faithful may only receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation from a
Catholic priest except under the conditions specified in 841§2.
Catholic bishops and priests may administer the Sacrament of
Penance to Eastern Christians who are not in full communion with
the Catholic Church “if they seek such on their own accord and are
properly disposed” (c. 841§3). In cases of danger of death or some
other grave necessity, Catholic bishops and priests may also adminis-
ter the Sacrament of Reconciliation to “other Christians not having
full communion with the Catholic Church” if they do not have access
to a minister of their own community, manifest a Catholic faith in the
sacrament, and are properly disposed (c. 841§4). The Sacrament of
Reconciliation, therefore, can serve as a means of reconciling even
non-Catholic faithful to Christ under certain conditions.

THe MINISTER OF THE SACRAMENT

Only a validly ordained bishop or priest can be a true minister of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation. As we have seen in chapter 5, there
might have been lay confessors who heard the sins of others, but
sacramental absolution could only be given by a validly ordained priest
or bishop. The Council of Constance (1414-1418) required the follow-
ers of Wycliffe and Hus" to believe that they could confess only to
qualified priests and not “one or [more] laymen, however good or

16. These regulations are repeated almost verbatim in canon 671 of the 1990 Eastern
Catholic Code of Canon Law, Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium.
17. John Wycliffe (also spelled Wyclif or Wycliff) (1324-1384) was an English theologian
who had 45 of his propositions condemned posthumously at the Council of Constance on May
4, 1415 (cf. D-H, 1151-1195). Various propositions of his had already been condemned in 1382
and 1396 by synods in London. Wycliffe had translated the Bible into English without proper
authorization, and he wrote against monasticism, transubstantiation, and the papacy—at one
point calling the Church of Rome “the synagogue of Satan” (cf. Rev 2:9 and D-H, 1187). Jan
Hus (1369-1415) was a Czech theologian who accepted most of Wycliffe’s errors and spoke of
the Church as those “predestined to salvation” (D-H, 1201). The Council of Constance
condemned thirty propositions of Hus (cf. D-H, 1210-1230) and handed him over to the civil
authorities for execution.
 THe Key Components OF THE SACRAMENT

devout they may be.” The Council of Florence (1445) required

confession to a person’s priest, !? and Leo X condemned the Lutheran
view that, when there is no priest, any Christian, “even a woman or
child,” could grant remission of sins.”° Finally, the Council of Trent
(1545-1563) condemned as “false and totally foreign to the truth of
the Gospel” all doctrines that extend “the ministry of the keys to any
other men other than bishops and priests.”?! Trent also taught that
even priests in mortal sin can serve as ministers of the Sacrament of
Penance.” The Church, through canon law, has also established rules
for priests pertaining to the faculty to serve as ministers of the sacra-
ment (see appendix A).

THE RECOGNITION OF SIN: CONTRITION

A key component of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is sorrow for sin,
which is known as contrition. The Catechism ofthe Catholic Church
states that “among the penitent’s acts contrition occupies first place
(CCC, 1451). The Council of Trent states that contrition “consists in
the sorrow of the soul and the detestation of the sin committed,
together with the resolve not to sin again.” Trent teaches that “the
disposition of contrition was necessary at all times for the attainment
of the remission of sins.”*4 For those who sin after Baptism, “contri-
tion prepares for the forgiveness of sins if it is joined with trust in the
divine mercy and the intention to fulfill whatever else is required for
the right reception of the sacrament.””> Trent also teaches that when
contrition is made perfect through charity, it “reconciles a man to God
before this sacrament is actually received.”** Perfect contrition,
however, does not make the actual confession of sins superfluous. The
reconciliation to God “is not to be ascribed to contrition itself without

18. D-H, 1260.

19. Ibid., 1323.
20. Ibid., 1463.
21. Ibid., 1684.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid., 1676.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
98 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

the desire of the sacrament, a desire that is included in it.”?” Behind

this teaching is the recognition that God wills sinners to be reconciled
by means of the remedy he himself has supplied: namely, the
Sacrament of Penance “whereby the benefit of Christ’s death is applied
to those who have fallen after Baptism.”
In chapter 5 we covered some of the historic controversies
over whether perfect contrition—which arises from the love of God
(on the part of the penitent) before all else—is necessary for the
forgiveness of sins. Some of the Protestant reformers, such as Luther,
believed that perfect contrition was necessary but sins need not be
confessed only to priests.?? The Council of Trent responded by teach-
ing that attrition or imperfect contrition was sufficient for the forgive-
ness of sins provided that there was the willingness to confess all
mortal sins to the priest in the Sacrament of Confession.*° Imperfect
contrition or attrition “arises either from the consideration of the
heinousness of sin or from the fear of hell and punishment.”*! Luther
believed that such imperfect contrition “makes one a hypocrite and a
greater sinner than before.”** Imperfect sorrow, however, does not
make a person a hypocrite. Instead, it “is a gift from God and a
prompting of the Holy Spirit, not indeed as already dwelling in the
penitent, but only moving him—an impulse by which the penitent is
helped to prepare himself a way unto justice.”* Although the sacra-
ment is still needed to lead the one with imperfect contrition to
justice, “it nevertheless disposes him to obtain the grace of God in the
Sacrament of Penance.”** Trent points to the “salutary fear” of the
Ninevites, who responded to “the terrifying preaching of Jonah” by
doing penance and “obtaining mercy from the Lord” (cf. Jon 3).35
Imperfect contrition might be initially motivated by the fear
of hell, but it could develop into more perfect contrition after
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid., 1668.
29. Haffner, The Sacramental Mystery, 127.
30. D-H, 1678.
31. Ibid.
32. See Leo X, Exsurge Domine (1520), condemning the errors of Martin Luther, in D-H,
1456.
33. D-H, 1678.
34. Ibid.
35. Ibid.
 THE Key Components OF THE SACRAMENT 99

receiving reconciliation from God. The traditional Catholic “Act of

Contrition” begins with the penitent expressing sorrow because
“I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell.” Soon, however, the
penitent expresses a more perfect contrition for sins by saying: “but
most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and
deserving of all my love.”

THE EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

Before confessing our sins, we need to determine what they are. This
requires an examination of conscience. In Romans, St. Paul refers to
the conscience (sy/eideseos) of the Gentiles who have the demands of
the law “written in their hearts” (2:15). Elsewhere he warns against
offending the consciences of the weak (1 Cor 8:12) and respecting the
consciences of those who refuse to eat food offered in sacrifice by
unbelievers (1 Cor 10:28-29).
The Catholic Church understands conscience as both a
“judgment of reason” (CCC, 1778) and a person’s “most secret core
and sanctuary” where “he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his
depths” (CCC, 1776, cf. GS, 16). Both descriptions of conscience
come into play with the examination of conscience before confession.
As a judgment of reason, conscience helps us reflect on what we have
done in the light of the law of God. Such a reflection will help us
determine in what ways we have sinned and what sins we need to
confess. The examination of conscience, however, must also take place
in our “most secret core and sanctuary” where we are alone with God,
whose voice echoes in our depths. This means an examination of
conscience should be an interior reflection in the presence of God. An
examination of conscience, therefore, should be conducted in a spirit
of prayer, especially before the Blessed Sacrament. The examination of
conscience should also be “made in light of the Word of God,” espe-
cially the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:2-17; Dt 5:6-21), the Sermon
on the Mount (Mt 5-7), and the moral teachings of Paul, John, and
James (e.g., Rom 12-15; 1 Cor 12-13; Gal 5; Eph 4-6; 1 Jn 2;Jas 1-3;
cf. CCC, 1454)The Council of Trent describes the examination of

36. “Act of Contrition (Traditional),” in United States Conference if Catholic Bishops,

United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing,
2006), 247.
100 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

conscience as “a diligent self-examination” that makes us aware not

only of external sins but also the “most secret” ones that “sometimes
wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those
that are committed openly.”3” The Introduction to the Revised Rite of
Penance (approved on December 2, 1973) reminds us that “this inner
examination of heart and the outward accusation must be made in the
light of God’s mercy.”** In other words, the purpose of the examina-
tion of conscience is not simply to make us sorry for our sins; it is also
intended to help us place all our failures, both interior and exterior,
before the mercy of God.
The examination of conscience should not be merely perfunc-
tory. A fruitful confession requires an honest examination of ourselves
before God. Many spiritual teachers recommend a daily examination
of ourselves, especially at night. Such an examination helps us “dis-
cern patterns of sin and their root causes.”*? A good examination of
conscience is “truly a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.”*° The Holy
Spirit helps us become aware “of the history of our sin and the major
areas where we need forgiveness and healing.”*!

‘THE CONFESSION OF SINS

One of the most important steps in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is
the confession (or disclosure) of our sins to the priest. Such a disclosure
of faults enables us to take responsibility for our sins so we may be
reconciled with God “and the communion of the Church” (CCC, 1455).
‘The verbal confession of sins is a humbling and liberating experience
and puts us in touch with the mercy of God. To experience the mercy
of God can also be transformative. As a young man of seventeen,
Pope Francis recalls confessing to Father Carlos Duarte Ibarra on
September 21, 1953, the Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and
Evangelist. He relates: “On confessing to him, I felt welcomed by the

37. D-H, 1680: the most secret sins are those committed against the last two precepts of the
Decalogue (cf. Ex 20:17; Dt 5:21; and Mt 5:28).
38. Introduction to the Rite ofPenance, (Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 2010), no. 6b.
39. Thomas Weinandy, orm Cap, Sacrament ofMercy:A Spiritual €¥ Practical Guide to
Confession (Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 1997), 49.
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid.
 Tue Key Components OF THE SACRAMENT IOI

mercy of God.” This confession would have a profound impact on

the future pope. It would serve as a stimulus to his vocation to the
priesthood and the choice of his episcopal motto, miserando atque
eligendo, which comes from Saint Bede the Venerable’s description of
Jesus’ call of the tax collector, Matthew: “Jesus saw the tax collector,
and by having mercy (miserando) chose him (eligendo) as an Apostle.”
The Council of Trent teaches that “all mortal sins” of which
penitents are conscious “must be recounted by them in confession.”“4
Mortal sins are deadly sins that kill the life of grace in the soul
(cf. 1 Jn 5:16-17). A mortal sin “destroys charity in the heart of man
by a grave violation of God’s law” (CCC, 1855). For a sin to be mortal
there must be grave matter, full knowledge, and complete consent or
deliberate consent (cf. CCC, 185-59, RP, 17). As John Paul II teaches,
mortal sin “can occur in a direct and formal way in the sins of idolatry,
apostasy, and atheism; or in an equivalent way, as in every act of
disobedience to God’s commandments in a grave matter” (RP, 17).
Mortal sins are “specified by the Ten Commandments” (CCC, 1858).
though “unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the
imputability of a grave offense” (CCC, 1860).
Although venial sins “can be expiated by many other rem-
edies” other than confession, the Council of Trent teaches that it is
“right and profitable and implies no presumption whatever to declare
them in confession.”* In fact, the confession of venial sins is “strongly
recommended by the Church.” When we regularly confess venial sins,
we are strengthened in our “fight against evil tendencies” and we
“progress in the life of the Spirit” (CCC, 1458).
Many saints have testified to the value of frequent confession
of venial sins because of the graces received. St. John Paul II, for
example, wrote:
We shall also do well to recall that, for a balanced spiritual and pastoral
orientation in this regard, great importance must continue to be given to
teaching the faithful also to make use of the Sacrament of Penance for
venial sins alone, as is borne out by a centuries-old doctrinal tradition
and practice.

42. Pope Francis, The Name of God is Mercy, 11.

43. Ibid., 11-12.
44, D-H, 1680.
45. D-H, 1680.
102 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

Though the Church knows and teaches that venial sins are forgiven in
other ways too—for instance, by acts of sorrow, works of charity, prayer,
penitential rites—she does not cease to remind everyone of the special
usefulness of the sacramental moment for these sins too. The frequent use
of the sacrament—to which some categories of the faithful are in fact
held—strengthens the awareness that even minor sins offend God and
harm the Church, the body of Christ. (RP, 32)

If the sins confessed are venial and not mortal, it is not abso-
lutely necessary to mention the number of times such sins have been
committed. Nevertheless, mentioning the number of such transgres-
sions might be helpful to the priest in assigning a salutary penance.
When mortal sins are committed, it is necessary to confess
them according to kind and number in order to have a full confession.
As noted in chapter 5, the Holy Office under Pope Alexander VII
condemned various Laxist propositions that sought to evade the need
to specify the kind and number of the sins committed. As we have
seen earlier, the Holy Office rejected “the procurement of a pollution”
as an adequate confession of sins such as pederasty, sodomy, and
bestiality.*¢ Likewise, intercourse with an unmarried woman could
not be confessed merely as “a grievous sin against chastity with an
unmarried woman.”*” When appropriate, it is also important to mention
the circumstances of the sin, because such circumstances can change
the sin’s nature.** Revealing the circumstances can also help the confes-
sor “estimate the gravity of the faults and to impose on the penitents
the penance appropriate to them.”*? When it is not possible to recall
the exact number of times the sin has been committed, “a general
reckoning of the number suffices.”*° If mortal sins committed are not
recalled and confessed, they “are understood to be included in general
form in the same confession.”*! If such forgotten mortal sins come
to mind after confession, they should be mentioned in the next
46. D-H, 2044. The Laxists were those who looked for clever ways of covering over or
minimizing the seriousness of certain sins. The Holy Office condemned various Laxist
propositions in 1665 and 1666 (cf. D-H, 2021-2065).
47. Ibid., 2045.
48. D-H, 1681.
49. Ibid.
50. Paul Jerome Keller, op, 101 Questions on The Sacraments ofHealing: Penance and the
Anointing ofthe Sick (New York: Paulist Press, 2010), 51.
51. D-H, 1682.
 Tue Key Components OF THE SACRAMENT 103

confession so that the full benefit of healing may be received.°? This is

so even though they were included in general form in the prior confes-
sion and absolution for them was received.

ABSOLUTION
Absolution by a priest is an integral and necessary part of the Sacrament
of Reconciliation. The Council of Trent teaches that the absolution
“does not consist in the mere ministry of proclaiming the Gospel or of
declaring that the sins have been forgiven, but it has the pattern of a
judicial act in which the priest pronounces sentence as a judge.” In
giving absolution the priest, however, acts not only as a judge but also in
the person of Christ, the Good Shepherd. He is likewise “the sign and
instrument of God’s merciful love for the sinner” (CCC, 1465). The
1983 Code of Canon Law states that: “In hearing confessions the priest is
to remember that he is equally a judge and a physician and has been
established by God as a minister of divine justice and mercy, so that he
has regard for the divine honor and the salvation of souls” (c. 978 §1).
The words of absolution said by the priest communicate God’s mercy,
forgiveness, and desire for peace of soul:
God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins
in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.°*

The essential words of absolution are: “I absolve you from your sins in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
When there is imminent danger of death, this shorter form suffices.*°
52. Keller, 101 Questions, 54.
53. D-H, 1685.
54. RP, 46.
55. Ibid.
56. Ibid., 21.
104 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

If the penitent expresses sorrow for the sins committed and

there are no further impediments, absolution must be given. The 1983
Code states that: “If the confessor has no doubt about the disposition
of the penitent, and the penitent seeks absolution, absolution is to be
neither refused nor deferred” (c. 980). There are cases, though, in
which the priest must withhold absolution. Most priests testify that
denying absolution is one of the most difficult things they are ever
called upon to do.5” One reason for denying absolution is that the
penitent lacks the proper “purpose of amendment” (c. 987) In other
words, the penitent does not wish to stop engaging in the sin con-
fessed. The Code reads further: “To receive the salvific remedy of the
Sacrament of Penance, a member of the Christian faithful must be
disposed in such a way that, rejecting sins committed and having a
purpose of amendment, the person is turned back to God” (c. 987).
Included in this “purpose of amendment” is the willingness to per-
form the penance the confessor assigns.°*
‘The priest, as the minister of God’s truth and mercy, must be
very careful in discerning whether there is insufficient purpose of
amendment. He must not refuse to give absolution unless he is certain
that he is justified in doing so. Sometimes penitents will mention
violations of the moral law and state that they do not consider such
actions to be sinful.°’ In such cases, the confessor must avoid giving
false assurance that such actions are not sinful when, in fact, they are.
‘The priest, on his own authority, cannot change the moral law of God
or the teachings of the Church. The Code also states that: “In admin-
istering the sacrament, the confessor as a minister of the Church is to
adhere faithfully to the doctrine of the Magisterium and the norms
issued by competent authority” (c. 978 §2). The confessor has the
responsibility of reminding the penitent of the moral law of Christ
and the Church, and he should not doubt that, with God’s grace, the

57. Keller, 101 Questions, 59; see also Kurt Stasiak, oss,4Confessor’s Handbook, rev. and
exp. ed. (New York: Paulist Press, 2010), 103.
58. As will be explained in the appendix on indulgences, absolution removes the eternal
consequences of sin, but the temporal effects (or punishments) of sin still need to be expiated by
the performances of penances. By means of indulgences, however, the Church provides ways of
remitting the temporal punishments due to sin for those who do not fulfill their assigned
penances.
59. See Stasiak,4 Confessor’ Handbook, 98-102, for cases of penitents who mention certain
actions and then say “this isn’t a sin, but ...”
 THE Key Components OF THE SACRAMENT 105

commandments of God can be faithfully observed.® On the other

hand, the confessor should acknowledge the good will of the person
going to confession, and in posing questions, he “is to proceed with
prudence and discretion, attentive to the condition and age of the
penitent, and is to refrain from asking the name of an accomplice”
(c. 979). If a penitent refuses to manifest any intention of avoiding the
sin in the future, the confessor might ask to talk with this person
outside of confession and postpone absolution.®! In other cases,
though, the penitent will express a desire to avoid the sin in the future
after proper instruction and admonishment on the part of the confes-
sor. In such cases, absolution is not to be denied—even if it might be
anticipated that the penitent will lapse into the same sin.®? With
regard to sins against conjugal chastity, the Pontifical Council of the
Family taught in 1997 that
Sacramental absolution is not to be denied to those who, repentant after
having gravely sinned against conjugal chastity, demonstrate the desire to
strive to abstain from sinning again, notwithstanding relapses. In accor-
dance with the approved doctrine and practice followed by the holy
Doctors and confessors with regard to habitual penitents, the confessor is
to avoid demonstrating lack of trust either in the grace of God or in the
dispositions of the penitent, by exacting humanly impossible absolute
guarantees of an irreproachable future conduct.”

The confessor should never deny absolution to a penitent who

manifests “a purpose of amendment,” even if there can be no absolute
guarantee that the same sin will not be committed in the future. On
the other hand, absolution should be denied or postponed in cases of
penitents who refuse to manifest any willingness to avoid certain sins
in the future. Although penitents who are truly sorrow for their sins

60. See canon 18 of the Council of Trent’s Decree on Justification, which condemns the view
that “the commandments of God are impossible to observe.” D-H, 1568.
61. Stasiak,AConfessor’s Handbook, 101.
62. See the Pontifical Council for the Family, Vademecum for Confessors Concerning Some
Aspects ofthe Morality of Conugal Life (Feb. 12, 1997) sec. 3, par. 5. This Vademecum can be found
in The Pontifical Council for the Family, Enchiridion on the Family:A Compendium of Church
Teaching on Family and Life Issues from Vatican II to the Present (Boston: Pauline Books & Media,
2004), 779-799. See also D-H, 3187 and Stasiak,4Confessor’s Handbook, 105-107.
63. Pontifical Council for the Family, Vademecum, sec. 3, par. 11.
106 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

have a right, in justice, to receive absolution,°*the confessor may be

obliged to deny absolution when there is “a lack of true sorrow for the
sins committed, the unwillingness to amend one’s life, the outright
intention to commit these sins again, or the refusal to do penance or
make satisfaction as directed by the priest.”® The only way the confessor
could know this is by gently asking questions “with prudence and
discretion,”® bearing in mind the advice of St. Alphonsus Liguori
(1696-1787) that, as a rule, the confessor should “keep silent unless he
has been asked.”®’ Confessors should also keep in mind what Pope
Francis has several times noted: “The confessional must not be a torture
chamber, but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy.”®
In addition to denying absolution to penitents without a
purpose of amendment, confessors might also need to defer absolution
in the cases of penalties reserved for the Holy See.” Some sins incur
certain canonical penalties that need to be remitted even after absolu-
tion is granted. For example, the penalty of excommunication applied
to the successful procurement of abortion (c. 1398) would need to be
lifted even after the sin of abortion has been confessed and absolution
granted. While most priests in the United States have been granted
the faculty to remove this penalty in the Sacrament of Reconciliation,
priests in other parts of the world lack this faculty. For the 2015-2016
Year of Mercy, Pope Francis granted the faculty to remove the penalty
attached to the crime of abortion to all Catholic priests.”

64. See Henry Davis, sj, Moral and Pastoral Theology (London & New York: Sheed and Ward,
1949), 3:276: “The obligation of giving absolution to one who is disposed for it is a grave one and
based on justice.”
65. Keller, 101 Questions, 59-60.
66. Vademecum for Confessors, sec. 3, par. 4.
67. Alphonsus Liguori, Praxi confessariorum [ch. 1] § IV, no. 41, cited in D-H, 2760.
68. Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium (2013), 44: AAS 105 [2013],
1038, cited also in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Jaetitia (2016), no. 305, fn.
3518
69. Keller, 101 Questions, 87.
70. Pope Francis, Letter According to Which an Indulgence Is Granted for the Extraordinary
Jubilee ofMercy (Sept. 1, 2015), http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2015/
documents/ papa-francesco_20150901_lettera-indulgenza-giubileo-misericordia.html. This
faculty was extended by Pope Francis in his apostolic letter Misericordia et Misera of November
20, 2016 (n.12).
 Tue Key Components OF THE SACRAMENT 107

SATISFACTION: THE REASONS FOR THE PENANCE

Following contrition and confession, the third action required of the
penitent is satisfaction for the sins committed. Prior chapters in this
book have already explained the theological concept of the temporal
punishment due to sin. The key idea is that sin not only has an eternal
consequence but also a temporal consequence found in the effects of
sin on ourselves and others. Sin likewise “entails an unhealthy attach-
ment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth or after
death in the state called purgatory” (CCC, 1472).
Satisfaction for sin is aimed at expiating the disorders caused
by the transgressions; regaining spiritual health; and, when appropri-
ate, making reparation for the harms done to others (CCC, 1459). The
penance assigned by the priest is meant to be not only expiatory but
also salutary, i.e., aimed at the spiritual well-being of the penitent.
‘The confessor is required “to impose salutary and suitable penances in
accord with the quality and number of sins, taking into account the
condition of the penitent. The penitent is obliged to fulfill these
personally” (c. 981).
As was mentioned in chapter 5, in the sixteenth century,
Protestants objected to the notion of imposed penances because they
believed it takes away from the all-sufficiency of Christ’s atoning
sacrifice for our sins. The Council of Trent responded by noting that
“no Catholic ever thought that through these satisfactions of ours the
value of the merit and satisfaction of our Lord Jesus Christ is obscured
or to some extent diminished.”’! Moreover, the satisfaction made for
sins by means of the assigned penances is done “through Jesus Christ.”””
Trent made it clear that “while we can do nothing of ourselves as
ourselves, we can do everything with the cooperation of him who
strengthens us (cf. Phil 4:13).’””
The penance assigned by the priest must take into account
the gravity of the sin as well as “the penitent’s personal situation and
spiritual good” (CCC, 1460). The confessor can assign penances
consisting of prayers, works of mercy, self-denial, and sacrifices. The
satisfaction imposed by such penances “is meant not merely as a

71. D-H, 1692.

72. Ibid., 1691.
73. Ibid.
108 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

safeguard for the new life and as a remedy for weakness, but also for
the retribution and chastisement of former sins.””*

Tue EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENT

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is directed toward the restoration of
God’s grace and friendship lost by postbaptismal sins. The purpose
and effect of the sacrament is “reconciliation with God” (CCC, 1468).
The Sacrament of Penance also “reconciles us with the Church”
(CCC, 1469) and all those who have been harmed by our sins. It
reestablishes our fellowship in the communion of the saints and it
“anticipates in a certain way the judgment” all of us will face at the end
of our earthly journey (CCC, 1470). It also brings peace of soul for
those who have alienated themselves from God because of sin.
Ultimately, the sacrament enables us to grow in charity by purifying
our love and elevating us to “the supernatural perfection of divine
love.””
As noted earlier in this book, the Sacrament of Reconciliation
ultimately has a mystical end or purpose. It enables us to undergo the
necessary purgation from sin that precedes and coincides with other
mystical stages of illumination and union with God.”

NoONSACRAMENTAL MEANS OF PuRIFICATION

The Council of Trent teaches that venial sins “can be expiated by
many other remedies” other than sacramental confession.”” The
worthy reception of the Eucharist serves as a most effective “remedy
to free us from our daily faults and to preserve us from mortal sin.”
In addition to Holy Communion, the Catechism ofthe Catholic Church
mentions prayer, fasting, almsgiving, the intercession of the saints,
indulgences, and acts of charity, which cover “a multitude of sins”
(CCC, 1434; see 1 Pt 4:8; Jas 5:20). The goal of penance is
74. D-H, 1692.
153 CCG1827.
76. On the three ways of purgation, illumination and union, see Reginald Garrigou-Lagange,
op, The Three Ages ofthe Interior Life, 2 vols., trans. M. Timothea Doyle, op (Rockford, IL: Tan
Books and Publishers, 1989).
77. D-H, 1680.
78. D-H, 1638.
 Tue Key ComMPONENTS OF THE SACRAMENT 109

purification from sin, which is necessary for conversion. In this regard,

the Church offers a multitude of means for growing in holiness: reading
Sacred Scripture, devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints,
the Liturgy of the Hours, and Eucharistic adoration. Indeed, “every
sincere act of worship or devotion revives the spirit of conversion and
repentance and contributes to the forgiveness of our sins” (CCC, 1437).
As mentioned earlier, penance is not an end in itself. It is directed
to human sanctification, which is the goal of the Christian life. As
St. Paul teaches: “This is the will of God, your holiness” (1 Thes 4:3).
Conclusion

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

and the New Evangelization

The call for a new evangelization was a central theme of the pontifi-
cate of St. John Paul II (1920-2005). Whereas evangelization in the
past was understood as the proclamation of the Gospel to people who
had never heard the good news of Christ, the new evangelization is
directed at people from countries that were formerly Christian but
have now become increasingly secular or indifferent to the faith. The
new evangelization, therefore, seeks to awaken the faith of people who
might even be baptized but do not live and think as Christians.!
The 1978-2005 pontificate of John Paul II was followed by
the 2005-2013 pontificate of Benedict XVI, who continued his
predecessor’s call for a new evangelization. On September 21, 2010,
Benedict XVI issued an apostolic letter motu proprio, Ubicumque et
semper, which established the Pontifical Council for Promoting the
New Evangelization. He explained the need for this new council in
these words:
Making my own the concerns of my venerable predecessors, I consider
it opportune to offer appropriate responses so that the entire Church,
allowing herself to be regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit, may
present herself to the contemporary world with a missionary impulse in
order to promote the new evangelization. Above all, this pertains to
Churches of ancient origin, which live in different situations and have
different needs, and therefore require different types of motivation for
evangelization: in certain territories, in fact, despite the spread of secular-
ization, Christian practice still thrives and shows itself deeply rooted in

1. For more background on the new evangelization, see Ralph Martin and Peter
Williamson, eds., John Paul II and the New Evangelization (Cincinnati: Servant Books, 2006).

II0
 RECONCILIATION AND THE NEw EVANGELIZATION III

the soul of entire populations; in other regions, however, there is a clearly

a distancing of society from the faith in every respect, together with a
weaker ecclesial fabric, even if not without elements of liveliness that the
Spirit never fails to awaken; we also sadly know of some areas that have
almost completely abandoned the Christian religion, where the light of
the faith is entrusted to the witness of small communities: these lands,
which need a renewed first proclamation of the Gospel, seem particularly
resistant to many aspects of the Christian message.”

Realizing the importance of the new evangelization, Benedict

XVI convoked a general assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the
theme of “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the
Christian Faith,” which met from October 7-28, 2012. Pope Francis,
who was elected pope on March 13, 2013, following Benedict XVI’s
February 28, 2013, retirement, responded to this synod with the
apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium (the Joy of the Gospel),
embracing the new evangelization as a major theme of his pontificate.

NEw EVANGELIZATION BEGINS IN THE

CONFESSIONAL
How does the new evangelization involve the Sacrament of
Reconciliation? Pope Benedict XVI addressed this question explicitly
in a March 9, 2012, address given to those gathered for a course on
the internal forum organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary. In this
address Pope Benedict taught that “the celebration of the Sacrament
of Reconciliation is itself a proclamation and therefore a path to take
for the work of the New Evangelization.”* He went on to say that “the
New Evangelization, therefore, also begins in the confessional! That
is, it begins in the mysterious encounter between the endless question
of human beings, a sign within them of the Creator Mystery and God's
Mercy, the only adequate response to the human need for infinity.”*
How does the new evangelization begin in the confessional?
How is the Sacrament of Reconciliation a true path for the new

2. Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter Ubicumque et Semper (2010).

3. Benedict XVI, Address to Participants in the Course on the Internal Forum Organized by the
Apostolic Penitentiary (March 9, 2012).
4. Ibid.
112 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

evangelization? Benedict XVI answers these questions in terms of the

call of all the faithful to holiness:

In what sense then is sacramental confession a “path” for the New

Evangelization? First of all because the New Evangelization draws its
lifeblood from the holiness of the children of the Church, from the daily
journey of personal and community conversion in order to be ever more
closely conformed to Christ. Then there is a close connection between
holiness and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, witnessed by all the saints
of history. The real conversion of our hearts, which means opening our-
selves to God’s transforming and renewing action, is the “driving force”
of every reform and is expressed in a real evangelizing effort. In confes-
sion, through the freely bestowed action of divine Mercy, repentant sin-
ners are justified, pardoned, and sanctified, and abandon their former
selves to be reclothed in the new.°

Because the new evangelization is a call to holiness it is also a

call to conversion, and conversion is closely linked to the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. The Church will only be renewed when her members
respond to the words of St. Peter: “Repent, therefore, and be con-
verted, that your sins may be wiped away” (Acts 3:19).
‘The intimate connection between the Sacrament of
Reconciliation and the new evangelization was affirmed by the October
7-28, 2012, Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops,
which focused on the theme “The New Evangelization and the
Transmission of the Christian Faith.” Proposition 33 of the final list
of propositions states:
The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is the privileged place to
receive God’s mercy and forgiveness. It is a place for both personal and
communal healing. In this sacrament, all the baptized have a new and
personal encounter with Jesus Christ. . . . The synod fathers ask that this
sacrament be put again at the center of the pastoral activity of the
Church. . . . Every priest should consider the Sacrament of Penance an
essential part of his ministry and of the new evangelization.”®

5. Ibid.
6. XIII General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Proposition 33 of the Final List of
Propositions (October 27, 2012). These propositions can found on the Vatican website at http://
www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/bollettino_25_xiii-ordinaria-2012/ 022
inglese/b33_02.html.
 RECONCILIATION AND THE New EvaNGELIZATION 113

THe SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

CommMunicaTEs Gop’s MErRcy
During the January 2015 meeting of the European Doctrinal
Commissions, held in Esztergom, Hungary, Archbishop Philip
Tartaglia of Glasgow, Scotland, gave an address entitled “The New
Evangelization and the Sacrament of Penance.”’ In this address he
reaffirmed what the synod fathers taught in 2012, but he added that
“the renewal of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation in the
pastoral activity of the Church for the promotion of a new evangeliza-
tion will depend to a large extent on how these fundamental themes
of Catholic faith can be communicated to the faithful, showing that
the forgiveness of sins is an essential dimension of the salvation of
which Jesus Christ is the unique bearer and of which his Church is
the sacrament.”*® According to Archbishop Tartaglia, the new evange-
lization must bring people into contact with the essential truths of
human sin and divine forgiveness. Because the Sacrament of
Reconciliation communicates God’s mercy and forgiveness in a
privileged way, it must be a central theme of the new evangelization.
The link between the new evangelization and the Sacrament
of Reconciliation was a major theme in the writings of St. John Paul
II, who may be considered “the father of the new evangelization,”
since the term was introduced by him.? When addressing the chal-
lenges posed by growing secularism in America and Europe, John
Paul always stressed the need to awaken the faithful to a repentance,
conversion, and reconciliation. In his 1999 Apostolic Exhortation
Ecclesia in America, John Paul II wrote:
Conversion (metancia), to which every person is called, leads to an accep-
tance and appropriation of the new vision which the Gospel proposes.
This requires leaving behind our worldly way of thinking and acting,

7. This January 15,2015 address can be found on the Vatican website at: http://www.
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/incontri/ rc_con_cfaith_20150115_esztergom
-tartaglia_en.html.
8. Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, “The New Evangelization and the Sacrament of Penance”
January 15, 2015), 1.
9. John Paul II’s initial reference to the “new evangelization” was in his homily of June 9,
1979, during his first apostolic visit to Poland. The homily was given at the Shrine of the Holy
Cross in Mogila: http://w2.vatican.va/ content/john-paul-ii/en/ homilies/1979/documents/hf
_jp-ii_hom_19790609_polonia-mogila-nowa-huta.html (accessed August 15, 2016).
114 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

which so often heavily conditions our behavior. As Sacred Scripture

reminds us, the old man must die and the new man must be born, that is,
the whole person must be renewed “in full knowledge after the image of
the Creator” (Col 3:10). Strongly recommended on this path of conversion
and quest for holiness are “the ascetical practices which have always been
part of the Church’s life and which culminate in the Sacrament of for-
giveness, received and celebrated with the right dispositions.” Only those
reconciled with God can be prime agents of true reconciliation with and
among their brothers and sisters. ‘The present crisis of the Sacrament of
Penance, from which the Church in America is not exempt and about
which I have voiced my concern from the beginning of my pontificate,
will be overcome by resolute and patient pastoral efforts."

St. John Paul II saw his pontificate as the one chosen by God
to usher in the third Christian millennium. In his apostolic letter,
Novo millennio ineunte, which celebrated the arrival of the new millen-
nium, the Polish pontiff underscored the importance of the Sacrament
of Reconciliation for the renewal of the Church. In this letter, he
makes an urgent appeal:
I am also asking for renewed pastoral courage in ensuring that the
day-to-day teaching of Christian communities persuasively and effectively
presents the practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. As you will
recall, in 1984 I dealt with this subject in the post-synodal exhorta-
tion Reconciliatio et paenitentia, which synthesized the results of an assem-
bly of the Synod of Bishops devoted to this-question. My invitation then
was to make every effort to face the crisis of “the sense of sin”! apparent
in today’s culture. But I was even more insistent in calling for a rediscov-
ery of Christ as mysterium pietatis, the one in whom God shows us his
compassionate heart and reconciles us fully with himself. It is this face of
Christ that must be rediscovered through the Sacrament of Penance,
which for the faithful is “the ordinary way of obtaining forgiveness and
the remission of serious sins committed after Baptism.”!2 When the
synod addressed the problem, the crisis of the sacrament was there for all
to see, especially in some parts of the world. The causes of the crisis have
not disappeared in the brief span of time since then. But the jubilee year,
which has been particularly marked by a return to the Sacrament of
Penance, has given us an encouraging message, which should not be

10. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America (1996), 32.
11. Cf. no. 18: AAS 77 (1985), 224.
12. Ibid., 31: loc. cit., 258.
 RECONCILIATION AND THE New EvaNGELIZATION 115

ignored: if many people, and among them also many young people, have
benefited from approaching this sacrament, it is probably necessary that
pastors should arm themselves with more confidence, creativity, and per-
severance in presenting it and leading people to appreciate it. Dear broth-
ers in the priesthood, we must not give in to passing crises! The Lord’s
gifts—and the Sacraments are among the most precious—come from the
One who well knows the human heart and is the Lord of history. '

Tue CompassionaTE Heart or CurisT IN THE

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
The need to rediscover the compassionate heart of Christ in the
Sacrament of Reconciliation was also a major theme of John Paul II’s
2003 apostolic exhortation Ecclessia in Europa. Recognizing that many
in Europe had lost a sense of hope, John Paul II emphasized the
critical importance of the Sacrament of Penance for the recovery of
hope. As he writes:
Along with the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Reconciliation must also exer-
cise a fundamental role in the recovery ofhope: “a personal experience of the
forgiveness of God for each one of us is, in fact, the essential foundation
of every hope for our future” One of the roots of the hopelessness that
assails many people today is found in their inability to see themselves as
sinners and to allow themselves to be forgiven, an inability often resulting
from the isolation of those who, by living as if God did not exist, have no
one from whom they can seek forgiveness. Those who, on the other hand,
acknowledge that they are sinners, and entrust themselves to the mercy of
the Heavenly Father, experience the joy of an authentic liberation and can
continue life without being trapped in their own misery. In this way they
receive the grace of a new beginning, and again find reasons for hope.

For this reason, the Sacrament of Reconciliation needs to be revitalized in

the Church in Europe. It must be reaffirmed, however, that the form of
the sacrament is the personal confession of sins followed by individual
absolution. This encounter between the penitent and the priest should be
encouraged in any of the forms provided for in the rite ofthe sacrament. Faced
with the widespread loss of the sense of sin and the growth of a mentality

13. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte (January 6, 2001), 37.
14. Propositio 16.
116 The Sacrament ofReconciliation

marked by relativism and subjectivism in morality, every ecclesial com-

munity needs to provide for the serious formation of consciences. . . . I
appeal to priests and I encourage them to give generously of their time in
hearing confessions and to be an example to others by their own regular
reception of the Sacrament of Penance. I urge them to keep current in the
field of moral theology, in order to approach knowledgeably the issues
which have lately arisen in personal and social morality. Furthermore,
they should be particularly concerned for the concrete living situation of
the faithful, and capable of patiently guiding them to a recognition of the
requirements of Christian moral law, so as to help them experience the
sacrament as a joyous encounter with the mercy of the Heavenly Father.

Following in the footsteps of St. John Paul II and Benedict

XVI, Pope Francis has made the call to conversion in the Sacrament
of Reconciliation a major theme of his pontificate. In Misericordiae
vultus, his bull of indiction for the 2015-2016 extraordinary Jubilee of
Mercy, Pope Francis, as we have seen, places the Sacrament of
Reconciliation at the center of the experience of God’s mercy. In this
sense, he finds hope that “so many people, including young people, are
returning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; through this experience
they are rediscovering a path back to the Lord, living a moment of
intense prayer and finding meaning in their lives.” Francis calls for
placing the Sacrament of Reconciliation “at the center once more in
such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God’s
mercy with their own hands. For every penitent, it will be a source
of true interior peace” (MV, 17).
The Sacrament of Reconciliation must be placed at the heart
of the call for a new evangelization. It is only when we recognize the
wounds of sin in our lives that we can experience the Gospel of mercy.
Jesus came to reconcile sinners to the Father of mercies. He did not
leave us orphans but provided a sacrament of mercy that enables us to
experience the compassion and forgiveness of God in the most
profound and powerful way. The experience of God’s merciful love in
the Sacrament of Reconciliation enables us all to be agents of the new
evangelization. Pope Benedict XVI was absolutely right when he
recognized that the new evangelization “begins in the confessional.”
15. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa (June 28, 2003), 76-77.
16. Benedict XVI, Address to Participants in the Course on the Internal Forum Organized
by the Apostolic Penitentiary (March 9, 2012).
Appendix A

The Faculty to Serve as a

Minister of the Sacrament
of Penance

As we have seen in chapter 5, the Church has made it clear that only
a bishop or priest can serve as a valid minister of the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. In 1296, Pope Boniface VIII condemned the Brethren
of the New Spirit for—among other things—having members of the
laity hear confessions and absolve from sins. This teaching was
reaffirmed by the Council of Constance in 1418 when it required the
followers of Wycliffe and Hus to believe that the faithful may confess
only to a qualified priest “and not to one or (more) laymen, however
good or devout they may be.”? In its 1439 Decree for the Armenians,
the Council of Florence taught that the minister of the Sacrament of
Penance “is the priest who has either ordinary authority to absolve or
that commissioned by his superior.”* The Council of Trent, in its 1551
Doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance, rejected the view that Christ,
in John 20:23, conferred the power to forgive sins to all the faithful
without distinction.‘ Trent likewise taught that “even priests who are
in mortal sin exercise the office of forgiving sins as ministers of Christ
through the power of the Holy Spirit conferred in ordination.”°

1. Heinrich Denzinger and Peter Hiinermann, eds. Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and
Declarations on Matters ofFaith and Morals, 43rd. ed. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012), 866.
Hereafter D-H.
2. D-H, 1260.
3. D-H, 1323.
4, D-H, 1684.
5. D-H, 1684.

II7
118 Appendix A

The Council of Trent not only upheld priests and bishops as

the exclusive ministers of the Sacrament of Reconciliation; it also
confirmed that “absolution is of no value if it is pronounced by a priest
on one over whom he has neither ordinary nor delegated
jurisdiction.”® Trent further specified that “certain more heinous and
more serious offenses” can be rightly reserved to popes and bishops.’
In canon 11 on the Sacrament of Penance, Trent anathematized those
who say that “bishops do not have the right to reserve cases to them-
selves, except such as pertain to external government.”® Trent likewise
anathematized those who deny that “the reservation of cases does not
prevent a priest from truly absolving from such reserved sins.”’? When
there is danger of death, however, “all priests may then absolve all
penitents without distinction from every kind of sin and censure.”
In light of the teachings of Trent, the Catholic Church today
recognizes that priests need proper faculties for serving as valid
ministers of the Sacrament of Reconciliation." This practice high-
lights the role of the bishop as the one “who has responsibility for the

. Ibid., 1686.
. Ibid., 1687.
2, Lbidy, wade
D . Ibid.
CON
©

10. Ibid., 1688.

11. The need for proper faculties to serve as the minister of reconciliation was given renewed
attention by Pope Francis’ letter of September 1, 2015, granting an indulgence to the faithful on
the occasion of the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. In this letter Pope Francis established that,
during the Jubilee of Mercy, Catholics may approach the priests of the Society of St. Pius X
(SSPX) for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and receive absolution from them validly and licitly.
‘The Society of St. Pius X was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991) in 1970. In
his apostolic letter Misericordia et Misera of November 20, 2016, Pope Francis extended the
faculties of the priests of the Society of St. Pius X to serve as ministers of the Sacrament of
Reconciliation “until further provisions are made” (n. 12). Archbishop Lefebvre was
excommunicated in 1988 for ordaining bishops without papal mandate along with the bishops he
ordained. Although the excommunications of the bishops ordained by Lefebvre were lifted in
2009 by Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy See did not grant the priests of the Society of St. Pius X
the faculty to serve as ministers of the Sacrament of Penance until Pope Francis’ decision of
September 1, 2015. Members of the SSPX claim they never lost their faculties, but the decision
of Pope Francis shows the Holy See did not accept this claim. Some canonists, however, believe
the Catholic faithful might have received valid absolution from SSPX priests prior to Pope
Francis’ decision on the basis of common error mentioned in canon 144 of the 1983 CIC. See
Cathy Caridi, “Are SSPX Sacraments Valid?” pts. 1-2, in Canon Law Made Easy (August 1, 2013,
and August 15, 2013): http://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2013/08/15/ are-sspx-sacraments-valid
-part-ii/ (accessed July 14, 2016). Others, though, wonder whether common error could be
reasonably claimed in light of the notoriety of the SSPX.
 THE Facutty To Serve as A MInIsTER OF THE SACRAMENT 119

entire flock of the diocese entrusted to him.”!2 The 1983 Code of

Canon Law provides the following basic canons:
c. 966 §1. The valid absolution of sins requires that the minister have, in
addition to the power of orders, the faculty of exercising it for the faithful
to whom he imparts absolution.

§2. A priest can be given this faculty either by the law itself or by a grant
made by the competent authority according to the norm of c. 969.1

The regulations concerning faculties for ministers of the Sacrament

of Reconciliation are found in canons 965-977 of the 1983 Code of
Canon Law and canons 722-730 of the 1990 Code of Canons of
the Eastern Churches (known in Latin as the Codex Canonum
Ecclesiarum Orientalium).
Canons 965 and 966 of the 1983 Code make it clear that only
priests with proper facilities can impart valid absolutions: The compe-
tent authority to grant faculties is the local ordinary, but religious
superiors also have this competence within the norms of canon law.
Canon 969 must be consulted in this regard:
c. 969 §1. The local ordinary alone is competent to confer upon any
presbyters whatsoever the faculty to hear the confessions of any of the
faithful. Presbyters who are members of religious institutes, however,
are not to use the faculty without at least the presumed permission of
their superior.

§2. The superior of a religious institute or society of apostolic life men-

tioned in c. 968 §2 is competent to confer upon any presbyters whatsoever
the faculty to hear the confessions of their subjects and of others living
day and night in the house.

While canons 965-977 of the 1983 Code should be consulted in their

entirety for understanding priestly faculties for confession, a few
general points can be made. First, the Roman Pontiff, cardinals, and
bishops have the faculty to hear confessions of the faithful everywhere

12. Paul Keller, 101 Questions Answers on the Sacraments ofHealing: Penance and Anointing
ofthe Sick (Mahweh, NJ: Paulist, 2010), 44.
13; ChE EHOe4722 §1—4.
14. All translations of the 1983 Codex Iuris Canonici [CIC] are taken from the Vatican
website: http://www.vatican.va/ archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM (accessed August 16, 2016).
120 Appendix A

in the world unless one bishop denies the faculty to another bishop in
a particular case (c. 967 §1). Second, priests must receive the faculty to
hear confessions by their competent authority in writing (c. 973).
Third, priests who have been granted the faculty to serve as ministers
of the Sacrament of Penance can exercise that faculty anywhere
“unless the local ordinary has denied it in a particular case” (c. 967 §2).
If, though, a priest has had his faculty to hear confessions revoked by
the local ordinary for a grave cause (c. 974 §1), the priest loses this
faculty everywhere (c. 974 §2). If, however, the priest has his faculty
to hear confessions revoked by some other ordinary (e.g., an ordinary
other than his own bishop), the faculty then is lost “only in the
territory of the one who revokes it” (c. 974 §2). If a local ordinary
revokes the faculty for a priest to hear confessions, he must inform the
proper ordinary of incardination or the religious superior in the case
of a religious priest (c. 974 §3). As one canonist explains,
‘The principle behind the law is that the one who grants the faculty can
revoke it. Therefore, if one’s own Ordinary grants the faculty and then
revokes it, it is lost everywhere. If another Ordinary grants it for his own
jurisdiction and then revokes it, it is lost only in that jurisdiction.

If a priest is doing ministry for an extended period in a diocese other

than his own, he should inform the local ordinary of his faculty to
serve as a minister of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When there is
danger of death, any priest—even one who has lost his faculty to hear
confessions—can absolve any penitents from any censures or sins
(c. 976). This would even apply to priests who have been laicized,
excommunicated, or suspended.
The Church is so careful about granting faculties to priests to
serve as ministers of the Sacrament of Reconciliation because of the
serious and sacred character of this ministry. According to Canon 970
of the 1983 CIC,
‘The faculty to hear confessions is not to be granted except to presbyters
who are found to be suitable through an examination or whose suitability
is otherwise evident.

15. John Huels, The Pastoral Companion: ACanon Law Handbook for Catholic Ministry,
(Montreal: Wilson & Lafleur, 2009), 142.
16. Ibid., 143; see also Keller, 101 Questions, 44.
 THE Facutry To Serve as A MINISTER OF THE SACRAMENT 121

The ordinary who grants faculties to a priest to serve as a minister of

the Sacrament of Penance must be confident that the priest will
uphold Catholic moral doctrine and manifest prudence, charity, and
mercy when acting in the Person of Christ toward sinners. It is often
assumed that all those found worthy to be ordained priests will also
be suitable to serve as ministers of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
This, of course, is the expectation, but the Church knows from
experience that some priests might be found unsuitable to serve as
confessors. Local ordinaries must also exercise proper care in granting
faculties to hear confession to priests from other dioceses or jurisdic-
tions. Canon 971 of the CIC states:

‘The local ordinary is not to grant the faculty of hearing confessions habit-
ually to a presbyter, even one having a domicile or quasi-domicile in his
jurisdiction, unless he has first heard the ordinary of the same presbyter
insofar as possible.

While the Church is very careful about granting priestly

faculties for confession, she understands that the care of souls has
priority in special cases such as the danger of death. ‘The priority given
to the care of souls also has ecumenical implications. In cases of
special need or necessity, Catholics may validly and licitly go to
confession and receive absolution from non-Catholic priests (e.g.,
Eastern Orthodox priests, see c. 844 §2). Catholic priests may also
validly and licitly administer the Sacrament of Penance “to members
of Eastern Churches which do not have full communion with the
Catholic Church if they seek such on their own accord and are
properly disposed. This is also valid for members of other Churches
which in the judgment of the Apostolic See are in the same condition
in regard to the sacraments as these Eastern Churches” (c. 844 §3). In
danger of death or some other grave necessity, Catholic priests may
also validly and licitly administer the Sacrament of Penance (as well as
the Eucharist and Anointing of the Sick) “to other Christians not
having full communion with the Catholic Church, who cannot approach
a minister of their own community and who seek such on their own
accord, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect to these
sacraments and are properly disposed” (c. 844 §4).
Appendix B

The Seal of Confession

The priest as the minister of the Sacrament of Reconciliation must keep

secret all the sins he has heard in confession. Observing this secrecy is a
grave obligation, which is known as the seal of confession. As seen in
chapter 5 of this book, Pope St. Leo I, in his March 6, 459 letter to the
Bishops of Campania, suppressed the public confession of sins in order
to protect sinners from shame and fear.! Even if the public confession of
sins was not absolutely forbidden, the Church has taught that it should
never be made mandatory.” In order to protect penitents from the public
disclosure of their sins, the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 insisted
that confessors “take absolute care not to betray the sinner through
word or sign, or in any other way whatsoever.”? The same council also
decreed that priests who violate the seal of confession are “not only to
be deposed from priestly office but also to be consigned to a closed
monastery for perpetual penance.”*
In 1593, Pope Clement VIII fate religious superiors from
making use in external governance “the knowledge of the sins of
others that they have gained in confession.”* In 1682 the Holy Office,
under Pope Innocent XI, rejected a proposition that would allow
making use of information obtained in confession if “something much
more serious would result from its not being used.”® The seal of
confession was also defended by Benedict XIV in his brief Suprema
omnium Ecclesiarum of July 7, 1745. In this document, he condemned

D-H, 323.
Cf. Council of Trent, Doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance, ch. 5, in D-H, 1683.
D-H, 814.
Ibid.
Ibid., 1989.
SyIbid., 2195.
ie
ee

I22
 THE SEAL OF ConFESSION 123

the practice of confessors demanding from penitents the names of

accomplices in sin—sometimes even to the point of denying absolu-
tion to those who refused to supply this information.” Benedict XIV
recognized that using such knowledge obtained from confession
would tend toward “the violation of the most sacred sacramental
seal”® and alienate the faithful from the sacrament.
The Catechism ofthe Catholic Church explains that the seal of
confession is so sacred that it allows for no exceptions:
Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to
persons, the Church declares that every priest who hears confessions is
bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding the
sins that his penitents have confessed to him. He can make no use of
knowledge that confession gives him about penitents’ lives. This secret,
which admits of no exceptions, is called the “sacramental seal,” because
what the penitent has made known to the priest remains “sealed” by the
sacrament. (CCC, 1467)

The 1983 Code of Canon Law specifies the severe penalties

that result from the violation of the sacred seal:
c. 1388 §1. A confessor who directly violates the sacramental seal incurs
a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; one
who does so only indirectly is to be punished according to the gravity of
the delict.

§2. An interpreter and the others mentioned in c. 983 §2 who violate

the secret are to be punished with a just penalty, not excluding excommu-
nication.?

The strict obligation not to violate the secrecy of confession

applies not only to the confessors but also to interpreters and all others
who have obtained knowledge of sins confessed under the seal of
confession. This is made clear in the 1983 Code:

7. Ibid., 2543.
8. Ibid.
9. The 1990 Code of Canons ofthe Eastern Churches imposes a major excommunication for
a direct violation of the seal of confession and a minor excommunication for a violation in
a manner other than direct. See CCEO, c. 1456.
124 Appendix B

c. 983 §1. The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely

forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in
any manner and for any reason.

§2. The interpreter, if there is one, and all others who in any way have
knowledge of sins from confession are also obliged to observe secrecy.

In addition to protecting the privacy and reputation of the

penitent, a major reason for the seal of confession is that in this
sacrament “the penitent discloses the secrets of his or her conscience,”
and only God has a right to know secrets of a person’s conscience and
soul.° In a particular way, the seal of confession applies to rectors of
seminaries and masters of novices, who might be tempted to use
information gained from confession to form judgments on the suit-
ability of candidates for advancement to Holy Orders or religious
profession. This is why the 1983 Code of Canon Law states:
The director of novices and his associate and the rector of a seminary or
other institute of education are not to hear the sacramental confessions of
their students residing in the same house unless the students freely
request it in particular cases. (c. 985)

While some canonists try to make fine distinctions between

direct and indirect violations of the seal of confession, !! the best
advice is for priests “to say absolutely nothing to anyone at any time
about anything that happened during confession.”!?Even if the civil
authority were to demand that a confessor reveal information obtained
under the seal of confession, he must refuse to divulge it.3 Some
priests have been martyred for refusing to violate the seal of confes-
sion. '* While courts in the United States have generally protected

10. Paul Jerome Keller, op, 101 Questions &° Answers on the Sacraments ofHealing: Penance and
Anointing of the Sick (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2010), 67.
11. See John M. Huels, The Pastoral Companion: ACanon Law Handbook for Catholic Ministry,
4th upd. ed. (Montréal: Wilson & Lafleur, 2009), 144-147. See also Henry Davis, sj, Moral and
Pastoral Theology (London & New York: Sheed and Ward, 1949), 3:316-319.
12. Paul Jerome Keller, op, 101 Questions, 68.
13. See Huels, The Pastoral Companion, 145.
14. See Keller, 101 Questions, 71, where St. John Nepomucene and St. John Sarkander are
given as preeminent examples.
 ‘THE SEAL or CONFESSION 125

priests from prosecution for refusing to violate the seal, there have
been attempts “to reverse this very important privilege.”

15. Keller, 101 Questions, 72.

Appendix C

Catholic Teaching on
Indulgences

INTRODUCTION
Indulgences were touched on in chapter 5, which provides a historical
survey of the Sacrament of Penance. It might be helpful, though, to
provide an overview of the Catholic teaching on indulgences because
of the many misunderstandings surrounding this topic.1
Unfortunately, many Catholics only know about indulgences from
history courses that highlight late medieval abuses. The Catholic
Church, however, continues to encourage the proper use of indul-
gences, as can be seen from Pope Francis’ April 11, 2015, bull of
indiction for the extraordinary jubilee of mercy, Misericordiae Vultus.?

THe MEANING OF INDULGENCE

The word indulgence comes from Latin word indulgentia, which
means a show of kindness or tenderness. ‘The verbal root is indulgere:
to forgive, to be lenient towards or be tender towards. The Catholic
theology of indulgences is closely connected with the Sacrament of
Penance, which is why the treatment of indulgences follows that of

1. An excellent presentation of current Catholic doctrine on indulgences is found in Edward

N. Peters, 4 Modern Guide to Indulgences: Rediscovering This Often Misinterpreted Teaching
(Chicago/Mundelein, IL: Hillenbrand Books, 2008) for which I wrote an introduction entitled
“A Short History and Theology of Indulgences.” This present appendix draws upon some of the
material of this introduction.
2. The full text of Misericordiae Vultus is provided as an appendix to Pope Francis, The Name
of God is Mercy, trans. Oonagh Stransky (New York: Random House, 2016).

126
 CaTHOLIC TEACHING ON INDULGENCES 127

penance in both the 1983 Code of Canon Law (cc. 992-997) and the
Catechism of the Catholic Church (1471-1479). Indulgences likewise are
linked to the Catholic theology of salvation, which understands
justification as not merely the forgiveness of sins but also “the sanctifi-
cation and renewal of the interior man.”3 The Catechism ofthe Catholic
Church defines an indulgence as:
A remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose
guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly
disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of
the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies
with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.
(CCC, 1471; cf. ID 1)

THe THEOLOGICAL BAsIs

‘The process of sanctification and interior renewal requires not only
forgiveness from the guilt (cu/pa) of sin but also purification from the
harmful effects or wounds of sin (the temporal punishment of sin).
The call of Christ to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect”
(Mt 5:48) is ultimately a call for interior purification. Spiritual writers
describe this as the mystical path of purgation, illumination and union
with God. This spiritual path has an eschatological dimension, for it
culminates in the beatific vision and the communion of saints. This is
why Catholics believe in purgatory, or post-mortem purification.
People die in the state of grace or friendship with God, but the effects
of sin on the soul often remain. Since “nothing unclean” can enter
heaven (cf. Rv 21:27), the souls of the deceased can still carry harmful
effects of sin and must, therefore, be purified before entering the fullness
of the heavenly kingdom.

Tuer TEMPORAL PUNISHMENT OR [TEMPORAL

EFFECTS OF SIN
The temporal punishment due to sin is, as the name suggests, time-
bound and not eternal. It is not a penalty imposed from without but
something that follows “from the very nature of sin” (CCC, 1741).
3. Council of Trent, Decree on Justification, 1547, in D-H, 1528.
128 Appendix G

Sin affects not only our relationship with God, but it also injures our
character and damages our relations with others. Sin has “a double
consequence” (CCC, 1472). Unrepentant grave sins, committed with
full knowledge and deliberate consent, deprive a person of eternal life
with God (cf. 1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:21; Rev 21:8). But all sins, even
those that are not deadly (cf. 1 Jn 5:17), still involve “an unhealthy
attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth,
or after death in the state called purgatory” (CCC, 1857).
The Sacrament of Penance involves not only sorrow or contri-
tion but also confession and satisfaction. Not all the disorders caused by
sin are taken away by sacramental absolution. As the Catechism teaches:
“Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health
by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must ‘make
satisfaction for’ or ‘expiate’ his sins” (CCC, 1459). This is what the
Church calls penance or satisfaction, which can involve prayers, sacri-
fices, or acts of service that seek to heal the temporal effects of sin: those
injuries inflicted by the sin on both the sinner and others.

THE SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATION FOR INDULGENCES

Scripture very clearly testifies to the link between sin and temporal
punishments. After the fall of Adam and Eve, the woman is told that
her pain in childbirth will be intensified (Gn 3:16), and the man is
informed that he will labor for bread by the sweat of his face (Gn 3:19).
Even after God forgives David for his sin of adultery, there is the
further punishment of the death of the child conceived and born from
the sin (2 Sm 12:13-14). In the Bible, we see the power of prayer and
offerings on behalf of others. In 2 Mc 12:42—46, a collection is taken
up for an expiatory sacrifice to make atonement for the sins of the
Jewish soldiers who had died wearing amulets of the gods of Jamnia.
Scripture also teaches that we can link our sufferings to those of
Christ “on behalf of his body, which is the Church” (cf. Col 1:24).
Moreover, our prayers can help lead others to repentance (cf. 1 Jn 5:16)
and contribute to the forgiveness of their sins (cf. Jas 5:15). In the
New Testament, there is likewise evidence of the Church imposing
penances. St. Paul, for example, urges forgiveness and encouragement
for an offender who is enduring the punishment received for his
offense (2 Cor 2:5-10).
 CATHOLIC TEACHING ON INDULGENCES 129

A Brier History or INDULGENCES?

In the early Church, public penances were often required of those who
had committed grievous sins like apostasy. Reconciliation with the
Church was a communal affair, and early Christian writers like
Tertullian (c. 150-220) recognized that “the whole body must suffer
and work together for a cure” when some members are sick. Along
these lines, public penitents would sometimes obtain trom those to be
martyred a /idellus (petition or letter) stating that the martyr would
offer his or her sufferings on behalf of the penitent. Both Tertullian
and Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258) testify to the acceptance of
these /ibe/li as grounds for shortening required times of penance.°
Even if the term indulgentia was not used for these grants of mercy,
similar terms such as remissio were. Indulgentia was a term used in
Roman civil law for the granting of a right, privilege, or pardon.’
Early Christian rulers used the term in this sense as well. The Council
of Toledo of 633, however, used the term indulgentia for the ceremony
reconciling penitents on Good Friday.®
As penitential practices developed from the sixth to the tenth
centuries, there was a gradual move from public to private penances.
Handbooks of penances known as poenitentiales were utilized by
confessors, which stipulated very specific penances for certain types of
sins. Various bishops, however, would often allow for the substitution
of certain prayers (e.g., the psalms), fasts, and almsgiving in place of
the standard penances (which were often quite demanding). By the
ninth century, popes and bishops “frequently concluded their letters
with a petition (suffragium), asking God through the intercession of
Christ and the saints to absolve the sinner of all remaining penalties
due to sin.”?

4, This section is adapted from my introduction to Peters, AModern Guide to Indulgences, 4-9.
5. Tertullian, De Paenitentia 10:5. The full text of Tertullian’s De Paenitentia can be found in
Corpus Christianorum Series Latina [CCSL] I, Tertulliani Opera Pars 1 (Turnhout, Belgium:
Brepols, 1954), 299-340.
6. Cf. Alexius M. Lépicier, osm, Indulgences: Their Origin, Nature and Development (London:
Kegan Paul, Trench and Tibner, 1906), 202-213.
7. Joseph Edward Campbell, Indulgences: The Ordinary Power ofPrelates Inferior to the Pope to
Grant Indulgences (Ottawa: The University of Ottawa Press, 1953), 53.
8. Ibid.
9, PE Palmer and G.A. Tavard, “Indulgences” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed.
(Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2003), 7:346.
130 Appendix C

By the eleventh century, the practice of granting indulgences

became more pronounced. Indulgences were granted for the construc-
tion or support of “churches, schools, hospitals and bridges.”
Indulgences were linked to various places of pilgrimage such-as Santiago
de Compostela in Spain. Pope Urban II, at the Council of Clermont
in 1095, offered a plenary indulgence that decreed: “Whoever out of
pure devotion and not for the purpose of gaining honor or money
shall go to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God, let that journey
be counted in lieu of all penance.”
By the thirteenth century, indulgences were well established
in the life of Catholic Europe. Since indulgences were sometimes
prone to abuse, the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) warned about
“indiscriminate and excessive indulgences” (indiscretas et superfluas
indulgentias), and ruled that when a new basilica is dedicated “the
indulgence shall not be for more than one year.”
Medieval theologians such as Hugh of Saint-Cher
(c. 1200-1263), St. Bonaventure (c. 1217-1274), and St. Thomas
Aquinas (c. 1225-1274) discussed the nature and application of
indulgences. Hugh linked indulgences to the Church being the
Mystical Body of Christ. Bonaventure understood indulgences in
terms ofvicarious satisfaction for the sins of others. Aquinas recognized
that “the plenitude of power for granting indulgences resides in the
pope,” but bishops, subject tothe pope’s regulation, can grant indul-
gences “within fixed limits and not beyond” (ST Suppl., 26, 3).
St. Thomas also believed that even priests and deacons could grant
indulgences by means of delegated jurisdiction (ST Suppl., 26, 2).
In the year 1300, Pope Boniface VIII promulgated a special
indulgence for pilgrims coming to Rome for the jubilee year, thereby
setting a precedent for subsequent jubilee years, such as the Jubilee
Year of 2000.
Pope Clement VI (r. 1342-1352) decided that jubilee indul-
gences should be granted every fifty rather than one hundred years.
In 1343, he issued the bull Unigenitus Dei Filius in anticipation of the

10. Ibid.
11. W.H. Kent, “Indulgences,” in Catholic Encyclopedia (New York: Encyclopedia Press, 1913),
7:786.
12. Norman Tanner, sj, ed., Decrees of theEcumencial Councils (London and Washington, DC:
Sheed & Ward and Georgetown University Press, 1990), 1:263-264.
 CaTHOLIC TEACHING ON INDULGENCES 131

jubilee year 1350. In this document, he articulates a theology of

indulgences based on the treasury of merits (of Christ, the Blessed
Virgin Mary and the saints) entrusted to the Church via the keys to
the kingdom of heaven (given to St. Peter and his successors).'3 The
basic points of Clement VI’s bull became normative for Catholic
theology for centuries.
Pope Martin V, in his bull Inter cunctas of February 22, 1418,
presented a list of questions for the followers of Wycliffe and Hus.
Among these are two that pertain to indulgences. Basically, Martin
V wanted to know whether these followers acknowledged the author-
ity of the pope to grant indulgences “for a pious and just cause,”
especially to those who make pilgrimages and visit churches.
‘The issue of indulgences assumed prominence in the contro-
versies surrounding Martin Luther (1483-1546). In his ninety-five
theses, made public in October 1517, Luther seemed to accept the
apostolic origin of indulgences (thesis 71), but he questioned the
power of the pope to remit guilt “save by declaring and confirming
what has been remitted by God” (thesis 6). Furthermore, he appeared
to deny the power of the pope to grant plenary indulgences except
with regard to penalties imposed by the pope himself (thesis 20).*
In late May of 1518, Luther sent a copy of a treatise explain-
ing his theses to Pope Leo X. He told the pontiff that he would defer
to his judgment, saying: “I shall recognize your words as the words of
Christ speaking in you.” © From October 12-14, 1518, Luther met
with Cardinal Cajetan, the papal delegate, to discuss his theology. By
this time, Luther was raising more serious doubts about the Catholic
theology of indulgences. He questioned the authority of Clement VI’s
1343 bull Unigenitus Dei Filius. Cajetan tried unsuccessfully to have
Luther recant some of his positions. The case was referred back to the
pope, and on November 9, 1518, the papal decree Cum postquam was

13. Cf, D-H, 1025-1027.

14. Cf. ibid., 1266-1267.
15. Cf. Henry Bettenson and Chris Maunder, eds., Documents ofthe Christian Church
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 206-212.
16. Preserved Smith, The Life and Letters ofMartin Luther (Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1911), 45.
132 Appendix G

issued by Leo X.”” This decree reaffirmed Catholic teaching on

indulgences, along the lines of Unigenitus Dei Filius.
Luther did not accept the teaching of Pope Leo X, as he had
said he would. Instead, his rhetoric grew more radical. On June 15,
1520, the papal bull Exsurge Domine was issued, censuring forty-one
propositions of Luther. Among the censured propositions was one
stating that: “Indulgences are a pious fraud on the faithful dispensing
them from doing good works” (no. 18), and another saying: “They are
led astray who believe that indulgences are salutary and spiritually
fruitful” (no. 20).18 Furthermore, Luther was censured for denying
that indulgences are useful for “the dead and the dying.””
Luther was excommunicated in 1521, and he died in 1546.
The Council of Trent did not take up the question of indulgences until
its 25th session in 1563. The Council reaffirmed indulgences as “most
salutary to the Christian people” and ordered that their use be
retained by the Church.”?° Moreover, it condemned under anathema
those who deny the power of the Church to grant them. The Council
did, however, demand that any trafficking in indulgences for mon-
etary gain be absolutely abolished, lest the good name of indulgences
“be blasphemed by the heretics.”2! In 1597, Pope Pius V abolished all
indulgences that required fees or payment.
‘The theologians of the post-Tridentine period, such as the
Jesuit Francisco Suarez (1548-1617), defended the practice of indul-
gences. In 1669, the oversight of indulgences was delegated to the
newly created Congregation for Indulgences and Relics. This
Congregation became responsible for the various editions of the Raccolta
(collection) of indulgences that appeared in 1807, 1877, 1886, and
1898. This Congregation also regulated indulgences attached to
special altars called “privileged altars.” In 1840, it ruled that the efficacy
of indulgences attached to such altars ultimately “corresponds to the
good will and favor of the divine mercy”— even if a plenary indul-
gence is intended.”

17. Cf. D-H, 1447-1449.

18. Cf. Ibid., 1468, 1470.
19. Ibid., 1472.
20. Ibid., 1835.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid., 2750.
 CaTHOLic TEACHING ON INDULGENCES
133

In 1908, Pope Pius X abolished the Congregation for

Indulgences and Relics and transferred the oversight of indulgences to
the Holy Office. In 1917, Pope Benedict XV removed the section on
indulgences from the Holy Office and joined it to the Apostolic
Penitentiary. New editions of the Raccolta continued to be issued
periodically. In 1988, the apostolic constitution Pastor bonus reaf-
firmed the competence of the Apostolic Penitentiary over indulgences,
except in cases when the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
needs to examine doctrinal questions related to them.

Paut VI’s 1967 REFORM OF INDULGENCES AND

LaTER DEVELOPMENTS
In his 1967 apostolic constitution Indulgentiarum doctrina, Blessed
Paul VI provided a detailed explanation of the Catholic doctrine of
indulgences along with some significant reforms. Most notably, he
abolished all references to days, months, and years. Now indulgences
are divided into two categories: partial indulgences, which free a
person from part of the temporal punishment due to sin, and plenary
indulgences, which free a person from all of the temporal punishment
due to sin. Paul VI specifies the requirements for gaining a plenary
indulgence: (1) the performance of the indulgenced work; (2) sacra-
mental Confession; (3) eucharistic Communion; (4) prayers for the
pope’s intentions; and (5) the absence of attachment to sin, even venial
sin (in other words, detachment from sin).
Paul VI’s 1967 constitution provided the basis for the presen-
tation of indulgences both in the 1983 Code of Canon Law and the
1992/1997 Catechism ofthe Catholic Church. John Paul II also promoted
indulgences for the jubilee year 2000 by means of his 1999 bull of
indiction Incarnationis mysterium. In this document, the norms for
gaining indulgences for the jubilee were specified, and the holy father
highlighted the special theme of pilgrimages as “an exercise of practi-
cal asceticism, repentance, and conversion.”” In 1999, the Apostolic
Penitentiary also issued an updated version of the Enchiridion

23. John Paul II, Incarnationis mysterium (1999), 7. The bull was approved on November 29,
1998, but not issued publicly until 1999.
134 Appendix G
4

indulgentiarum: Normae et concessiones, in English called the Manual of

Indulgences: Norms and Grants.**
For the 2015-2016 extraordinary jubilee of mercy, Pope Francis
again linked the granting of indulgences to pilgrimages as well as
passing through designated holy doors of mercy.”° He also provided
a profound reflection on the purpose of indulgences:
A jubilee also entails the granting of indulgences. This practice will acquire
an even more important meaning in the holy year of mercy. God’s for-
giveness knows no bounds. In the Death and Resurrection of Jesus
Christ, God makes even more evident his love and its power to destroy all
human sin. Reconciliation with God is made possible through the
Paschal Mystery and the mediation of the Church. Thus God is always
ready to forgive, and he never tires of forgiving in ways that are continu-
ally new and surprising. Nevertheless, all of us know well the experience
of sin. We know that we are called to perfection (cf. Mt 5:48), yet we feel
the heavy burden of sin. Though we feel the transforming power of grace,
we also feel the effects of sin typical of our fallen state. Despite being
forgiven, the conflicting consequences of our sins remain. In the
Sacrament of Reconciliation, God forgives our sins, which he truly blots
out; and yet sin leaves a negative effect on the way we think and act. But
the mercy of God is stronger even than this. It becomes indulgence on the
part of the Father who, through the Bride of Christ, his Church, reaches
the pardoned sinner and frees him from every residue left by the conse-
quences of sin, enabling him to act with charity, to grow in love rather
than to fall back into sin.

The Church lives within the communion of the saints. In the Eucharist,
this communion, which is a gift from God, becomes a spiritual union
binding us to the saints and blessed ones whose number is beyond count-
ing (cf. Rv 7:4). Their holiness comes to the aid of our weakness in a way
that enables the Church, with her maternal prayers and her way of life, to
fortify the weakness of some with the strength of others. Hence, to live
the indulgence of the Holy Year means to approach the Father’s mercy
with the certainty that his forgiveness extends to the entire life of the
believer. To gain an indulgence is to experience the holiness of the
Church, who bestows upon all the fruits of Christ’s redemption, so that

24. Apostolic Penitentiary, Manual ofIndulgences: Norms and Grants, 4th ed. (Washington,
DC: USCCB Publishing, 2006).
25. See MV 14 for pilgrimages and 3-4 for holy doors of mercy.
 CaTHOLIc TEACHING ON INDULGENCES
135

God’s love and forgiveness may extend everywhere. Let us live this jubilee
intensely, begging the Father to forgive our sins and to bathe us in his
merciful “indulgence.” (MV, 22)

Here we see that Pope Francis, like Paul VI, recognizes the
spiritual power of indulgences for purification from sin and the
profound connection of indulgences to the communion of the saints.

EXAMPLES OF PLENARY INDULGENCES

Some examples of plenary indulgences listed in the 1999 Manual of
Indulgences are the following:
* acts of family consecration to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus or the
Holy Family
* dedication of the human race to Jesus Christ the King on the
Solemnity of Christ the King
* act of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Solemnity of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus
* papal blessing (diocesan bishops can impart the papal blessing three
times a year on solemn feasts they have designated)
* reception of Holy Communion for the first time or those who
devoutly assist (attend) the first Holy Communion of others
* eucharistic adoration for at least thirty minutes
* piously reciting the Tantum ergo after the Mass of the Lord’s
Supper on Holy Thursday during the solemn reposition of the Most
Blessed Sacrament
* reciting the prayer “En ego, O bone et dulcissime Jesu” (O kind and
most sweet Jesus) before a crucifix on any Fridays of Lent after
Holy Communion
° participation in some of the services for the Week of Christian Unity
* reception of the Apostolic Blessing by someone in danger of death
* Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday or personally making the
Way (Stations) of the Cross
* prayerful use of an article of devotion blessed by the pope or by any
bishop on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29)
* listening to sacred preaching at a mission
136 Appendix C

* devoutly praying the Rosary in a church, oratory, in a family,

religious community, or a religious community, and in general
“when several of the faithful gather for some religious purpose”
* devout recitation of the Eastern Akathistos hymn or the-Office of
the Paraclisis in a church, oratory, in a family, religious community,
or a religious community, and in general “when several of the
faithful gather for some religious purpose”
* the devout recitation or solemn singing of the Veni Creator on the
first day of the year or the solemnity of Pentecost or the Te Deum
on the final day of the year
* devout attendance at a priest’s first celebration of Mass
* devout attendance at the jubilee Mass of priests celebrating their
25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, or 70th anniversaries of ordinations or
attending jubilee Masses for bishops for their episcopal ordinations
* renewal of baptismal vows on the Eastern Vigil or the anniversary
of one’s own Baptism
* to pray for the faithful departed: (a) visit a cemetery between
November 1 and 8 and pray, if only mentally, for the faithful
departed; (b) On All Souls’ Day devoutly visit a church or oratory
and recite an Our Father and the Creed
* reading of Sacred Scripture with the reverence due to the divine
word for at least thirty minutes
* during a diocesan synod devoutly visit the church where the synod
is taking place and recite an Our Father and the Creed
* visiting sacred places and devoutly reciting an Our Father and a
Creed; sacred places include the four Patriarchal Basilicas in Rome;
minor basilicas on June 29, August 2 (known the Portiuncula/
Franciscan indulgence), or the feast day associated with the basilica;
the diocesan Cathedral on June 29, August 2, or the special feast
associated with the Cathedral.
In addition to these plenary indulgences mentioned in the
1999 manual, mention should also be made of the divine mercy
indulgence (granted on July 13, 2002) to those who on Divine Mercy
Sunday take part in the prayers and devotions held in honor of the
Divine Mercy or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, recite
the Our Father, the Creed, and a prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus
(“Jesus, I trust in You’).
 CaTHo tic TEACHING ON INDULGENCES 137

All these plenary indulgences, of course, have the usual require-

ments: (1) the performance of the indulgenced work, (2) sacramental
Confession, (3) eucharistic Communion, (4) prayers for the pope’s
intentions, and (5) the absence of attachment to sin, even venial sin
(in other words, detachment from sin).
In the case of the apostolic blessing imparted by a priest at the
point of death, the usual requirements might not be capable of being
fulfilled if the person is unconscious. In such cases, it is commonly
believed that the Church will supply for these conditions if the person
had been in the habit of praying some prayers during his or her
lifetime. This even applies if a priest cannot be present for those duly
disposed.”° God, of course, will be the ultimate Judge of whether the
unconscious person was “duly disposed” to receive the effects of the
apostolic blessing at the point of death.
Indulgences are intimately linked with the Sacrament of
Penance because they are directed toward the same end of the sacra-
ment, viz., reconciliation with God and purification from the temporal
effects of sin. Ultimately, indulgences and the Sacrament of Penance
should be seen in light of God’s mercy and his desire to free us from
the ravages of sin. Indulgences, like penances, serve as medicines for
the healing of the soul.

this
26. See Manual ofIndulgences, Concessions, no. 12 §2, p. 54. There are two forms of
as the apostolic pardon or blessing given in chapter 3, n. 106 of Anointing and Care
prayer known
(New
of the Sick found in The Rites of the Catholic Church as Revised by the Second Vatican Council
1976), p. 611. In editions of The Rites published in 1983 and later, the two
York: Pueblo Publishing,
Viaticum), n. 201.
forms of the “apostolic pardon” can be found in chapter 5 (Celebration of the
Care of the Sick: Rites ofAnointing and Viaticum (New York: Catholic
See p. 156 of the Pastoral
Study Edition (New
Book Publishing CO, 1983) and p. 688 of the Zhe Rites ofthe Catholic Church:
York Pueblo Publishing CO, 1983).
Appendix D

The Various Rites for

Celebrating the Sacrament
of Reconciliation

Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy stated that “the rite and
formulas for the sacrament of penance are to be revised so that they
more clearly express both the nature and the effect of the sacrament”
(SC, 72). In light of this directive, the Congregation for Divine Worship
and Discipline of the Sacraments prepared a new Rite ofPenance that
was issued on June 6, 1972.1 Pope Paul VI subsequently approved this
new Rite “and ordered it to be published.”? This new rite included not
only the Rite for Reconciliation of Individual Penitents but also two
other rites: namely, the Rite of Reconciliation of Several Penitents
with Individual Confession and Absolution and the Rite for
Reconciliation of Several Penitents with General Confession and
Absolution.’ All three of these new rites propose “absolution in the
context of the celebration of God’s Word.”* The two new rites with
several penitents try to “emphasize the relation of the sacrament to the
community.”°

1. AAS 64 (1972) 510-514.

2. See letter of Jean Cardinal Villot, the Secretary of State of the Holy See, of December 2,
1973 (Prot. N. 800/73) that is published in The Rites of The Catholic Church (New York: Pueblo
Publishing, 1976), 339-340.
3. See The Rites of The Catholic Church, 350-406.
4. Ibid., 339.
5. Ibid.
 Tue Various Rites For CELEBRATING THE SACRAMENT
139

RITE FoR RECONCILIATION OF INDIVIDUAL

PENITENTS
‘This rite of the sacrament remains normative. The Rite ofPenance
(Ordo paenitentiae) of 1973 states: “Individual, integral confession and
absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful to reconcile
themselves with God and the Church, unless physical or moral
impossibility excuses from this kind of confession.” The Catechism
ofthe Catholic Church explains “the profound reasons” for having
individual confession as the norm:
Christ is at work in each of the sacraments. He personally addresses every
sinner: “My son, your sins are forgiven.” He is the physician tending each
one of the sick who need him to cure them. He raises them up and reinte-
grates them into fraternal communion. Personal confession is thus the
form most expressive of reconciliation with God and with the Church.
(CCC, 1484)

The new Rite for Reconciliation of Individual Penitents

provides a number of possibilities for the welcoming of the penitent,
the reading Sacred Scripture, and the dismissal of the penitent with
praise of the mercy of God. Pastoral needs, however, would allow for a
short rite that includes the essentials of the confession of sins, the
invitation to contrition, the acceptance of the penance, and the
absolution and dismissal.” In imminent danger of death, it suffices for
the priest to use the essential words of absolution, namely: “I absolve
you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit.” °

RECONCILIATION OF SEVERAL PENITENTS WITH

INDIVIDUAL CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
This rite is used in many parishes during Advent and Lent. It places
emphasis on “the ecclesial nature of penance” and the proclamation
of God’s mercy and the call to conversion found in Sacred Scripture.’

Ordo pentinentiae, n. 31 in The Rites of The Catholic Church, 355.

See The Rites of the Catholic Church, nn. 21 and 44 on pages 352 and 361-362.
See ibid., 352.
ee
NDIbid.
140 Appendix D

The rite provides a framework for introductory rites: the celebration of

the Word of God followed by a homily; reconciliation with individual
confessors: and a communal dismissal of the people.1° Many people
who might not go to the scheduled confessions in parishes during the
week are open to participating in this Rite of Reconciliation. It also
allows people to confess their sins to priests from neighboring parishes
if, for whatever reason, they feel reluctant to go to confession to their
own parish priests.

RITE OF RECONCILIATION OF SEVERAL

PENITENTS WITH GENERAL CONFESSION
AND ABSOLUTION
This rite follows the general pattern of Reconciliation of Several
Penitents with Individual Confession and Absolution. ‘This rite is
beneficial for those with only venial sins, but those with mortal sins
must go to individual confession before they receive general absolution
again.'! As a rule, general absolution should only take place when
there is grave necessity. Canon Law provides the details of what might
qualify as cases of “grave necessity.”!* As we have seen in chapter 6,
both popes and the Roman Curia have intervened in recent decades to
address abuses related to general absolution. The Catechism ofthe
Catholic Church provides this helpful summary of what situations
might justify recourse to general absolution:
In case of grave necessity recourse may be had to a communal celebration
of reconciliation with general confession and general absolution. Grave
necessity of this sort can arise when there is imminent danger of death
without sufficient time for the priest or priests to hear each penitent’s
confession. Grave necessity can also exist when, given the number of
penitents, there are not enough confessors to hear individual confessions
properly in a reasonable time, so that the penitents through no fault of
their own would be deprived of sacramental grace or Holy Communion
for a long time. In this case, for the absolution to be valid the faithful
must have the intention of individually confessing their sins in the time
required. The diocesan bishop is the judge of whether or not the condi-

10. Ibid., 352-354.

11. Ibid., n. 34, p. 356.
12. See CIC, cc. 961-962 and CCEO, c. 720.
 Tue Various Rives ror CELEBRATING THE SACRAMENT I4I

tions required for general absolution exist. A large gathering of the faith-
ful on the occasion of major feasts or pilgrimages does not constitute a
case of grave necessity.3

13. CCC, 1483.

Appendix E

The Sacrament of Penance in

the Eastern Christian Churches

In chapter 5 we discussed the development of the sacrament of

penance and reconciliation in Church history, and we briefly touched
on the differences between the way the sacrament came to be celebrated
in the Latin West and how it came to be celebrated in the Eastern
Churches. When we speak of Eastern Churches we mean both the
Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with See of Rome as
well as the separated Eastern Churches.’ Although Eastern Churches
developed in different ways in Antioch, Egypt, Armenia, and
Mesopotamia, most Catholics today identify Eastern Christian
Churches with the Greco-Byzantine tradition that emerged out of
Constantinople. Therefore, when the sacrament of penance is dis-
cussed according to Eastern Christian practice, the differences with
the Latin West are usually articulated according to Byzantine prac-
tice. It’s important, though, to acknowledge differences that exist
among other Eastern traditions such as the Chaldean Catholics and
the Maronite Catholics.
The major differences between Latin and Eastern celebrations of
the sacrament of confession correspond to the following three categories.

THe LocaTION OF THE SACRAMENT

As we have seen, the Catholic practice in the West since the sixteenth
century is to have confession take place in the confessional box with a
grille separating the priest-confessor from the penitent. Although

1. Fora very good summary of the various types of Eastern Churches, see Ronald Roberson,
csp, The Eastern Churches:ABrief Survey, 6th ed. (Rome: Edizioni “Orientalia Christiana,” 1999).

142
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN THE EASTERN CHRISTIAN CHURCHE
S 143

many Catholic churches after Vatican II have reconciliation rooms

where the penitent has the option of confessing to the priest face to
face, the need for the grille still persists in canon law. The 1983 Code
of Canon Law states:
964 §1. The proper place to hear sacramental confessions is a church or
oratory.

§2. The conference of bishops is to establish norms regarding the confes-

sional; it is to take care, however, that there are always confessionals with
a fixed grate between the penitent and the confessor in an open place so
that the faithful who wish to can use them freely.

§3. Confessions are not to be heard outside a confessional without

a just cause.

Byzantine Christian churches, whether Catholic or Orthodox,

usually do not have confessionals. Instead, confession takes place in
front on an icon of Christ, which can be to the right of the royal doors
of entrance to the church or “in the open immediately in front of the
iconostasis.”” In some Byzantine churches the priest and penitent
might “stand behind a screen, or there may be a special room in the
church set apart for confessions.”? In the Latin churches, the norm is
for the penitent to kneel and the priest to sit, but in Byzantine
churches the priest and penitent usually assume the same pos-
ture—either standing or sitting.’ If there is a special confessional
room, “the penitent often faces a desk on which are placed the Cross
and an icon of the Savior or the Book of the Gospels.”°
Some Byzantine Catholic parishes in the United States (e.g.
Ruthenian or Ukranian) might have reconciliation rooms where
confession takes place before the priest and an icon of Jesus and some-
times even behind a screen. The construction of such reconciliation

2. Timothy (Kallistos) Ware, The Orthodox Church, new ed. (London: Penguin Books,
1993), 288.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid. Some Eastern Churches also have the penitent kneel before the priest. This is the
case in the Syrian (“Jacobite”) Orthodox and the Armenian Orthodox Churches. See Donald
Attwater, The Dissident Eastern Churches (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company), 278
and 306.
5. Ware, The Orthodox Church, 288.
144 Appendix E
4

rooms was due to a self-imposed Latinization on the part of some

Byzantine Catholic churches to prove their Catholic “pedigree” to the
dominant Latin Catholic population in the United States.° Many
Byzantine Catholic parishes, though, will have confession take place in
the same locations of the church as the Byzantine Orthodox.
Due to Latin influence many Chaldean and Maronite
Catholic churches will also have reconciliation rooms or confessionals
just like their Latin counterparts. The 1990 Code of Canons ofthe
Eastern Churches allows for particular law of the different ritual
Churches to be followed,’ but particular law might vary depending on
whether the particular Catholic Church is Byzantine, Coptic,
Armenian, Syriac, Chaldean, or Maronite. According to article 72 of
the 1995 Maronite Particular Law, “The proper place for celebrating the
Mystery (Sacrament) of Penance is the confessional in the (parish)
church; however, it is licit to hear the confession of a sick person or
others, for serious reasons, in private homes, hospitals or elsewhere,
as long as respect for and the dignity of the Mystery are safeguarded.”®
The Arabic word for confessional is “al kirsi al- a’ateeraaf,” which
literally means “the chair of confession.” This chair corresponds to the
sedes confessionalis designated by the Maronite Provincial Synod of
Mount Lebanon of 1736, which labored under strong Latin influence.
Some Maronite canonists today wish to move away from
confessionals. ‘The particular law of 1995, however, does not really
change what was specified by the 1736 Provincial Council, which was
approved in forma specifica by Benedict XIV. The “chair of confession”
is rendered into Latin as “sedem confessionalem.”°

6. ‘This insight is provided by Fr. Christiaan Kappes, the Academic Dean of SS. Cyril and
Methodius Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I am most grateful to Fr. Kappes for providing
this information.
7.0 CCEOFC. 736, 81.
8. Iam most grateful to Msgr. Francis Marini, yp, jcop, the judicial vicar of the Eparchy of
St. Maron, Brooklyn, New York, for supplying this information as well as a translation of article
72 of Le Droit Particulier de l’Eglise Maronite (June 1995).
9. This information was also kindly provided by Msgr. Marini. The Latin texts of the
documents of the 1736 Maronite Provincial Synod, which were approved in forma specifica by
Pope Benedict XIV, can be found in vol. 38 of J. D. Mansi, ed., Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et
Amplissima Collectio (Florence 1736-1789). The requirement to have a “sedem confessionalem” is
found in chapter 4, n. 10 (Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum, 38:55).
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN THE EASTERN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
145

Tue Worps or ABSOLUTION

‘The words of absolution in the Latin Rite are declarative or indicative,
i.e. “I absolve you” (Ego te absolvo . . .). The Byzantine Catholic Rite
uses a deprecative or impetrative forms of absolution in which an
appeal is made to God to forgive the sins of the penitent. According
to the Catechism ofthe Catholic Church,
the Byzantine Liturgy recognizes several formulas of absolution, in the
form of invocation, which admirably express the mystery of forgiveness:
“May the same God, who through the Prophet Nathan forgave David
when he confessed his sins, who forgave Peter when he wept bitterly, the
prostitute when she washed his feet with her tears, the Pharisee, and the
prodigal son, through me, a sinner, forgive you both in this life and in the
next and enable you to appear before his awe-inspiring tribunal without
condemnation, he who is blessed for ever and ever. Amen.” !°

Byzantine Orthodox Churches traditionally use a deprecative

or impetrative form of absolution such as, “May God forgive you in this
world and the next.”!! In the Slavonic liturgical books, however, it is
in the indicative form, i.e., “I forgive . . .”1? Some Eastern Catholic
Churches also use a declarative or indicative form of absolution because
of Latin influence. According to the Mount Lebanon Synod of 1736,
Maronite Catholics are instructed to use the indicative form of
absolution just like the Latin Catholics. '°

THe THEOLOGY OF PENANCE

Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians recognize the three
steps of the penitent (sorrow, confession, and penance) and the need
for the priest of bishop to declare or appeal to God for absolution.“
Eastern Catholics, just like Latin Catholics, recognize the importance

10. CCC, 1481.

11. Ware, The Orthodox Church, 289.
12. Ibid.
13. See chapter 4, n. 3 in Mansi, 38:52.
14. Some Eastern Orthodox do not consider the assignment of a penance as essential to the
sacrament. The Catholic Church, however, follows the teaching of the Council of Trent, which
states that “the priests of the Lord have the duty (debent) to impose salutary and proportionate
crime and
satisfactions as suggested by spiritual prudence, in accordance with the nature of the
the ability of the penitents” (DH, 1692).
146 Appendix E

of the penance assigned by the priest. The penance is understood as a

“fitting medicine” (medicinam opportuna) for curing the illness of sin.”
Eastern Christians in general tend to understand confession and
penance more as “liberation and healing rather than judgment.” In
Eastern Orthodox Churches, the priest may impose a penance (¢piti-
mion), but some Orthodox theologians do not consider the penance
essential to the sacrament. !”Some believe “that absolution delivers the
penitent not only from the guilt of sin but also from all temporal
punishment incurred by it.”!8 This is why Eastern Orthodox Christians
generally “deny the validity and efficacy of indulgences.” They also do
not to have set requirements on how often one should go to confession.
The Russians tend to go more frequently than the Greeks,”° but some
Greeks do confess frequently.
In the final analysis the differences between the Latin and
Eastern theologies of penance are more complementary than opposi-
tional. Many Latin Rite Catholics today agree with Eastern Christians
that the sacrament of reconciliation should be understood more as
liberation from sin than judgment. They also agree that the perfor-
mance of the penance is better understood as medicinal rather than
punitive. This is why the Catechism ofthe Catholic Church describes the
sacrament of reconciliation as one of healing.* The complementarity
of the Latin and Eastern understandings of penance is affirmed by the
fact that Latin Rite Catholics may go to confession to Eastern Rite
15. See CCEO, can. 732 §1. The Latin Code ofCanon Law likewise affirms the need for the
priest “to impose salutary and suitable penances” in canon 981 of the CIC.
16. See Constantine T. Tsipanlis, Introduction to Eastern Patristic Thought and Orthodox
Theology (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991), 141.
17. Ware, The Orthodox Church, 290.
18. Attwater, The Dissident Eastern Churches, 182.
19. Ibid. Some Eastern Catholics distance themselves from the practice of indulgences as a
Latin tradition. The 1999 fourth edition of the Manual of Indulgences (Enchiridion
Indulgentiarum), however, recognizes the right of eparchial bishops, patriarchs, and major
archbishops to grant partial indulgences within their territories and also to impart the Papal
Blessing with the benefit of a plenary indulgence on designated solemn feasts. See Apostolic
Penitentiary, Manual of Indulgences: Norms and Grants, 4th ed. (Washington, DC: United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2006), norms 7 and 9, pages 14-15. There are also
“Prayers of the Eastern Churches” included in n. 23 of the Manual of Indulgences with prayers
from the Armenian, Byzantine, Chaldean, Coptic, Ethiopian, Maronite, and Syro-Antiochian
traditions (pages 82-92).
20. Ware, The Orthodox Church, 290.
21. The heading of the CCC before n. 1420 designates the sacraments of penance and
anointing as “sacramenta sanationis” (sacraments of healing).
 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE IN THE EASTERN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES 147

Catholic priests and Eastern Rite Catholics may go to confession to

Latin Rite Catholic priests.?? All Catholic Rites recognize the spiri-
tual power of the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, and
Eastern Orthodox Christians share this same recognition.”3

22. See CIC, c. 991: “Every member of the Christian faithful is free to confess sins to a
legitimately approved confessor of his or her choice, even to one of another rite.”
23. Attawater, however, notes that some non-Chalcedonian Churches—such as the Church
of the East, the Ethiopian Church, and the Coptic Church—do not emphasize the importance
of the Sacrament of Penance as much as the Eastern Orthodox. See Attawater, The Dissident
Eastern Churches, 231, 249, 236.
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Martin, Ralph, and Peter Williamson, eds. John Paul II and the New Evangelization.
Cincinnati: Servant Books, 2006.
May, William E. An Introduction to Moral Theology. 2nd ed. Huntington, IN: Our
Sunday Visitor, 2003.
McNeill, John T., and Helena M. Gamer, eds. Medieval Handbooks ofPenance. New
York: Octagon Books, 1963.
O'Callaghan, Joseph. A History ofMedieval Spain. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Press, 1975.
Orsy Ladislas, sj. The Evolving Church and the Sacrament ofPenance. Denville, N_J.:
Dimension Books, 1978.
Ott, Ludwig. Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. Trans. Patrick Lynch. St. Louis:
Herder, 1958.
. Grundriss der katholischen Dogmatik. 11th ed. Bonn: Verlag Nova et Vetera,
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Otto, Rudolf. The Idea ofthe Holy, trans. John W. Harvey. Oxford: Oxford University
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Palmer, Paul, sj. Sacraments and Forgiveness: Sources of Christian Theology. Vol. 2.
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Parente, Pietro et al. Dictionary ofDogmatic Theology. Trans. Emmanuel Doronzo,
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Index

Abel, 21 Cathars, 39n15, 40

absolution, 2, 5, 6, 8, 27, 39, 45, 47, 48, 49, chair of confession (sedem confessionalis), 144
50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 57, 60, 61, 62, 63 ? Chaldean Catholics, 51, 142
64-68, 81, 82, 85, 86, 93-94, 103, Clement of Alexandria, 38
104, 105, 106, 115, 118, 119, 139, Clement of Rome, Pope St., 37
140, 145 Clement VI, Pope, 131
abstinence, 7, 46, 78 Clement VIII, Pope, 62, 122
Adam and Eve, 4, 21, 27, 128 Clermont, Council of (ap 1095), 130
Akathistos hymn, 136 Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, 96
Alan of Lille, 52 n16, 119 n13, 123 n9, 140 n12, 144
Alexander VII, Pope, 66, 67, 102 n7, 146 n15
almsgiving, 7, 18, 19, 31, 38, 55, 75, 93, 108, concupiscence, 4, 13, 75, 78
129 Confession (sacrament), see Penance,
anthropology, 2, 9, 11 Sacrament of
Antioch, 37, 142 confessional, 51, 62-63, 87, 106, 111, 116,
Apostolic Penitentiary, 88, 92 n1, 111, 133, 142, 143, 144
134n24, 146n19 Confucianism, 18
Apostolicam actuositatem, 76 Congregation for Divine Worship and
Aquinas, St. Thomas, 23, 35, 49, 53, 61, 63, Discipline of the Sacraments, 86, 138
130 Congregation for Indulgences and Relics,
Armenia, 50, 55, 93, 117 132, 133
asceticism, 2, 6, 7, 77, 84, 89, 133 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
askésis, 6 81, 87, 133
attrition, 52, 53, 60, 67, 69, 90 conscience, examination of, 81, 99, 100
Attritionists, 67 Constance, Council of, 54, 96, 117
Augustine, St., 3n2, 11n3, 23, 40 contrition 5, 41, 47, 52, 53, 56, 57, 60, 61, 67,
awon, 3, 22 69, 80-81, 85, 93, 98, 99, 107, 128,
139 97
Baptism, 2, 3, 11, 12, 29, 33, 34, 37, 43, 57 Contritionists, 67
n156, 59, 68, 72, 73, 85, 93-95, 136 conversion, 74, 80, 84, 112-16, 133
beatific vision, 95, 127 covenant, 16, 22-25
Bede, St., 49, 89, 101 Cyprian of Carthage, St., 39-41, 129
Benedict XIV, Pope, 122, 123, 144
Benedict XV, Pope, 133 Damian, St. Peter, 49
Benedict XVI, Pope, 87, 110, 112, 116, 118 David, King, 22-28
nll demons, 15, 30
Bhakti Hinduism, 17 devil, 2212, 19. 35909
Bonaventure, St., 53, 130 Didache, 37
Boniface VIII, Pope, 117, 130 Dives in misericordia, 83
Borromeo, St. Charles, 62, 63 Divine Mercy Sunday, 136
Brethren of the New Spirit, 117 divinization, 9, 36
Buddhism, 17 Dominus Iesus, 15
Byzantine Catholics 50, 143, 144 Donatists, 39n15, 40
Duarte Ibarra, Fr. Carlos, 100
Cain, 21
Cajetan, Cardinal (Thomas de Vio), 56, 131 Ecclesia in America, 113
Calvin, John, 13, 59 Ecclesia in Europa, 116 n15
canon law, 1, 72, 88, 92, 95, 96, 103, 119, Eck, Johannes, 56
123, 127, 133, 143, 144 eschaton, 8
capital sins, 5 Eucharist, 33, 37, 40, 42, 75, 86-88
Catechism of the Catholic Church, vii, xiii, 1, 3, eucharistic adoration, 109, 135
6, 14, 37, 43, 62 n185, 92, 97, 108, eucharistic sacrifice, 26, 73
123, 127, 133, 139, 140, 145, 146 Evangelii nuntiandi, 14
154 Index

Evangelium gaudium, 111 Lyon, Second Council of (ap 1272-74), 1,

excommunication 35, 40, 45, 106, 118 n11, 50, 54
123
Exsurge Domine, 56, 98 n32, 132 Maronite Catholics, 142, 145
Ezekiel, 26 Maronite Provincial Synod of Mount
family consecration, 135 Lebanon (ap 1736), 144
Martin V, Pope, 131
fasting, 7, 18, 25-27, 31, 41, 55, 75, 93, 108 Mary, Blessed Virgin, viii, 83, 109, 131
Fénelon, Archbishop Francois de, 68-69 Mesopotamia, 142
flagellants, 53 Metanoia, 5, 30, 31, 77, 80, 83, 113
Florence, Council of (ap 1438-45), 55, 93, Misericordia, 71
117 Misericordia Dei, 87
Francis, Pope, xii, 33, 89-91, 100, 106, 116, Misericordiae vultus, xi, 89, 116, 126, 126 n2
118 n11, 126, 134 moksha, 17
Franciscan indulgence, 136 mystical ascent (purgation, illumination,
union), xiii, 7
Greco-Byzantine tradition, 142
Gregory the Great, Pope St., 5 nacham, 20, 21
guilt (culpa), 2-10, 22-25, 127, 131 New Evangelization, xiii, 110-16
Guyon, Madame, 68 Nicaea, First Council of (ap 325), 40
Ninevites, 98
hajj, 19 nirvana, 17
hatta’, 3, 22 novatianists, 39 n15
healing, 8, 11, 31, 32, 51, 137, 146 Novo millennio ineunte, 114, 115 n11
Hinduism, 17
Holy Spirit, 33-35, 60-61, 70-71, 93, 98, Office of the Paraclisis, 136
100, 103, 110, 117, 139 Old Testament, xxiii, 3, 5, 20-28, 77, 89 n20
Hugh of Saint-Cher, 130 Order of Penitents (Ordo penitentium), 40, 42,
Humanae salutis, 72-73 43, 44
Hus, Jan, 54-56, 96, 117, 131 Origen, 38, 38 n12, n12
Incarnationis mysterium, 133 Orthodox, Eastern, 10, 23, 50, 51, 121, 143,
indulgences, 53-62, 80, 92, 126-37 145-147
Indulgentiarum doctrina, 62, 79-80, 133
Innocent XI, Pope, 66, 122 Paenitemini, 76-79
Innocent XII, Pope, 68 Paenitentiam agree, 72, 73
Inter cunctas, 131 Paris, Council of (ap 829), 46
Irenaeus, St., 38 partial indulgences, 133, 146 n19
Isaiah, 27 Paschal Mystery, xiii, 2, 7, 16, 29, 36, 90, 134
Islam, 19 Paul V, Pope, 14, 29 n1, 62 n185, 76-81, 133"
135, 138
Jainism, 17 Paul, St., 6, 23n11, 31, 33-34, 73, 99, 109,
Jansenists, 67-69 128, 135
Jeremiah, 26 Penance, Sacrament of, xii-xiii, 1-2, 5-11,
Joel, 25 13-19, 20-21, 29n1, 34-38, 40,
John Paul II, Pope St., 83-87, 101, 110-16, 41-43, 55-57, 59-62, 65, 66-83,
133 84-89, 90, 92-98, 101, 107, 112-21,
John XXIII, Pope St., 71-76 122n2, 126, 128, 137, 138, 142, 144,
Jonah, 26, 98 147
Justin Martyr, St., 14 penance, 27, 38, 39, 40, 55, 58, 60, 61-62
66-68, 69-81, 83-84, 102, 104, 104
Lateran, Fourth Council of (ap 1215), 54, n58, 106-8, 122, 128-30, 137, 139,
12277130 145, 145 n14, 146-47
Laxists, 66-67 Penitential of Theodore (ap 668-90), 46
Leo I, Pope St., 1, 40-44, 122 penitentials , 46, 46 n1, 47
Leo X, Pope, 131-32 pesha’, 3, 22
libellus, 129 Pessimandros, Archbishop Germain, 50
Libri poentintentiales (penitential books), Petrus Martinez of Osma (Peter of Osma), 56
45-46 Pilgrimage, 19, 54, 82, 130 iu
Luther, Martin, 56-58, 98, 131-32 Pius V, Pope St., 132
 INDEX 155

Pius XII, Pope, 70, 76 seeds of the Logos (Semina Verbi), 14

plenary indulgences, 92, 131, 133, 135-37 self-flagellation, 53
Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Sermon on the Mount, 99
Evangelization, 110 Shepherd ofHerma, 38
Pontifical Council for the Family, 105 n62, shub, 20, 21
n63 sin
Portiuncula, 136 definitions of, 3
Poschmann, Msgr. Bernhard, 39 n13, n14, in primitive religions, 14-15
nl7, 41 n35, 43 n44, 45 n53, n55, 47 mortal, 35, 35 n21, 38, 49, 56, 60, 75, 81,
n73, 48n85, 49 n89, 53 n122, n124, 85, 86, 98, 101, 102, 140
58 n159, 61 venial, 49, 84, 133, 137
preparation for the Gospel, 14, 16, 19, 28 New Testament words for, 3—4
Presbyterorum ordinis, x, 74 original vs. personal, 3-5
primitive religions, 14 n6, 15 Old Testament words for, 3, 22
privileged altars, 132 sin offerings, 18, 26
punishment, 24, 25, 27-28, 42, 45, 53, 56, 56 Sinai, Mount, 22
n144, 60-61, 67, 69, 79-80, 94, 98, Sixtus IV, Pope, 56
104 n58, 107, 127-28, 133, 146 Society of St. Pius X, 118 n11
purgation (see via purgativa), xii—xiv, 7, 8, 80, sorrow, 2, 5, 9, 24, 25, 30, 32, 34, 48, 52, 55,
108, 127 64, 67, 77, 85, 98, 99, 102, 104-6,
purgatory, 8, 53, 56, 79-81, 127, 128 128, 145
purification, vii, xiii, 2, 6-8, 15-17, 19, 45, Sozomen, Salaman Hermes, 42
53, 68-69, 79-81, 108, 127, 135, 137 Suarez, Francisco, 63-65, 132
Suffragium, 129
Quietists, 68-69 Suprema omnium Ecclesiarum, 122
synergy, 6, 8
Raccolta, 132, 133 Synod of Bishops
Reconciliatio et paenitentia, xi, 1, 83, 84, John Paul II, 83, 114
85-87, 101, 103, 114 Benedict XVI, 111, 112
Reconciliation, Sacrament of (see Penance,
Sacrament of) Tantum ergo, 135
reincarnation, 17, 18 Taoism, 18
repentance, xiii, 5, 9, 18-21, 25-27, 29-34, Tartaglia, Archbishop Philip, 113
36-37, 41, 73, 85, 94, 109, 113, 128, Tertullian, xiii n2, 34 n17, 38, 41, 41 n35, 129
133 Theodore of Fréjus, Bishop, 41
Revised Rite of Penance, 100 Theodore of Tarsus, 44
Rigorists, 39 n15 Toledo, Council of (ap 633), 129
Rite for Reconciliation of Individual Toledo, Third Council of (ap 589), 44-45
Penitents, 138-39 Trent, Council of (ap 1545-63), 2, 5, 34-37,
Rite of Penance (Ordo penitentiae), x, 139 52, 59-62, 9394, 97-104, 118, 132
Rite of Reconciliation, 42, 135, 138, 140
Rite of Reconciliation of Several Penitents Ubicumque et semper, 110
with General Absolution, 140-41 Urban II, Pope, 130
Rite of Reconciliation of Several Penitents Uzzah, 22
with Individual Confession and
Absolution, 139 venial Sins, 43, 45, 75, 101-2
Ritual ordinals (ordines), 48 via purgativa, xii
Vianney, St. John Mary, 87
Sacramentum poenitentiae: Pastoral Norms for
General Absolution, xi, 81, 82, 118 William of Auvergne, 52-53
sacrifice, sacrifices, 7, 14-16, 22, 26, 27, 36, Wycliffe, John, 55-56, 96
73, 74, 80, 86, 87, 99, 107, 128
samsara, 17, 18 Zwingli, Ulrich, 58-59
Santiago de Compostela, 130
satisfaction(s), 8, 27, 40-42, 47, 49, 53, 55,
57-58, 60-61, 67, 77, 81, 85, 93-94,
106-7, 127-28, 130, 145 n14
scapegoat ritual, 26
seal of confession, 82, 92, 122-24
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This text is an invaluable, comprehensive, and accessible resource for undergradu-
ate, graduate, and seminary courses on God’s sacrament of mercy. It presents an
overview of the sacrament in terms of its anthropological, scriptural, historical,
and theological roots as well as an analysis of the key components of the sacrament
itself. Delving into Old Testament and New Testament narratives on original
sin, human rebellion, conversion, and forgiveness, Robert L. Fastiggi outlines the
development of the sacrament throughout Church history.
“In his work, The Sacrament of Reconciliation, Professor Fastiggi offers a thorough
examination of the Church's teaching on the nature and purpose of this gift from her
Lord. While helping us reclaim our understanding of Confession, he explains how the
Sacrament meets the deepest need of sinners for forgiveness and moves them forward
on the path to holiness. His study is a providential gift especially to confessors.”
Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron
Archbishop of Detroit
“At last, we have in Dr. Robert Fastiggi’s The Sacrament of Reconciliation a book
sorely needed in our time. It should be read by every priest, theologian, and
seminarian, so as to deeply grasp the essence and power of this sacrament. .. . This
must-read book explains the theology of penance, as well as the practical elements
of the rite. Readers will find the necessary and important role that this sacrament
has in evangelization, which is nothing short of bringing the joy of Christ’s love
and mercy to every person.”
Paul Keller, op, stp
Associate Professor of Sacramental and Liturgical Theology
The Athenaeum of Ohio/ Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary, Cincinnati, OH
Author of 101 Questions & Answers on the Sacraments of Healing
“Dr. Fastiggi presents a comprehensive, systematic analysis of the sacrament of
mercy, so needed in our times. .. . This is a book that should be read by all who
want to embrace the deeper meaning of repentance, asceticism and the grace of
forgiveness that enables a disposition to live the virtues of faith, hope and charity
in a secular world.”
Sister Esther Mary Nickel, rsm
Associate Professor of Theology
St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver, CO

Hp) Hillenbrand Books’

ule) Studies Series ISBN 978-1-5952 €F

THEOLOGY/LITURGY 81595"25(
Sacraments/Reconciliation/Penance