Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Baltimore track

Baltimore Catechism No. 3

Lesson 17 — On the Sacrament of Penance

Q. 737.Are the enemies of our religion right when they say man cannot forgive sins?

A.The enemies of our religion are right when they say man cannot forgive sins if they mean that he cannot forgive them by his own power, but they are certainly wrong if they mean that he cannot forgive them even by the power of God, for man can do anything if God gives him the power. The priest does not forgive sins by his own power as man, but by the authority he receives as the minister of God.

Q. 738.How do the priests of the Church exercise the power of forgiving sins?

A.The priests of the Church exercise the power of forgiving sins by hearing the confession of sins, and granting pardon for them as ministers of God and in His name.

Q. 739.How does the power to forgive sins imply the obligation of going to confession?

A.The power to forgive sins implies the obligation of going to confession because as sins are usually committed secretly, the priest could never know what sins to forgive and what not to forgive, unless the sins committed were made known to him by the persons guilty of them.

Q. 740.Could God not forgive our sins if we confessed them to Himself in secret?

A.Certainly, God could forgive our sins if we confessed them to Himself in secret, but He has not promised to do so; whereas He has promised to pardon them if we confess them to His priests. Since He is free to pardon or not to pardon, He has the right to establish a Sacrament through which alone He will pardon.