
The Catholic Church teaches that absolution is a form of forgiveness that can be granted by ordained Christian priests. It is considered a sacrament, and the process of obtaining absolution is known as the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation. While the specific practices and theology surrounding absolution vary among Christian denominations, the Catholic Church holds that absolution is one of the acts performed by ordained ministers, in which a baptised penitent can be assured of forgiveness. This sacrament is believed to have been instituted by Christ himself, who granted his apostles the power to forgive sins.
Historically, the manner in which absolution was granted evolved over time. In the early centuries of the Church, public confession and penance were often required for certain serious sins, such as idolatry, murder, or adultery. However, by the seventh century, the practice of private confession and immediate absolution became more prevalent, thanks to the influence of Irish missionaries.
Today, the Catholic Church maintains that absolution requires sincere repentance and a desire to amend one's ways. The priest, acting as a minister of God's forgiveness, pronounces the words of absolution, which include the essential formula: I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This sacramental act forgives mortal sins and enables the penitent to receive the sacraments and fully participate in the life of the Church.
Characteristics | Values |
---|---|
What is absolution? | The theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. |
Absolution in the Catholic Church | The Catholic Church teaches that absolution is one of the acts of the Church's ordained minister in the sacrament of Penance wherein a baptized penitent with the proper dispositions can be assured of being forgiven. |
Absolution as a sacrament | Some Christian traditions see absolution as a sacrament, including the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Assyrian Church of the East and the Lutheran Church. |
Absolution in other traditions | In other traditions, including the Anglican Communion and Methodism, absolution is seen as part of the life of the church. |
Absolution in the Reformed tradition | Corporate confession is the normative way that this rite is practiced. |
Absolution in the Liberal Catholic Movement | The Liberal Catholic Movement believes that absolution is important and that Christ has given priests the power to absolve the faithful of their sins. |
Absolution in the Irvingian Churches | In the Irvingian Christian denominations, auricular confession is not necessary for forgiveness, but it provides peace if a believer feels burdened. |
What You'll Learn
Absolution is a theological term for forgiveness
The Catholic Church's teaching on absolution is centred on the passage in the Gospel of John: "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23). However, the Bible also states that only God can forgive sins (Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21), and that Christ, being God, has the power to do so.
In the Catholic Church, the priest's role in obtaining forgiveness for the penitent is based on the belief that Jesus gave his ministry of forgiveness of sins to continue through the ministry of his Church. The Catholic Church teaches that absolution is one of the acts of the Church's ordained minister in the Sacrament of Penance wherein a baptised penitent with the proper dispositions can be assured of being forgiven.
The concrete sequence and manner in which the Church imparted the absolution of sins have varied over the centuries. In the first centuries, Christians who had committed particular public mortal sins after their baptism were required to confess their sins publicly and do lengthy public penance before they could receive absolution. Over time, this practice declined, and by the seventh century, the predominant manner of receiving absolution was through private confession and immediate absolution before the completion of penance.
In the Protestant tradition, the meaning of absolution differs significantly from the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox uses. The Protestant use recuperates ancient rather than medieval practice. Absolution in the Protestant tradition is understood as a spiritual reality received by every person confessing with true repentance. The pastor's role is to offer assurance of pardon to the truly penitent.
In the Lutheran Church, absolution is practised in two forms: congregational and private confession and absolution. In the Anglican Communion, formal sacramental absolution is given to penitents in the Sacrament of Penance, now formally called the Reconciliation of a Penitent.
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The Catholic Church teaches that only God forgives sin
In the Catholic Church, absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. Absolution can only be received by a penitent in the presence of the priest. The priest then assigns a penance and imparts absolution in the name of the Trinity, on behalf of Jesus Christ, using a fixed sacramental formula.
Over the centuries, the concrete sequence and manner in which the Church imparted the absolution of sins varied. In the first centuries, Christians who had committed particular public mortal sins after their Baptism had to confess their sins publicly and do lengthy public penance before they could receive absolution. Over time, the public confession, penance, and absolution declined, and by the seventh century, Irish missionaries spread the practice of privately granted immediate absolution after private confession of sins and before the completion of penance. This manner of receiving absolution became predominant over time.
During the era of Scholasticism, Catholic theologians sought a deeper understanding of the sacrament of Penance and absolution. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that "God alone absolves from sin and forgives sins authoritatively; yet priests do both ministerially, because the words of the priest in this sacrament work as instruments of the Divine power, as in the other sacraments".
The Catholic Church teaches that absolution is one of the acts of the Church's ordained minister in the sacrament of Penance wherein a baptized penitent with the proper dispositions can be assured of being forgiven. To validly receive absolution, the penitent must make a sincere sacramental confession of all known mortal sins not yet confessed to a priest and pray an act of contrition.
General absolution, where all eligible Catholics gathered at a given area are granted absolution for sins without prior individual confession to a priest, is lawfully granted in only two circumstances: there is imminent danger of death and there is no time for a priest or priests to hear the confessions of the individual penitents, or there is a serious need, meaning the number of penitents is so large that there are not sufficient priests to hear the individual confessions properly within a reasonable time.
The Catholic Church also includes twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches, which are in union with the Latin Catholic Church but retain their own distinct rites and customs, among which are included prayers of absolution.
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Absolution is one of the acts of the Church's ordained minister
The priest is the ordinary minister of the sacrament of Reconciliation, and the only minister since there are no extraordinary ministers of this sacrament. The priest must be granted by the law itself or by a competent authority, the faculty to celebrate this sacrament validly for the person to whom he imparts absolution. The priest must have validly received the Order of Priesthood and jurisdiction, granted by competent authority, over the person receiving the sacrament.
The absolution formula used in the Pauline Missal, the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, is as follows:
> God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
During a Spring 2021 meeting, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops made some adjustments to the text to make it a more accurate translation of the original Latin. The new text is as follows:
> God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God grant you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The older form approved for the Roman Ritual after the Council of Trent, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, is as follows:
> May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you; and I, by His authority, absolve you from every bond of excommunication (suspension) and interdict, in as much as I am able and you require. Thereupon, I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Both forms start with a deprecative absolution in the third person subjunctive, and then conclude with a first-person indicative declarative absolution. This highlights the priest's God-given authority as father, physician, teacher, and especially as judge with the power to bind and loosen.
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The priest is ever-willing to absolve sins
The Catholic Church teaches that absolution is one of the acts of the Church's ordained minister in the sacrament of Penance wherein a baptized penitent with the proper dispositions can be assured of being forgiven. Over the centuries, the concrete sequence and manner in which the Church imparted the absolution of sins varied. In the first centuries, Christians who had committed particular public mortal sins after their Baptism seemed to have had to confess their sins publicly and do lengthy public penance before they could receive absolution. Over time, the public confession, penance, and absolution declined such that by the seventh century, Irish missionaries spread the practice of privately granted immediate absolution after private confession of sins and before the completion of penance. This manner of receiving absolution became predominant over time.
During the era of Scholasticism, Catholic theologians sought a deeper understanding of the sacrament of Penance and absolution. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that "God alone absolves from sin and forgives sins authoritatively; yet priests do both ministerially, because the words of the priest in this sacrament work as instruments of the Divine power, as in the other sacraments". Two subsequent Councils of the Catholic Church reaffirmed the sacramental form of absolution of the Latin Church. Post-Tridentine theologians taught that the absolution would still be valid if the priest were to merely say, "I absolve you from your sins", or "I absolve you", or words that are the exact equivalent.
Following the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI approved a revision of the Rite of Penance. However, the pope again affirmed that the essential words pertaining to the absolution, that is, the form of the sacrament necessary for the Sacrament of Penance to take effect, are: "I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".
General absolution, where all eligible Catholics gathered in a given area are granted absolution for sins without prior individual confession to a priest, is lawfully granted in only two circumstances: there is imminent danger of death and there is no time for a priest or priests to hear the confessions of the individual penitents, or there is a serious need, that is, the number of penitents is so large that there are not sufficient priests to hear the individual confessions properly within a reasonable time.
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Absolution forgives the guilt associated with the penitent's sins
Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the practice of absolution vary between Christian denominations.
The Catholic Church teaches that absolution is one of the acts of the Church's ordained minister in the sacrament of Penance wherein a baptized penitent with the proper dispositions can be assured of being forgiven. Over the centuries, the concrete sequence and manner in which the Church imparted the absolution of sins varied. In the first centuries, Christians who had committed particular public mortal sins after their Baptism seem to have had to confess their sins publicly and do lengthy public penance before they could receive absolution.
The Catholic Church teaches both that only God forgives sin and that Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, willed his ministry of forgiveness of sins to continue through the ministry of his Church. Absolution, therefore, forgives the guilt associated with the penitent's sins and removes the eternal punishment (Hell) associated with mortal sins. The penitent is still responsible for the temporal punishment (Purgatory) associated with the confessed sins, unless an indulgence is applied or, if through prayer, penitence and good works, the temporal punishment is cancelled in this life.
The formula of absolution used in the Pauline Missal, the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, is as follows:
> God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
During a Spring 2021 meeting, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops made some adjustments to the text to make it a more accurate translation of the original Latin. After the USCCB changes were approved by the Vatican's Dicastery (then-Congregation) for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in April 2022, the new text became:
> God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God grant you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
General absolution, where all eligible Catholics gathered at a given area are granted absolution for sins without prior individual confession to a priest, is lawfully granted in only two circumstances:
- There is imminent danger of death and there is no time for a priest or priests to hear the confessions of the individual penitents (e.g. to soldiers before a battle).
- A serious need is present, that is, the number of penitents is so large that there are not sufficient priests to hear the individual confessions properly within a reasonable time (generally considered to be 1 month) so that the Catholics, through no fault of their own, would be forced to be deprived of the sacrament or communion.
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Frequently asked questions
Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness of sins. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the practice of absolution vary between Christian denominations.
Catholics are absolved of their sins through the Sacrament of Penance. This involves a sincere sacramental confession of all known mortal sins not yet confessed to a priest and an act of contrition. The priest then assigns a penance and imparts absolution in the name of the Trinity, on behalf of Jesus Christ, using a fixed sacramental formula.
The formula of absolution used in the Pauline Missal, the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, is as follows:
> God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Yes, general absolution is granted in two circumstances: when there is imminent danger of death and there is no time for individual confession, and when there is a serious need, i.e. when the number of penitents is so large that there are not enough priests to hear individual confessions within a reasonable time.