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 ceed the Apostles in the Priesthood, as the Church has always believed and taught.

'''6. Why was the power of forgiving sins to pass from the Apostles to their Successors also? '''

Because Christ instituted His means of salvation for all times, and for all men, who stand in need of them.

'''7. Can all sins be forgiven by the Sacrament of Penance? '''

Yes, all the sins we have committed after Baptism can be forgiven, if we confess them with the necessary disposition of repentance.

'''8. But why must we confess our sins in order to have them forgiven? '''

Because Christ ordained it so when He instituted the Sacrament of Penance.

'''9. How do we prove that Christ has ordained Confession? '''

We prove it, 1. By his own words: ' Whose sins you shall forgive,' etc., for unless we declare our sins, and the whole state of our soul, to the Priest, he cannot know whether, in virtue of the judicial power which God has conferred on him, he is to forgive or to retain them;

2. By the testimony of the holy Fathers of the Church, who unanimously teach that we have not to expect from