© 2023 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 most passengers had spent some time at one of the many Jamaican resorts, she naturally asked if I had enjoyed my “Holiday”. She seemed quite surprised when I told her that I had I 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 on 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 was: “Suppose you knew a man who had committed treason against the United States. And suppose that 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 crime 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. But 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: “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). Jesus reiterated the same gift in the same words in 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 several 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 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, but 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 courts respect this professional secrecy.
NoNo priest has ever violated the seal of the confessional. Some like St. John Nepomucene (John Wolflin) suffered a very cruel death rather than repeat what a sinner revealed in the confessional. Imprisoned for refusing to disclose the queen’s confession to King Wenceslaus IV, St. John was burned, then tied to a wheel and thrown off a bridge into the Moldau River on March 20, 1393. On the night of his death, seven stars hovered over the place where he drowned.
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 ridicule the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 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