PENANCE 151 



ARTICLE 3 



CONFESSION 



I. Necessity. — The second essential constitu- 

 ent of the Sacrament of Penance is confes- 

 sion. By confession (confessio, clo^oAdy^o-is) 1 we 

 understand the sorrowful declaration of sins 

 made to a priest with the purpose of obtaining 

 forgiveness through the power of the keys. 2 



Sacramental confession is of divine institu- 

 tion and has been embodied among the command- 

 ments of the Church. 3 



Every Catholic who has attained to the use of 

 reason, i. e., who is able to distinguish between 

 good and evil, and has sinned grievously, is 

 obliged to confess his sins once a year (annua 

 confessio).' 1 Not age, but intellectual and moral 



1 Cone. Florent., Decretum pro delectandi causa exponamus. Verum 

 Armenis: "Secunda [pars poeni- accusatorio animo ita enumeranda 

 tentiae] est oris confessio: ad quam sunt, ut ea etiam in nobis vindicare 

 pertinet, ut peccator omnia peccata, cupiamus. Veniae autem impetran- 

 quorum memoriam habet, suo sa- dae causa peccata confitemur, quo- 

 cerdoti confiteatur integraliter." niam hoc iudicium longe dissimile 

 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 699). est forensibus capitalium rerum quae- 



2 Cat. Rom., P. II, c. 5, qu. 33: stionibus, in quibus confessions 

 "Earn . . . [confessionem] defimunt poena et supplicium, non culpae li- 

 esse peccatorum accusationem, quae beratio et errati venia constituta 

 ad Sacramenti genus pertinet, eo est." (Ed. Ratisb. 4a, p. 225). Cfr. 

 susceptam, ut veniam virtute clavium Pohle-Preuss, The Sacraments, Vol. 

 impetremus. Recte autem accusatio III, pp. 181 sqq. 



dicitur, quod peccata ita commemo- 3 Cfr. John XX, 21 sqq. — Cone, 



randa non sunt, quasi scelera nostra Trid., Sess. VI, ch. 14; Sess. XIV, 



ostentemus, ut ii faciunt, qui 'laetan- De Poenit., c. 5, can. 6-8. 



tur, quum malefecerint' (Prov. ii, 4 Cone. Lat. IV., c. 21: "Omnis 



14), ant omnino enarranda, ut rem utriusque sexus fidelis, postquam ad 



aliquant gestam otiosis auditoribus annos discretionis pervenerit, . . . 



