PENANCE 159 



The assertion of a recent Protestant writer that the 

 Church in the Middle Ages compelled the faithful to 

 "confess each and every sin they had committed" is 

 false. 18 



2. Sincerity. — The second quality required 

 for a valid confession is sincerity. Confession 

 is sincere (Melts aut sine era) if the penitent 

 truthfully declares all his mortal sins with their 

 number and specific circumstances. Any wilful 

 attempt to misrepresent seriously the nature of a 

 mortal sin committed, or the moral state of the 

 soul, is sacrilegious and renders confession 

 invalid, because such an act not only destroys the 

 integrity of confession, but is incompatible with 

 true contrition, and, moreover, makes it impossi- 

 ble for the confessor to judge his penitent prop- 

 erly. 



3. Clearness. — Confession must be clear, that 

 is, the penitent must declare his sins so as to en- 

 able the confessor to understand him perfectly 



simpliciter occurrente impedimento, iacet: 'Peccata in confessione omissa 



sed tantum suspenditur. Cessante seu oblita ob instans periculum vitae 



igitur causa excusante, obligatio le- aut ob aliam causam non tenemur 



gis integre reviviscit, praeceptum in sequenti confessione exprimere.' 



enim confessionis non est affixum ad [Denzinger-Bannwart, n. mi]. 



tempus, nee ad circumstantiam, sed Ergo contradictoria huius proposi- 



vitam integrant afficit, ita ut peccata tionis est vera: ergo necessario ac- 



nondum accusata postea necessario cusanda sunt peccata oblivione prae- 



accusanda sint, si fieri possit. Nee termissa, licet iam deleta fuerint." 



obstat, quod Ecclesia tempus con- 18 Cfr. E. Fischer, Zur Geschichte 



fessionis determinaverit, nam haec der evangelischen Beichte, Vol. I, 



determinatio non est ad finiendam, pp. 24, 34, 47; P. A. Kirsch, Zur 



sed ad urgendam obligationem. Geschichte der katholischen Beichte, 



Constat aliunde ex propositione ob pp. 186 sqq. 

 Alexandro VII. damnata, quae sic 



