1.1 Successors of the Apostles and Collaborators with the Bishop
The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (307; cf CCC 1461-1466, 1495) teaches:
Christ has entrusted the ministry of Reconciliation to his APOSTLES, to the BISHOPS who are their successors and to the PRIESTS who are the collaborators of the bishops, all of whom become thereby instruments of the mercy and justice of God. They exercise their power of forgiving sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Priests need the license from their bishop (or religious superior) or the Pope to hear confessions. Only those who have received from the authority of the Church the faculty of absolving can forgive sins.
1.2 Special cases: excommunication, interdict or suspension
Certain sins, because of their seriousness, do not only offend God but also bring about a Church censure such as excommunication, interdict or suspension. A priest who incurs one of these censures is not allowed from administering the sacraments. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1463) explains:
Certain particularly grave sins incur excommunication, the most severe ecclesiastical penalty, which IMPEDES [1] the RECEPTION OF THE SACRAMENTS and [2] the EXERCISE OF CERTAIN ECCLESIASTICAL ACTS, and for which absolution consequently cannot be granted, according to canon law, except by the Pope, the bishop of the place or priests authorized by them. IN DANGER OF DEATH any priest, even if deprived of faculties for hearing confessions, can absolve from every sin and excommunication.[cf Code of Canon Law, can. 976; Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches, can. 725]
Following are the prescriptions of the Code of Canon Law on the matter.
CANON 1331
Section 1. An excommunicated person is forbidden:
1. to have any ministerial participation in celebrating the sacrifice of the Eucharist or any other ceremonies of worship whatsoever;
2. to celebrate the sacraments or sacramentals and to receive the sacraments;
3. to exercise any ecclesiastical offices, ministries, or functions whatsoever or to place acts of governance.
Section 2. If the excommunication has been imposed or declared, the offender:
1. who wishes to act against the prescript of Section 1, n. 1 must be prevented from doing so, or the liturgical action must be stopped unless a grave cause precludes this;
2. invalidly places acts of governance which are illicit according to the norm of Section 1, n. 3;
3. is forbidden to benefit from privileges previously granted;
4. cannot acquire validly a dignity, office, or other function in the Church;
5. does not appropriate the benefits of a dignity, office, any function, or pension, which the offender has in the Church.
CANON 1332
The prohibitions mentioned in can. 1331, Section 1, nn. 1 and 2 bind an interdicted person. If the interdict has been imposed or declared, however, the prescript of can. 1331, Section 2, n. 1 must be observed.
CANON 1333
Section 1. Suspension, which can affect only clerics, prohibits:
1. either all or some acts of the power of orders;
2. either all or some acts of the power of governance;
3. the exercise of either all or some of the rights or functions attached to an office.
Section 2. A law or precept can establish that a suspended person cannot place acts of governance validly after a condemnatory or declaratory sentence.
Section 3. A prohibition never affects:
1. the offices or the power of governance which are not under the power of the superior who establishes the penalty;
2. the right of residence which the offender may have by reason of office;
3. the right to administer goods which may pertain to the office of the person suspended if the penalty is latae sententiae. [see explanation below]
Section 4. A suspension prohibiting a person from receiving benefits, a stipend, pensions, or any other such thing entails the obligation of making restitution for whatever has been received illegitimately, even if in good faith.
CANON 1334
Section 1. Within the limits established by the preceding canon, either the law or precept itself or the sentence or decree which imposes the penalty defines the extent of a suspension.
Section 2. A law, but not a precept, can establish a latae sententiae suspension without additional determination or limitation; such a penalty has all the effects listed in can. 1333, Section 1.
CANON 1335
If a censure prohibits the celebration of sacraments or sacramentals or the placing of an act of governance, the prohibition is suspended whenever it is necessary to care for the faithful in danger of death. If a latae sententiae censure has not been declared, the prohibition is also suspended whenever a member of the faithful requests a sacrament or sacramental or an act of governance; a person is permitted to request this for any just cause.
An excommunication, interdict or suspension may either be:
In the Code of Canon Law currently in force, there are eight instances when a person may incur excommunication latae sententiae. Unless the excusing circumstances outlined in canons 1321-1330 are verified, the following persons incur excommunication latae sententiae:
The Pope may also declare other offenses as incurring excommunication latae sententiae.
As for INTERDICTS latae sententiae, the following result in the censure:
As mentioned above, a latae sententiae censure is incurred once the action has been done; there is no need for the Church authority to declare it. Nonetheless, the Church authority may do so. In this case, the effects are more severe (cf canon 1331, Section 2).
In danger of death, any priest can absolve a person from any sin and excommunication (cf CCCC 308; CCC 1463).
1.3 Duty of priests--promote forgiveness, promote growth, promote confession
The CCC (1464) points out:
Priests must encourage the faithful to come to the sacrament of Penance and must make themselves available to celebrate this sacrament each time Christians reasonably ask for it [c. Code of Canon Law, can. 486; Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches, can. 735; Presbyterorum Ordinis 13]
On 25 March 2011, Pope Benedict XVI told his brother priests:
The faithful and generous availability of priests to hear confessions--after the example of the great saints of the past from St. John Mary Vianney to St. John Bosco, from St. Josemaria Escriva to St. Pius of Pietrelcina, from St. Joseph Cafasso to St. Leopold Mandic--shows all of us that the confessional may be a real "place" of sanctification.
In his Letter to Priests (no 4) on Holy Thursday of 2002, Blessed Pope John Paul II encouraged priests to experience the sacrament themselves. He wrote:
With joy and trust let us rediscover this sacrament. Let us experience it above all FOR OURSELVES, as a DEEPLY-FELT NEED [emphasis added] and as a grace which we constantly look for, in order to restore vigour and enthusiasm to our journey of holiness and to our ministry.
At the same time, let us make every effort to be TRUE MINISTERS OF MERCY. We know that in this sacrament, as in others, we are called to be agents of a grace which comes not from us but from on high and works by its own inner power. In other words – and this is a great responsibility – GOD COUNTS ON US, on our availability and fidelity, in order to work his wonders in human hearts. In the celebration of this sacrament, perhaps even more than in the others, it is important that the faithful have an intense experience of the face of Christ the Good Shepherd.
1.4 Priests--signs and instruments of God's Mercy
It is worthwhile for priests to repeatedly meditate on the words of point 1465 of the CCC:
When he celebrates the sacrament of Penance, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him on his return, and of the just and impartial judge whose judgment is both just and merciful. The priest is the sign and the instrument of God's merciful love for the sinner.
1.5 The ideal confessor
Point 1466 of the CCC describes the traits that should mark a confessor.
The confessor is not the master of God's forgiveness, but its servant. The minister of this sacrament should unite himself to the intention and charity of Christ [Presbyterorum Ordinis 13]. He should have a proven knowledge of Christian behavior, experience of human affairs, respect and sensitivity toward the one who has fallen; he must love the truth, be faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, and lead the penitent with patience toward healing and full maturity. He must pray and do penance for his penitent, entrusting him to the Lord's mercy.
The Congregation for the Clergy has released a document for confessors that is worth reading--The Priest, Minister of Divine Mercy.
1.6 The world's most closely-guarded secret
Point 1467 of the CCC says:
Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to persons, the Church declares that every priest who hears confessions is bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him. He can make no use of knowledge that confession gives him about penitents' lives [cf Code of Canon Law, can. 1388 # 1; Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches, can. 1456]. This secret, which admits of no exceptions, is called the "sacramental seal," because what the penitent has made known to the priest remains "sealed" by the sacrament.
As mentioned above, direct violation of the secret of confession incurs excommunication latae sententiae reserved to the Holy See. Only the Holy Father can lift this excommunication.
1.7 The confessional
The Code of Canon Law specifies the place for confession.
CANON 964
Section 1. The proper place to hear sacramental confessions is a church or oratory.
Section 2. The conference of bishops is to establish norms regarding the confessional; it is to take care, however, that there are always confessionals with a fixed grate between the penitent and the confessor in an open place so that the faithful who wish to can use them freely.
Section 3. Confessions are not to be heard outside a confessional without a just cause.
The confessional protects the privacy of the penitent--it is their right. But moreover, it is also good for the confessor, particularly when he hears the confessions of women.
Point 310 of the CCCC (cf CCC 1468-1470, 1496) enumerates the effects as follows:
The effects of the sacrament of Penance are:
1. reconciliation with God and therefore
2. the forgiveness of sins;
3. reconciliation with the Church;
4. recovery, if it has been lost, of the state of grace;
5. remission of the eternal punishment merited by mortal sins, and
6. remission, at least in part, of the temporal punishment which is the consequence of sin;
7. peace, serenity of conscience and spiritual consolation; and
8. an increase of spiritual strength for the struggle of Christian living.
Another important effect of this sacrament is growth in knowledge of self and a greater appreciation of God's goodness and mercy. Thus, it makes one grow in humility which is needed as a foundation of ALL the other virtues. Since our struggle against pride is a LIFETIME TASK, confession is the constant companion that guarantees victory in our never-ending battle against self. In an audience with children who had just received their First Communion on October 2005, Pope Benedict XVI said of confession:
Even if, as I said, it is not necessary to go to confession before each Communion, it is very helpful to confess with a certain regularity. It is true: Our sins are always the same, but we clean our homes, our rooms, at least once a week, even if the dirt is always the same; in order to live in cleanliness, in order to start again. Otherwise, the dirt might not be seen but it builds up.
Something similar can be said about the soul, for me myself: If I never go to confession, my soul is neglected and in the end I am always pleased with myself and no longer understand that I must always work hard to improve, that I must make progress. And this cleansing of the soul which Jesus gives us in the sacrament of confession helps us to make our consciences more alert, more open, and hence, it also helps us to mature spiritually and as human persons.
3.1 What are indulgences?
Point 312 of the CCCC (cf CCC 1471-1479) explains what indulgences are.
Indulgences are the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. The faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains the indulgence under prescribed conditions for either himself or the departed. Indulgences are granted through the ministry of the Church which, as the dispenser of the grace of redemption, distributes the treasury of the merits of Christ and the Saints.
3.2 Why is there a need for them?
Points 1472 and 1473 of the CCC explains the doctrine behind indulgences.
To understand this doctrine and practice of the Church, it is necessary to understand that SIN HAS A DOUBLE CONSEQUENCE.
[1] Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the "eternal punishment" of sin.
[2] On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the "temporal punishment" of sin.
These two punishments must not be conceived of as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God from without, but as following from the very nature of sin. A conversion which proceeds from a fervent charity can attain the complete purification of the sinner in such a way that no punishment would remain [cf Council of Trent (1551): DS 1712-1713; (1563): 1820].
The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the "old man" and to put on the "new man."[84]
Indulgences help us pay back the debt of temporal punishment.
Points 1474 to 1479 of the CCC reminds us that we are not alone in this task of purification. In the first place, we can count on the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. But aside from that, those of us on earth can also profit from the prayers and merits of all the saints. Moreover, the souls in purgatory (Church Suffering) can count on prayers of the Church in heaven (Church Triumphant) and the Church on earth (Church Militant).
The rite generally includes the following elements (CCC 1480)
a greeting and blessing from the priest, reading the word of God to illuminate the conscience and elicit contrition, and an exhortation to repentance; the confession, which acknowledges sins and makes them known to the priest; the imposition and acceptance of a penance; the priest's absolution; a prayer of thanksgiving and praise and dismissal with the blessing of the priest.
In the Latin Church, there are three Rites of Reconciliation:
Going back to Blessed John Paul's 2002 Letter to Priests, he wrote:
Its [individual confession] appeal is enhanced by the NEED FOR PERSONAL CONTACT, something that is becoming increasingly scarce in the hectic pace of today's technological society, but which for this very reason is increasingly experienced as a vital need. Certainly, this need can be met in various ways. But how can we fail to recognize that the Sacrament of Reconciliation – without confusing it with any of the various forms of psychological therapy – offers an extraordinarily rich response to this need? It does so by bringing the penitent into contact with the merciful heart of God through the friendly face of a brother.
Yes, great indeed is the wisdom of God, who by instituting this sacrament has made provision for a profound and unremitting need of the human heart. We are meant to be loving and enlightened interpreters of this wisdom though the personal contact we are called to have with so many brothers and sisters in the celebration of Penance. In this regard, I wish to repeat that the usual form of administering this sacrament is its individual celebration, and only in "cases of grave necessity" is it lawful to employ the communal form with general confession and absolution. The conditions required for this form of absolution are well known; but perhaps we should remember that for absolution to be valid the faithful must have the intention of subsequently confessing their grave sins individually (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1483).