Moral Theology Part 140

(d) Confession belongs to the Sacrament of Penance, which is the forum of conscience, and hence the penitent accuses himself, submits to the judgment of the father confessor, and is heard in secret. Public confession is valid but not obligatory. Hence, one who does not speak the language of the confessor is not bound to use an interpreter.

Regularly confession should be vocal, but for grave reasons (e.g., if the penitent is dumb, or the confessor is deaf, or there is danger of being heard by those nearby) it may be made by signs or in writing. In case of a written confession the penitent should declare orally, if possible, that the writing contains his confession (see Canon 903).

2739. Is it a Grave Sin to Lie to the Confessor?--(a) There is a grave sin when the lie deceives the confessor about necessary matter (e.g., when a circ.u.mstance changing the theological species of a sin is denied), or about free matter which is the only sin confessed (e.g., when a penitent lyingly accuses himself of only one sin and that a venial one), or about free matter which the confessor asks about and needs to know (e.g., about habits or occasions of sin). He who falsely accuses himself of a grave sin, or who exaggerates the number of his grave sins, _per se_ sins mortally; but he is excused if he is ignorant or is under a momentary excitement or delusion. Not only is there grave sin in the cited cases, but the confession is made invalid by the defect in essential matter which the lie produces; for the confessor does not understand the true state of the penitent's soul.

(b) There is mortal sin when the lie deceives the confessor about matter that is impertinent to the confession, but is grave in itself, as when the penitent seriously calumniates a neighbor to the priest. In this case the confession is made invalid by the want of disposition on the part of the penitent.

(c) There is light sin when the lie deceives the confessor about free matter which is not the only sin confessed, or which the confessor does not need to know in order substantially to pa.s.s judgment and give direction; also when the lie is not serious and is impertinent to the confession. In these cases the Sacrament is not made invalid, for the insincerity does not change the confessor's decision.

2740. Integral Confession.--The completeness or integrity of confession is twofold.

(a) Material completeness consists in the declaration of all mortal sins committed and not yet confessed and absolved. This kind of completeness is sometimes impossible, and therefore unnecessary. For completeness is obligatory in virtue of a positive law of Christ, and positive laws do not bind in case of impossibility (361).

(b) Formal completeness consists in the declaration of all the mortal sins which here and now, all things considered, one can and should mention. This kind of completeness is necessary for a valid and fruitful confession, because the law of Christ calls for a complete confession, as far as possible, and formal completeness is possible.

Since he who is obliged by a law is also obliged to use the means to keep the law, those who are going to confession should examine their consciences beforehand, unless this is impossible or unnecessary. The time and diligence to be given this examination depends on the person and his circ.u.mstances; but all should be careful about it, while avoiding scrupulosity, and should also remember that contrition is even more important than confession.

2741. Manner of Confession.--Completeness of confession as regards mortal sins extends to the following points:

(a) the theological and the lowest moral species of a sin (197 sqq.) must be given, for otherwise the confessor does not understand the case before him. He who has committed a mortal theft does not satisfy by confessing a venial theft; he who is guilty of the specific sin of calumny does not satisfy by the generic accusation of sins of the tongue. But impossibility excuses, as when the penitent has only a general recollection about a sin;

(b) the number of the sins must be given exactly or, if this is impossible, approximately. He who unintentionally exaggerates the number or tells a sin of which he is not guilty, is not bound to correct this, but he who unintentionally lowers the number to a notable extent should tell in his next confession what was omitted (see 202 sqq.);

(c) the circ.u.mstances that change the species of a sin must be declared, for example, the fact that the person who was scandalized was one's subject, that the person who was treated disrespectfully was one's superior, that the amount stolen was large (see 72);

(d) the external act that completed an internal sin must be declared, and hence he who committed impurity does not confess properly by saying that he gave consent to impure desires (see 89-93).

2742. Disputed Cases.--(a) Circ.u.mstances that Notably Aggravate a Sin without Changing Its Species.--For the obligation of confessing these circ.u.mstances, it is argued that, if the confessor does not know them, he is unable to guide the penitent properly. Against obligation, it is argued that the species of the sin gives the confessor sufficient knowledge, and that the obligation of confessing aggravating circ.u.mstances would make the burden too heavy for the penitent. But all admit that _per accidens_ there may be a duty of confessing a circ.u.mstance of this kind, as when it makes a sin reserved, or consists in an occasion of sin or evil habit, or when it produces a great change in reference to satisfaction (e.g., the theft of $10,000 is quite different from the theft of $1000).

(b) As to the Imputable External Effects of a Sin.--One opinion is that these must be confessed, since they are willed in their cause (96, 102); another opinion is that they need not be confessed since they are not sins, but results that followed on a sin; a third opinion answers that they must be confessed if the evil will was not retracted before they happened, but otherwise not. All agree, however, that the sinner in this case should confess that he sinned with foresight of the consequence, and that he should confess the consequence itself if there is attached to it something that should be known to the confessor (e.g., censure, irregularity, etc.).

(c) Sins Whose Commission, or Gravity, or Remission is Uncertain.--If the uncertainty is about the fact or gravity of the sin, there is no obligation to confess the sin, even though its commission or its gravity be probable; for the obligation cannot be proved. But if it is certain that grave sin has been committed and uncertain whether the sin has been confessed, a mere doubt or suspicion in favor of confession does not exempt from obligation; a probable opinion in favor of confession excuses according to Probabilism, but it does not excuse according to Equiprobabilism, unless the doubt is about a confession made long ago by one who was careful in making his confessions, or unless there is question of a scrupulous person (655 sqq., 708, 709).

2743. When Material Integrity Is Not Necessary.--Material integrity is not due because of real impossibility in the following cases:

(a) when there is physical impossibility, as when one is at the point of death and too weak to make confession, or is deaf and dumb, or cannot speak the confessor's language correctly, or cannot finish confession on account of shipwreck or other great peril;

(b) when there is moral impossibility, as when material integrity cannot be had except at the expense of a great temporal or spiritual evil distinct from the inconvenience intrinsic to the confession itself, and there is some serious reason that makes it necessary to go to confession here and now (e.g., the desire of not remaining long in the state of sin). Examples are: great spiritual harm, as when a penitent is scrupulous; great temporal harm, as when the penitent has to flee to escape a.s.sa.s.sination. Some affirm, while others deny, the duty of mentioning a sin that will defame an accomplice with the confessor, and in practice it seems the duty cannot be insisted on (cfr. 2065).

2744. Completion or Repet.i.tion of Past Incomplete Confessions.--(a) Completion of past confessions must be made when they lacked material integrity, if the impossibility has ceased.

(b) Particular repet.i.tion is necessary when a confession lacked formal integrity or other essential; that is, if a sin was unlawfully concealed or unrepented of in confession, the sacrilege must be confessed and the previous confession made over, since it was invalid.

But if the new confession is made to the same confessor and he has a general remembrance of it, the new confession may be made summarily.

(c) General repet.i.tion is necessary when several past confessions were certainly invalid on account of lack of formal integrity or other defect. Thus, he who has made bad confessions for three months must make a general confession of that period of time. General confession is advisable when there is a prudent doubt about the worth of past confessions; it is permissible when it will help a penitent to be more contrite and lead a better life; it is not lawful when it will do harm, as when a scrupulous penitent will be harrowed and maddened by the thought of his past sins.

2745. Satisfaction.--The third act of the penitent is satisfaction, which is defined as "a compensation for the injury done to G.o.d by sin, appointed by G.o.d's minister in the Sacrament of Penance and accepted and performed by the penitent."

(a) This act is a compensation or payment made to G.o.d as an act of reparation and justice.

(b) The compensation is appointed by the confessor, for its chief purpose is restoration of friendship between G.o.d and the sinner, and hence equality is not sought, but the good will to do what G.o.d's minister imposes.

(c) The compensation is accepted and performed. This is required for the completeness, not for the essence, of the Sacrament. He who is really contrite desires to satisfy, he who confesses offers to satisfy; and hence, if for any reason he does not actually satisfy, his satisfaction of desire suffices for the validity of the Sacrament, but his omission to perform the satisfaction makes the Sacrament incomplete.

2746. The Effects of Actual Satisfaction.--(a) There is a remissive effect, consisting in the _ex opere operato_ release of a portion or of all the temporal punishment due to sin forgiven.

(b) There is a medicinal effect, consisting in the appreciation of the evil of sin, the caution and vigilance against future relapse, and the removal of evil tendencies, which the penitential works inculcate and promote.

2747. The Conditions for Effective Satisfaction.--(a) For validity (that is, for discharge of the obligation) the penitent must perform the penance as to essentials in the way prescribed by the confessor, and he must perform it personally, unless the confessor permits or enjoins fulfillment by proxy (Canon 887). A penance performed during the actual commission of or with actual affection for sin, is not a satisfaction, but a new offense.

(b) For fruitfulness it is necessary that the penitent be in the state of grace when he fulfills the penance, for the works of His enemies are not supernaturally pleasing to G.o.d. Or, more exactly, a penance done in the state of sin, but without affection for sin and under the influence of actual grace, has no strict right either of justice or of friendship to divine acceptance; but it seems fitting that such penance be accepted by the divine liberality in part satisfaction for sins forgiven.

2748. The Obligation of Accepting and Performing a Penance.--(a) _Per se_, the obligation is grave, since the penance belongs to the integrity of the Sacrament, and hence its refusal or neglect is an injury to a sacred thing. (b) _Per accidens_, the obligation may be light, and this is held to be the case when the penance was imposed for free matter, or when the satisfaction prescribed is a light work (such as one or two Hail Marys). A penitent is not bound to accept an unreasonable penance, and he may seek a commutation if such a penance is imposed. As a rule, negligence about the circ.u.mstances of a penance (e.g., the time, or posture) is not a grave sin, but exceptionally it may be serious (e.g., if one delays a gravely obligatory penance six months, or so long as to be in danger of forgetting it; if one omits to say a prayer on bended knees when this was chiefly intended by the confessor).

2749. Causes That Excuse from a Penance Imposed.--(a) Commutation.--If there is a just reason (e.g., the over-severity of the penance), the penitent may have his penance changed to something lighter. The confessor who imposed the penance may be asked to change it, even probably after and outside of confession, and after a long time, and though he does not remember the confession. Another confessor may lessen the penance, but only in confession and after he has heard at least a summary repet.i.tion of the sins for which the penance was given.

(b) Cessation.--There is no obligation to fulfill a penance in case of impossibility, whether physical (e.g., if the penitent is dying and can neither say the prayers ordered nor ask for a commutation), or moral (e.g., if the penitent has forgotten the penance and cannot conveniently ask the confessor about it).

2750. Requirements in the Minister for Valid Absolution.--(a) The divine law requires the power of Orders, for only priests were appointed by Christ as the ministers of Penance, (b) The natural law requires the power of jurisdiction, since the Sacrament of Penance is exercised in the form of a judicial process, which supposes authority to judge. (c) The law of the Church requires the approval of the Bishop, or his decision that the priest is a fit person to hear confessions. Approbation is always given along with jurisdiction.

2751. Power of Jurisdiction.--The power of jurisdiction is so necessary that without it absolution is null.

(a) Jurisdiction in general is treated in Canons 872 sqq. of the Code.

Ordinary jurisdiction is had by the Pope for the whole Church, and by Ordinaries, parish-priests, exempt religious superiors, etc., for their own subjects. Delegated jurisdiction comes from the law itself in favor of penitents who are dying (Canon 882), or who are making a sea voyage (Canon 883), a privilege extended recently also to those who are making air journeys, or who are outside their domicile (Canon 881), etc.; while delegated jurisdiction from man is had by those priests who have obtained faculties orally or in writing from the competent superior (Canon 879).

(b) Jurisdiction in special cases is treated in Canons 874, 875, 876, 519 sqq. Religious women living in community should have for each house one ordinary confessor and one extraordinary confessor who comes four times a year. Further, the bishop should appoint supplementary confessors to whom the Religious may freely make their confessions, and special confessors for individual Sisters when spiritual progress is aided by such an arrangement.

2752. When the Church Supplies Jurisdiction.--In certain cases the Church, for the good of souls, supplies jurisdiction for the time being to priests who lack it:

(a) in case of common error, that is, when all or many of the faithful in a place think that a priest has jurisdiction, as when he is seated in the confessional of a public church hearing or waiting to hear those who are going to confession. The common error is not of law, but of fact;

(b) in case of uncertainty of law (e.g., whether a certain sin is reserved) or of fact (e.g., whether the confessor's jurisdiction has expired) about the confessor's jurisdiction, if the confessor has a positive or probable reason in favor of his right to absolve. The Church supplies jurisdiction in the absolution of a reserved censure whose reservation was not known to the priest, unless it be _ab homine_ or most specially reserved to the Holy See (Canon 2247, n. 3);

(c) in case of danger of death, when full jurisdiction is granted to every priest (Canon 882).

2753. Limitation of jurisdiction.--(a) Reserved Sins or Cases.--For the sake of discipline and the good of souls the absolution of certain more atrocious or pernicious crimes is reserved to higher superiors, namely, to the Pope or the Ordinary. Reservation is not incurred in a case reserved on account of censure, if the penitent's act was not gravely imputable; nor probably in a case reserved for its own sake (unless the reserving authority willed otherwise), if the penitent was ignorant (though not cra.s.sly or supinely) of the reservation (Canon 2229). To fall under reservation, a sin must be mortal, consummated (i.e.. not merely attempted) certain and formal (i.e., perpetrated with knowledge of the special malice that caused reservation). Reservation ceases when confession is made by the sick who are unable to leave the house or by those who are about to be married; when the Superior has refused the request for faculties to absolve a reserved case, or the confessor prudently decides that the request for faculties cannot be made without grave detriment to the penitent or danger to the seal; when confession is made outside the territory of the Superior who reserves the sin (Canon 900).

(b) Reserved Persons.--Those who have not special faculties cannot validly hear the confessions of nuns (Canon 876), for the director of consciences of these Religious should be endowed with special virtue, knowledge and prudence. Religious Superiors, novice-masters, and rectors of seminaries or colleges should not act habitually as confessors of their subjects (Canons 518, n. 2, 891), lest the distinction between the internal and the external forum be forgotten.

Finally, to prevent abuse of the Sacrament and occasions of relapse, a confessor cannot validly absolve his accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment, consummated or unconsummated, or from the sin of complicity itself, as necessary matter of the Sacrament, if the sin was on both sides external, certain, and both internally and externally grave (Canons 884, 2367).

2754. Absolution from Reserved Cases.--(a) In danger of death, any priest can absolve every reserved sin and censure, but, should the penitent recover, there is a duty in certain specified cases of having recourse to the lawful superior (Canons 882, 2252). The latter Canon specifies two cases in which recourse is necessary after the person recovers, namely, a censure _ab homine_ and one most specially reserved to the Holy See. A third case has been added by the Sacred Penitentiary, namely, when a priest who has attempted marriage and is unable to separate asks for absolution from the censure of Canon 2388, 1, in danger of death.

(b) In urgent cases, namely, if censures _latae sententiae_ cannot be observed externally without grave danger of scandal or infamy, or if it is hard for the penitent to remain in the state of grave sin for such time as may be necessary in order that the competent superior may provide, then any confessor can, in the sacramental forum, absolve from these censures, no matter how they are reserved, imposing, under pain of falling back into the censure, the obligation of having recourse within a month (at least by letter and through the confessor, if it can be done without grave inconvenience), without mentioning the name, to the Sacred Penitentiary or to a Bishop or other superior who has the faculty. The confessor imposes also the obligation of fulfilling his injunctions (Canon 2254, 1). It is to be noted:

1) the circ.u.mstances const.i.tuting an urgent case are the two specified in the Canon: the difficulty of observing the censure; the hardship of remaining in sin,

2) the object of the absolution is all censures _latae sententiae_, however reserved, with one exception, namely, the censure incurred under Canon 2388, 1, the case of a priest who, after an attempted marriage, is unable to separate. No absolution as an urgent case under this Canon can be given. The censure _latae sententiae_ for false denunciation can be absolved under this Canon only if the conditions of Canon 2363 have been fulfilled (actual formal retraction and reparation; imposition of a grave and long penance; and the sin itself remains reserved _ratione sui_ to the Holy See).

3) Sufficient extrinsic authority is available to make safe in practice the extension of the grant of power of this Canon to censures _ab homine_ which are _ferendae sententiae_.

4) Sections 2 and 3 of this Canon indicate the right of the penitent to go afterwards to a privileged confessor without making the recourse to the superior enjoined upon him or observing the _mandata_ from the superior in case he has already made recourse, and the procedure to be followed when recourse is morally impossible.