Victor R. Claveau, MJ
While flying home from a trip to Jamaica, West Indies, I entered into conversation with the woman sitting next to me. As the majority of passengers had spent some time at one of the many Jamaican resorts, she naturally asked if I had enjoyed my ‘vacation’. She seemed quite surprised when I told her that I had traveled to Montego Bay in order to evangelize Catholics. She incorrectly assumed that I was a Protestant minister and proceeded to tell me how much she admired Bible-believing missionaries, especially those who bring the true Gospel message to ‘lost and blind Catholics’.
“She was a bit taken aback when I explained that I was a Catholic evangelist and had traveled to Jamaica at the request of the local bishop in order to teach the truths of Catholicism. There was a slight flush to her cheeks as she tried to smooth over her anti-Catholic comment. I tried to put her at ease by telling her that I fully understood how some people felt about the Catholic faith, but that it had been my experience that many people who hold such views do so based upon a caricature of Catholicism, rather than an objective understanding. I offered to try to answer any questions about Catholicism that she might care to ask.
“She then blurted out the common objection: ‘Don’t Catholics believe that priests can forgive sins? Only God can forgive sin! You know, priests are not God, priests are human beings. I have as much power to forgive sin as any other person.’
My answer to her was, “Suppose you knew a man who had committed treason against the United States. Moreover, suppose he was sentenced to be put to death for his crime. Could you pardon him?” She answered, “No, of course not.”
“Could the President of the United States pardon him?” I asked.
“My acquaintance thought for a moment and then she gave this answer: “Certainly, he could, he’s the President. He has that power.”
“But didn’t you say that you could forgive a sin just as any other person?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied, “but this is different. As a man, the President can’t pardon a man who committed treason. However, as the President, he can. That is a power of his office.”
“I went on to explain that the same principle held true for the priesthood. As a mere man, a priest holds no more power than any other person, but as a properly ordained priest, he holds a special commission from God to forgive sin.
“Jesus forgave sin. As God, He has that power. As God, He could delegate that same power to others. Twice before His death and resurrection, Christ gave the power of pardoning. In Matthew’s Gospel we read that He said to Peter: ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’ (16:19). Later in the same Gospel, Jesus gave the power to forgive sin to the other Apostles (Matthew 18:18).
“Still later, in John’s Gospel, He told them in words that cannot be questioned: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’ (20:22-23). From that moment on, the Apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests of the Catholic Church, have had the power to forgive sins. The Sacrament of Confession, or Reconciliation, was not invented any time in the future of the Church. Christ instituted it on the evening of His resurrection.
“The early Church had a number of regulations concerning confession and these rules are still in force. Confession must be made to a duly authorized priest. This means that a priest must have authority from the bishop of the diocese. However, in case of necessity such as the danger of death, any priest can absolve any sinner anywhere of any sin.
“In the early Church, penitents confessed their sins publicly before a priest. When we commit a sin, we not only sin against God, but sin against the community, the body of Christ. The priest, representing Jesus, would set the penance required to make amends before God. Once the penance was completed, the priest would grant absolution. Today, confession is private. The key thing to remember is that it is Jesus, acting through the priest, who hears your confession.
“In 251, Saint Cyprian wrote: ‘Of how much greater faith and salutary fear are they who…confess their sins to a priest of God in a straight-forward manner and in sorrow, making an open declaration of conscience. God cannot be mocked or outwitted, nor can He be deceived by any clever cunning. Indeed, he but sins the more if, thinking that God is like man, he believes that he can escape the punishment of his crime by not openly admitting his crime….I beseech you, brethren, let everyone who has sinned confess his sin while the satisfaction and remission made through the priests are still pleasing before the Lord’ (The Lapsed, 28).
“In addition to being ordained and having authority, the confessor must have knowledge and prudence. The priest is better prepared than any other to guide and direct the individual in spiritual matters. He has years of study in philosophy, and theology. He is thoroughly conversant with the Bible; knows psychology, history, the law of God, the horror of sin, and he knows the weakness of human nature; he has a complete, scientific knowledge of faith and morals. Over and above all this, he has the Christ-given power to forgive sin.
“Furthermore, the priest is personally interested in the penitent. Ordinarily, he does not usually know the identity of the sinner, but the priest is still responsible before God for that soul. What the priest says or doesn’t say, even the way he says it, may decide the salvation of a soul. If he knowingly gives false teaching, God will hold him accountable. If he does so out of ignorance, he is less culpable. He is not let off the hook entirely, because he is required to know the moral teachings of the Faith. This is a tremendous responsibility, which the Church protects in every possible way.
“Outstanding among these protections is what we call ‘the seal of confession.’ Even at the risk of imprisonment or threat of death, the lips of the priest are sealed forever. All the courts respect this professional secrecy.
“No priest has ever violated the seal of the confessional. Some priests, like Saint John Nepomucene, suffered a very cruel death rather than repeat what a sinner had revealed in the confessional. The ‘seal of confession’ seals sins forever in the heart of the priest, which in turn is sealed forever in the limitless heart of God.
“Many people make fun of the Sacrament of Confession. To them might be applied the words of Christ: ‘Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?’ (Mark 12:24). Unfortunately, neither do these people know the mercy of God.”
I may never know if there were any direct fruits as a result of this conversation with my travel companion, but perhaps a misunderstanding had been corrected.
From Bible Sabotage by Victor R. Claveau, MJ, pp. 88-92.