SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION/PENANCE

PURPOSE

►Catechism of the Catholic Church #1446

Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as "the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace."

Please explore the lower sidebar for a CCC link, a printer friendly USCCB document and a video by Busted Halo, all related to this grace-filled Sacrament!

FAITH DOCTRINE REFERENCES

►CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

PENANCE/CONFESSION REFERENCES
Penance and Reconciliation
age for confessing sins, 1457
Anointing of the Sick and the forgiveness of sins, 1532
and Baptism, 1425-26
Baptism and the forgiveness of sins, 535, 977-78
commandment to receive the sacrament of, 1457, 2042
eschatological significance of the sacrament of, 1470
the Eucharist and forgiveness of sins, 1393, 1395, 1436, 1846
indulgence, 1471
power to confer the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation to non-Catholic Christians, 1401
purposes of the sacrament of, 1421, 1468
receiving absolution in the sacrament before receiving Eucharistic Communion, 1415
receiving the sacrament before the celebration of Matrimony, 1622
as a sacrament, 1210
sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation in particularly grave cases, 1463
instituted by Christ, 1446
instituted for all men, 827, 1446
sacramental seal of Confession, 1467, 2490
sacrifice of Christ as the source of forgiveness of man's sins, 1851
See also Sacrament(s)
 
absolution, 1480-84
        Byzantine liturgy and formulas of, 1481
        communal celebration and individual, 1482
        excommunication and, 1463
        formulas of, 1449, 1481
        general, 1483
        grave sins and, 1415, 1457, 1497
        over the dying Christian, 1020
        power to forgive sins, 553, 976, 1441-42, 1444-45, 1461
acts of the penitent, 1491
        confession, 1455-58
        of grave sins necessary for obtaining reconciliation, 1493
        individual confession and a communal celebration, 1482
        necessity of confessing sins, 1448
        personal confession the most expressive form of reconciliation, 1484
        of sins and conversion, 1435
        of venial sins, 1493, 1863
        contrition, 1451-54
        Holy Spirit gives the grace of, 1433
        as necessary to obtain forgiveness, 982, 1259, 1861, 1864
        no penance after death, 393
        perfect and imperfect, 1492
        and sacramental Confession, 1452
        as sorrow of the soul, 1451
        examination of conscience, 1454, 1456
        satisfaction
                as an act of the penitent, 1491
                forms of penance and their purposes, 1460
                purposes of, 1494
                through the penance imposed by the confessor, 1460
effects of the sacrament
        anticipating the Last Judgment, 1470
        brings about a "spiritual resurrection," 1468
        gives pardon for offense committed against God, 1422
        reconciling with God, 980, 1468
        reconciling with the Church, 980, 1422, 1469
        recovering grace, 1446, 1468
forgiveness and Penance and Reconciliation
        the Church as a place of reconciliation, 755
        God reconciles the world to Himself in Christ, 433
        pardon as the fundamental condition of Reconciliation, 2844
        reconciliation of all Christians in the unity of Christ's Church, 822
        reconciliation with the Church, 1443-45
        ways of reconciliation, 981, 1449, 1455
        See also Forgiveness: forgiveness of sins
liturgical celebration or rite of the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation
        actions of the penitent (see Penance and Reconciliation: acts of the penitent)
        actions of the priest, 1491
        changes in liturgical celebration of the sacrament of Penance over the centuries, 1447-48
        communal, 1482-83
        fundamental structure, 1448, 1480
        minister of, 1461-62, 1466
necessity of the sacrament
        for receiving the other sacraments, 1385
        for Reconciliation with God and with the Church, 1484
        for recovering the grace of justification, 1446
        for obtaining forgiveness of mortal sins, 1395
titles for the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation
        sacrament of Confession, 1424, 1455-58
        conversion, 1423
        forgiveness, 1395, 1424, 1446
        pardon, 1422
        Penance, 1423
        Reconciliation, 1385, 1424, 1440
        remission, 1496