📖Overview

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, The Sacrament of Penance, also called Reconciliation or Confession, is the sacrament by which sins committed after Baptism are forgiven. It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion. It is called the sacrament of Penance because it consecrates the penitent's personal steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction. It is called the sacrament of Confession because the disclosure of sins to a priest is an essential element. It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation because it imparts God's forgiveness and reconciles the sinner with the Church. The acts of the penitent form the "matter" of the sacrament: contrition (sorrow for sin with the intention not to sin again), confession (telling one's sins to the priest), and satisfaction (performing the penance assigned by the priest). The priest acts in the person of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit to pronounce absolution. Individual and integral confession of grave sins followed by absolution remains the only ordinary means of reconciliation with God and the Church. The spiritual effects include reconciliation with God and the Church, remission of eternal punishment, remission of at least part of temporal punishment, peace and serenity of conscience, spiritual consolation, and an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.

💡Key Points