Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/683

 PENANOB

619

PENANCE

faction. This whole procodure is usually called, from one of its parts, "confession"; and it is said to take place in the "tribunal of penance", because it is a judicial process in which the penitent is at once the accuser, the person accused, and the witness, while the priest pronounces judgment and sentence. The grace conferred is deliverance from the guilt of sin and, in the case of mortal sin, from its eternal punish- ment; hence also reconciliation with God, justifica- tion. Finally, the confession is made not in the secrecy of the penitent's heart nor to a layman as friend and advocate, nor to a representative of human authority, but to a duly ordained priest with requis- ite jurisdiction and with the "power of the keys", i. e., the power to forgive sins which Christ granted to His Church.

By way of further explanation it is needful to cor- rect certain erroneous views regarding this sacrament which not only misrepresent the actual practice of the Church but also lead to a false interpretation of theological statement and historical evidence. From what has been said it should be clear: (1) that pen- ance is not a mere human invention devised by the Church to secure power over consciences or to relieve the emotional strain of troubled souls; it is the or- dinary means appointed by Christ for the remission of sin. Man indeed is free to obey or disubpy, liut onee he Ka^Trtiined, he must seek pardon not on con- diTions of his own (•Iioii>inf!; but on those which God has drtrrniiiiiil, and llicsc for the Christian are em- bodied in tlir Sa.rain.iif of Penance. (2) NoCathohc believes that a priest sim])ly as an individual man, however pious or learned, has power to forgive sins. This power belongs to God alone; but He can and does exercise it through the ministration of men. Since He has seen fit to exercise it by means of this sacrament, it cannot be said that the Church or the priest interferes between the soul and God; on the contrary, penance is the removal of the one obstacle that keeps the soul away from God. (3) It is not true that for the Catholic the mere "telling of one's sins" suffices to obtain their forgiveness. Withou t ^incere sorrow and purpose of amendment, confes,sion avaits^noThing, the pronouncement of absolution is of no effect, and the guilt of the sinner is greater than before. (4) While this sacrament as a dispensation of Divine mercy facilitates the pardoning of sin, it bj;_no_jiieans renders sin less hateful or its conse- quences less dreadful to the Christian mind; much le..>s jloegjt imijly permission to commit sin in the future. In payins; ordinary debts, as e. g., by monthly settlements, th ■ inlciitiou of contracting new debts with the same creditor is perfectly legitimate; a similar intention on the part of him who confesses his sins would not only be wrong in itself but would nullify the sacrament and prevent the forgiveness of sins then and there confessed. (.5) Strangely enough, the opposite charge is often heard, viz., that the con- fession of sin is intolerable and hard and therefore alien to the spirit of Christianity and the loving kind- ness of its Founder. But this view, in the fir.st place, overlooks the fact that Christ, though merciful, is also just and exacting. Furthermore, however painful or humiliating confession may be, it is but a light penalty for the violation of God's law. Finally, those who are in earnest about their sal\atioTi~count no hardship too great whereby they can win bark God's friendshij). Both these accusa- tions, of too great leniency and too great severity, proceed as a rule from those who have no experience with the sacrament and only the vaguest ideas of what the Church teaches or of the power to forgive sins which the Church received from Christ.

Teaching of the Church. — The Council of Trent (1.t')1) declares: "As a means of regaining grace and justice, penance was at all times necessary for those who had defiled their souls with any mortal sin.

. . . Before the coming of Christ, penance was not a saenrmont, nor is it since His coming a sacrament for those who are not baptized. But the Lord then prin- cipally instituted the Sacrament of Penance, when, being raised from the dead, he breathed upon His disciples saying: 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained' (John, XX, 22-23). By which action so signal and words so clear the consent of all the Fathers has ever understood that the power of forgiving and retaining sins was communicated to the Apostles and to their lawful successors, for the reconcihng of the faithful who have fallen after Baptism" (Sess. XIV, c. i). Farther on (c. v) the council expressly states that Christ "left ])riests7nis own vicars, as judges {pr<r- sides cl /»<//rr,\), uiilo wliom all the mortal crimes into which (hr laillifiil ur.,y have fallen slumld he n-voaled in order tlial, in arcurdance with the jKuver of the keys, they may iironounce the sentence of forgiveness or retention of sins".

Power to Forgive Sins. — It is noteworthy that the fundamental objection so often urged against the Sacrament of Penance was first thought of by the Scribes when Christ said to the sick man of the palsy: "Thy sins are forgiven thee." "And there were some of the scribes sitting there, and tliinking in their hearts: Why doth this man speak thus? he blas- phemeth. Who can forgive sins, but God only?" But Jesus seeing their thoughts, said to them: "Which is easier to say to the sick of the palsy: Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say. Arise, take up thy bed and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say to thee: Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house" (Mark, ii, 5-11; Matt., ix, 2-7). Chi-ist wrought a miracle to show that He had power to forgive sins and that this power could be exerted not only in heaven but also on earth. This power, moreover. He transmitted to Peter and the other Apostles. To Peter He says: "And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And what- soever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven" (Matt., ,xvi, 19). Later He says to all the Apostles: "Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven" (Matt., xviii, IS). As to the meaning of these texts, it should be noted: (a) that the "binding" and "loosing" refers not to physical but to spiritual or moral bonds among which sin is certainly included; the more so because (b) the power here granted is unlimited — " whalaoener you shall bind, . . . what- soever y on shaXX \oose" ; (e) the power is judicial, i. e., the Apostles arc authorized to hitLii and to loose; (d) whether they bind or loose, their action is ratified in heaven. In healing the palsied man Christ de- clared that "the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins"; here He promises that what these men, the Apostles, bind or loose on earth, God in heaven will likewise bind or loose. (Cf . also Keys, Power of

THE.)

But as the Council of Trent declares, Christ prin- cipally instituted the Sacraincnt of Penance after His Resurrection, a miracle greater tlian that of healing the sick. "As the Father hath sent nic, 1 also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained" (John, XX, 21-23). While the sense of these words is quite obvious, the following points are to be con- sidered: (a) Christ here reiterates in the plainest terms — -"sins", "forgive", "retain" — what He had previously stated in figurative language, "bind" and