On the Sacrament of Penance

The Catholic church does not teach that God 'cannot' forgive the penitent directly, but that even God 'must' use the means of Sacramental Confession. Catholic teaching is clear. If we have 'perfect contrition' God will forgive us. 'Perfect' contrition is contrition entirely from the love of God; sorrow that we have offended Him, 'without prejudice' to where we might be going in the Next Life. But the 'normal' means of being released from our sins is given in John Ch 20: 'then He breathed on them' (a very solemn statement: it is only the third time in the whole Bible where God is recorded as having 'breathed' (the Hebrew words for 'breath' and 'spirit' – rúa – are the same) "... and said to the Apostles, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgive them. Whose sins you shall retain, they are retained'..." (Jn 20: 21-23)

These words are specific enough. The priest (directly descended from these Apostles by the unbroken practice of the Laying on of Hands) does actually accomplish the absolution (the taking away of sins) but he does this by delegation from Christ, with the Merit of His Passion. This is the principle of all delegation: the delegate carries out the action, but he does so with the authority of the delegator. In business practice, if a delegated official makes a bad mistake, ethical practice is that he personally is not disciplined, unless the wrong action was a clear dereliction of duty on his own part; but the delegator is expected to resign, for the error of judgment in choosing the delegate.

All priests, with the bestowal of Holy Orders, receive the "charism" or gift of various powers, including that of exorcism and of remitting sins. But an individual priest may not carry out these actions without the specific permission of the bishop, who makes the judgment whether the priest has the human qualities of personality and good judgment. Yet the Catholic church is not a blind rule book, She is our Mother (as the Bride of Christ) and in cases of emergency – such as imminent danger of death – any priest (but not a layman) can hear a confession and give absolution. In the Ages of Faith, when approximately one in ten souls was in Religious life, only certain priests in each parish were granted the Faculty of hearing confessions; but in the English-speaking world, which hung onto the Faith by the slenderest whisker, it has been the general rule for centuries that all ordained priests were granted this faculty, with only rare exceptions. Yet it is not the 'normal' rule.

Yes of course, god is not bound by the 'normal' rules He has given to His church, and He is always free to arrange absolution by His own direct intervention. But for us to rely on this, while wilfully refusing to avail of the Sacraments he instituted, is a grave sin of Presumption.

Certain sins are so grave that they are 'reserved' to the judgment of the Bishop, or of Rome. They include devil-worship, and also running an abortion 'clinic' (which is the same thing). In these instances, the priest refers the case to Rome. All this is done as delegation from, and with the authority of Christ.

All Sacraments obtain their merit and efficacy from the Merits of Christ's Passion. That is why 'imperfect' contrition is sufficient for absolution, if the penitent makes use of the Sacramental Means established by Christ.

It is a grave error to hold, as do some Protestants, that because the Passion of Christ was sufficient to atone for all the sins of the world (which is true enough) that therefore we need make no effort on our own part beyond a belief in Christ as Saviour. Martin Luther taught this, and even if he himself did not follow the logic of his own argument (which is a matter of separate debate) many of his followers have not shrunk from it. In the 80s there were Baptist Ministers in Florida who indulged in regular & frequent drug-taking and group s--, who nevertheless assured their hearers that these ministers were 'Saved' because they accepted Christ as their Saviour. The Catholic practice is not only Scriptural and historical: it is plain common sense.