NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Sacrament of Penance

In criminal proceedings, a confession is a document in which a suspect admits having committed a crime. The study of criminal justice traditionally revolves around three main components of the criminal justice system: police courts corrections Nowadays, it is sometimes argued that psychiatry is also a central part of the criminal justice system. ...

In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. ... The right to silence is a legal protection enjoyed by people undergoing police interrogation or trial in certain countries. ...

Confession of sins

Confession of sins is an integral part of the Christian faith and practice. The meaning is essentially the same as the criminal one - to admit one's own guilt. Confession of one's sins, or at least of one's sinfulness, is seen by most churches as a pre-requisite for becoming a Christian.

Roman Catholicism

The Catholic sacrament of penance and reconciliation is the method given by Christ to the Catholic Church by which individual men may confess sins committed after baptism and have them absolved by a priest. This sacrament is known by many names, including penance, reconciliation, and confession (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sections 1423-1442). However, because confession is only one aspect of the sacrament, it is no longer officially called "confession." Offical Church publications always refer to the sacrament as "Penance and Reconciliation," or shorten it to "penance" or "reconciliation." The practice of the Roman Catholic Church includes seven sacraments. ...

Catholics believe that no priest, as an individual man, however pious or learned, has power to forgive sins. This power belongs to God alone; however, God can and does exercise it through the Catholic priesthood. Catholics believe God exercises the power of forgiveness by means of the sacrament of reconciliation.

The basic form of confession has not changed for centuries, although at one time confessions were made publicly. Colloquially speaking, the role of the priest is of a judge and jury; in theological terms, he acts in persona Christi and receives from the Church the power of jurisdiction over the penitent. The penitent must confess mortal sins in order to restore his/her connection to God's grace and not to merit Hell. The sinner may confess venial sins as well as mortal sins not previously confessed. The intent of this sacrament is to provide healing for the soul as well as to regain the grace of God, lost by sin. Roman Catholics consider Matthew 9:2-8 and 1 Corinthians 11:27 to be Scriptural bases for the sacrament. According to Catholicism, a mortal sin, unlike a venial sin, must meet all of the following conditions: subject must be ‘grave matter’; it must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense; it must be committed with deliberate and complete consent. ... Medieval illustration of the Mouth of Hell Hell is a place of torment and pain. ... According to Catholicism, a venial sin is a temporary loss of grace from God. ... The Gospel of Matthew is one of the four Gospels of the New Testament. ... See also: Second Epistle to the Corinthians and Third Epistle to the Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians is a book of the Bible in the New Testament. ...

Prior to the Second Vatican Council the priest would absolve the penitent in Latin. The penitent must make an act of contrition, a prayer acknowledging his/her faults before God. It typically commences: O my God, I am heartily sorry... Reconciliation is considered necessary before receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. The Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ... Ecclesiastical Latin, sometimes called Church Latin, is the Latin language as used in documents of the Roman Catholic Church. ... The Act of Contrition is a prayer recited by the penitent during the Latin Rite Roman Catholic sacrament of Confession. ... Confirmation is a rite used in many Christian churches. ...

The Catholic Church teaches that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the only ordinary way in which a person can receive forgiveness for mortal sins committed after baptism. However, perfect contrition (a sorrow motivated by love of God rather than of fear of punishment) is an extraordinary way of removing the guilt of mortal sin before or without confession (if there is no opportunity of confessing to a priest). Such contrition would include the intention of confessing. Examples of mortal sins include murder, blasphemy, fornication, use of artificial contraception, and deliberately failing to attend Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day of Obligation. If a person guilty of mortal sin dies without either receiving the sacrament or experiencing perfect contrition with the intention of confessing to a priest, he/she will receive eternal damnation.

In order for the sacrament to be valid the penitent must do more than simply confess his known mortal sins to a priest. He must a) be truly sorry for each of the mortal sins he committed, b) have a firm intention never to commit them again, and c) perform the penance imposed by the priest. Also, in addition to confessing the types of mortal sins committed, the penitent must disclose how many times each sin was committed, to the best of his/her ability.

The Code of Canon Law requires all Catholics to confess mortal sins at least once a year, although frequent reception of the sacrament is recommended. In Western culture, canon law is the law of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. ...

For Roman Catholic priests, the confidentiality of all statements made by penitents during the course of confession is absolute. This strict confidentiality is known as the "Seal of the Confessional." According to the Code of Canon Law, 983 §1, "The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason." Priests may not reveal what they have learned during confession to anyone, even under the threat of their own death or that of others. (This is unique to the Seal of the Confessional. Many other forms of confidentiality, including in most states attorney-client privilege, allow ethical breaches of the confidence to save the life of another.) For a priest to break that confidentiality would lead to an latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication reserved to the Holy See (Code of Canon Law, 1388 §1). In a criminal matter, a priest may encourage or require the penitent to surrender to authorities and may withhold absolution if the penitent refuses to do so. However, this is the extent of the leverage they wield; they may not directly or indirectly disclose the matter to civil authorities themselves. Confidentiality has been defined by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as ensuring that information is accessible only to those authorized to have access and is one of the cornerstones of Information security. ... Excommunication is a religious censure which is used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. ...

There are limited cases where portions of a confession may be revealed to others, but always with the penitent's permission and always without actually revealing the penitent's identity. This is the case, for example, with more serious offenses, as some excommunicable offenses are reserved to the bishop or even to the Holy See, and their permission to grant absolution would first have to be obtained. A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ...

Civil authorities in the United States are usually respectful of this confidentiality. However, several years ago an ambitious attorney in Oregon secretly recorded a confession without the knowledge of the priest or the penitent involved. This lead to official protests by the local Archbishop and the Vatican. The tape has since been sealed, and the Federal Court has since ruled that the taping was in violation of the 4th Amendment, and ordered an injunction against any further tapings. Amendment IV (the Fourth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. ...

Eastern Orthodoxy

The Eastern Orthodox sacrament of confession, or repentance, includes prayer to God and confessing ones sins to God, typically in the presence of an icon of Jesus Christ and also with a priest nearby to bear witness. The priest will typically add his own prayers, may add counsel or assign some form of penance, and will usually announce God's forgiveness of sins. In Orthodox ecclesiology, the priest is not an intermediary between God and the penitent. The confession is to God in the presence of a priest, not to a priest in the presence of God. In addition, the "penance" is not assigned in order to receive absolution — which is granted upon sincere confession — but is a "spiritual calisthenic" to help avoid further sin. ... A sacrament is a Christian rite that mediates divine grace. ... The Savior Not Made By Hands (1410s, by Andrei Rublev) An icon (from Greek ÎµÎ¹ÎºÏ‰Î½, eikon, image) is an artistic visual representation or symbol of anything considered holy and divine, such as God, saints or deities. ... Ecclesiology is that branch of Christian theology that deals with the doctrine of the Church: its role in salvation, and its origin, its discipline, and its leadership. ...

Confession is necessary prior to receiving the Eucharist, except for young children. Typical forms of penance may include abstaining from the Eucharist for a period of time, or praying certain prayers. When an adult enters the Orthodox Church through the sacraments of baptism and chrismation, a "life confession" will often be made either the same day or a few days prior to their chrismation. In that case, the absolution or declaration of God's forgiveness is typically delayed until it is given during the chrismation. At religious retreats or at any time out of religious devotion a penitent may make a general confession which subsumes all sins committed since Baptism, including sins already pardoned in other confessions. Many theologians recommend an occasional general confession for lay people seeking to deepen a life of prayer; it is generally required on a periodic basis of people who have entered the religious life. The Eucharist is either the celebration of the Christian sacrament commemorating Christâ€™s Last Supper, or the consecrated bread and wine of this sacrament. ... Baptism is a water purification ritual practiced in certain religions such as Christianity, Mandaeanism, Sikhism, and some historic sects of Judaism. ... Chrismation is the name given in Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern_rite Catholic churches to the sacrament known as confirmation in the Latin Rite Catholic churches. ... Baptism is a water purification ritual practiced in certain religions such as Christianity, Mandaeanism, Sikhism, and some historic sects of Judaism. ... Prayer is an effort to communicate with God, or to some deity or deities, or another form of spiritual entity, or otherwise, either to offer praise, to make a request, or simply to express ones thoughts and emotions. ...

Protestantism

In Protestant churches it is believed that no intermediary is necessary between the Christian and God. The confession of sins is therefore mainly done in private, in prayer before God. However confession is often encouraged when a wrong has been done to a person as well as to God. Confession is then made to the person wronged, and is seen to be as much part of the reconciliation process as it is theological. In churches and cases where sin has resulted in the exclusion of a person from church membership, public confession is often a pre-requisite to readmission. In neither case is there any required format to the confessions. Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

In the Anglican church a formalised, private confession to a priest may be used which, while similar in practice and theology to the Catholic one, is not considered essential. A general confession is part of most services, where all together recite the Confession of Sin and the priest pronouces absolution. The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ...

Some Lutheran churches also advocate private confession with a Pastor. However, ever since the 18th century it is very rarely used. A more frequent practice is the corporate confession of sins at the beginning of a worship service. In his 1529 Catechisms, Martin Luther praised private confession (before a pastor or a fellow Christian) for the sake of absolution, that is, for the sake of the forgiveness of sins bestowed in an audible, concrete way. The Lutheran reformers held that a complete enumaration of sins is impossible (see Psalm 19:12) and that one's confidence is not to be based on the sincerity of one's contrition nor on one's compliance with the works of satisfaction imposed by the priest. In fact, works of satisfaction, as taught by the medieval Church, were rejected. Faith, that is, trust in Christ's complete active and passive satisfaction is what receives the forgiveness and salvation won by him and imparted to the confessor by the word of absolution. The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... Martin Luther (originally Martin Luder or Martinus Luther) (November 10, 1483â€“February 18, 1546) was a German theologian and an Augustinian monk whose teachings inspired the Protestant Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines of Lutheran, Protestant and other Christian traditions (a broad movement composed of many congregations and church bodies). ...

Confession of faith

Confession is also used by many churches in the sense of a statement of faith. The word is used in many Bible translations to mean admit one's faith publicly (e.g. Epistle to the Romans, chapter 10 verse 9). The Epistle to the Romans is one of the epistles, or letters, included in the New Testament canon of the Christian Bible. ...

The Confession of a church may therefore be used to mean its public statement of faith or doctrine. A church or group that belongs to a Confessing Movement strives to adhere to its public confessions strictly. The Confessing Movement is a neo-Evangelical movement within several mainline Protestant churches to return those churches to what the members of this movement see as greater theological orthodoxy. ...

The term confessio (from Latin) is sometimes used to describe a public defense of one's faith or life, e.g. the Confessio of St. Patrick, written around 450AD. Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... This article discusses faith in a religious context. ... Statue of Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (died March 17?, 492 or 493), patron saint of Ireland. ...

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