Confession

Confession is one of the seven sacraments of the Church, those signs instituted by Christ to give grace. By it, the baptized receives from God, through the ministry of the priest, the forgiveness of the sins committed since his baptism. It is also called penance, from the name of the regret that animates it, and reconciliation, because it restores the friendship with God that sin had broken.

A power given by Christ

On the evening of Easter, the Risen One entrusts to his apostles an unheard-of power: to remit sins in his name. “Receive the Holy Spirit. Those whose sins you remit, they are remitted to them; those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” John 20:22-23 Forgiveness comes from God alone, but God willed to give it through men. The priest does not forgive in his own name: he acts in the name of Christ, the instrument through which mercy passes. This is what Paul calls the ministry of reconciliation: “God has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18 To confess to a priest is to receive forgiveness where Christ willed to place it.

The acts of the penitent and the absolution

The sacrament brings into play three acts of the penitent. Contrition first: the sincere regret of one's sins, with the resolution to sin no more; it is the most important act, for without regret there is no forgiveness. Confession next: the avowal of sins to the priest, which exposes the wound to the light so that it may be healed. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us them.” 1 John 1:9 Satisfaction last: to accomplish the reparation the priest asks, a prayer or a good work, which is called the penance and which redresses the disorder left by sin. To these three acts responds the absolution: the words by which the priest, in the name of Christ, remits the sins.

What confession works

The absolution remits the fault and, with it, the eternal penalty: the soul that had lost grace by a mortal sin recovers it and becomes again a friend of God. There sometimes remains a temporal penalty to be acquitted, which satisfaction begins to repair and which purgatory completes if need be. The penitent is also reconciled with the Church, which he had wounded by his sin, for no one sins alone.

The second plank

The sacrifice of the Cross has redeemed once for all the sins of all men; it is the one source of all forgiveness, and nothing is added to it. “By a single offering, he has made perfect forever those whom he sanctifies.” Hebrews 10:14 But this forgiveness must reach each one and be received. Baptism applies it a first time and brings to rebirth in the life of God. When the baptized then falls again into sin, he cuts himself off from the grace received; Christ willed that this same forgiveness of the Cross be given back to him through confession. It adds nothing to the sacrifice of Christ: it makes its grace pass to the sinner who had strayed from it. Tradition calls it the second plank after the shipwreck: to whoever has been shipwrecked, it offers to regain the shore. And all that is confided there remains protected by the absolute secret of confession, which no reason can break.