Distinction VI

GRATIAN. PART I. To whom confession ought to be made, or what sort of person the one who judges the crimes of others ought to be, is taught from the same Book on Penance, [c. 10], when it is said:

“One who wishes to confess sins so as to find grace should seek a priest who knows how to bind and loose, lest, when one has proved negligent concerning oneself, one be neglected by him who mercifully admonishes and seeks one, and lest both fall into the pit which the fool refused to avoid.” And below: “Accordingly, the power of confession is so great that, if a priest is lacking, one should confess to one’s neighbor. For it often happens that a penitent cannot be ashamed before a priest, since neither place nor time provides one to the person desiring him. And although the one to whom the person confesses does not have the power of loosing, nevertheless the one who confesses the baseness of the crime to a companion becomes worthy of pardon because of the desire for a priest. For the lepers were cleansed while they were going to show their faces to the priests, before they reached them. Hence it is clear that God looks to the heart when necessity prevents persons from reaching the priests. Indeed, often they seek them while healthy and joyful; while they seek, they die before they arrive. But God’s mercy is everywhere, which knows how to spare even the just, although they would not be loosed so quickly as by a priest. Therefore, one who confesses altogether should confess to the better priest whom one can find. If the sin is hidden, let it suffice to bring it to the priest’s knowledge, so that the offering of the gift may be pleasing.” And below, [c. 12]:

§ 1. “Therefore, let the penitent labor to be in the church and tend toward the church’s unity. For unless the church’s unity comes to one’s aid, unless it completes by its own operation what is lacking to the sinner, the soul of the dead person will not be rescued from the enemy’s hands. For it must be believed—and the piety of faith demands that it be believed—that all the alms of the whole church, its prayers, and its works of justice and mercy come to the aid of one who acknowledges one’s death unto conversion. Therefore, no one can worthily repent whom the church’s unity does not sustain. Therefore, let one not seek priests divided from the church’s unity through any fault.

“For Judas, who went as a penitent to the Pharisees, abandoning the Apostles, found no help except an increase of despair. For they said, ‘What is that to us? See to it yourself.’ If you have sinned, let it be yours; we do not come to your aid, we do not charitably take up your sins, we do not promise that they will be borne together, we do not teach you how to lay down the burden. For what have we to do with mercy, who do not even pursue the works of justice? He should have gone to the brothers; he should have gone to those who had prayed for Peter’s mother-in-law when she had a fever, who had presented the importunate Canaanite woman to mercy. He should have asked Peter, who was pouring forth tears for himself. He should not have fled Mary and Martha, who had obtained life for Lazarus, nor the weeping crowd that had regained the widow’s only son. He went to those divided, and divided he perished.” And below, [c. 20]:

§ 2. “Therefore, the priest to whom every sinner is offered, before whom every infirmity is set, must be liable to judgment in none of those things which he is ready to judge in another. For one who judges another while oneself liable to judgment condemns oneself. Therefore, let one know oneself and purge in oneself what one sees others offer to one. Let one take care to have cast away from oneself whatever one has found harmful in another; let one heed what is said: ‘Let the one who is without sin be first to cast a stone at her.’ For he freed the sinful woman because there was no one who could justly cast a stone. How would one stone her who knew oneself worthy of stoning? For no one was without sin, by which it is understood that all were guilty. For venial sins were always remitted through ceremonies. Therefore, if there was any sin in them, it was criminal.

“Accordingly, priests who do not first edify themselves are worse in this respect than those who were watching the Lord with snares. In this, therefore, the crime of priests is most manifest and detestable beyond measure: they do not first judge themselves, and they bind others. For they ought to fear the crime which those persons feared and perceived to be detestable—those who were so blind that they hoped to seize the highest Wisdom with their snares. What was manifest to them, what each then avoided, let the priest avoid, who in this error has proved worse than those Jews.

§ 3. “Let the spiritual judge take care that, just as one has not committed the crime of wickedness, so one not lack the gift of knowledge. It is necessary that one know how to recognize whatever one ought to judge. For judicial power demands that one discern what one ought to judge. Therefore, let the diligent examiner and subtle investigator question the sinner wisely and as though shrewdly concerning what one perhaps does not know or what the sinner through shame wishes to conceal. Once the crime has been ascertained, let one not hesitate to investigate its varieties, the place, the time, and the other things that we discussed above in expounding their quality. Once these are known, let one be benevolent, prepared to raise the sinner and to carry the burden together; let one possess sweetness in affection, compassion concerning another’s crime, and discretion regarding its variety. Let one assist the person confessing by praying, giving alms, and doing the other good things for that person. Let one always help by soothing, consoling, promising hope, and, when necessary, even rebuking. Let one teach by speaking and instruct by acting. Let one who wishes to become a participant in joy be a participant in labor. Let one teach perseverance; let one take care not to fall, lest one justly lose judicial power.

“For although penance can acquire grace for that person, it nevertheless does not immediately restore one to the former power. For although Peter was restored after his fall, and the power of dignity has often been returned to fallen priests, it is nevertheless not necessary that it be conceded to everyone as though by authority. One authority is found that concedes and, as it were, commands it; another is found that by no means concedes it but forbids it. These scriptural authorities do not conflict but agree, if the time, place, and manner of penance introduce peace. For when there are so many who fall that they claim their former dignity by authority and make for themselves, as it were, a practice of sinning, this hope must be cut away. But if there is a place where these things do not concur, those who sin can be restored. Therefore, a just and discerning pontiff is not compelled always to cast away his priests or immediately to restore them, unless it has been established by the Roman Pontiff.”

PART II. GRATIAN. Let a priest take care not to disclose the sins of penitents to others. But if one does so, let that person be deposed. Hence Gregory:

Above all, let a priest take care not to tell anyone concerning those who confess their sins to him that the person confessed them—not to relatives, not to strangers, nor, which God forbid, because of any scandal. For if he does this, let him be deposed and proceed as an ignominious wanderer all the days of his life.

PART III. GRATIAN. But what is said—that the penitent should choose a priest who knows how to bind and loose—seems contrary to what is found in the canons, namely, that no one should presume to judge the parishioner of another. But it is one thing to despise one’s own priest from favor or hatred, which is prohibited by the sacred canons; it is another to avoid a blind person, which each person is admonished by this authority to do, lest, if the blind provides leadership to the blind, both fall into the pit. Hence Urban II:

It was resolved that henceforth no priest may receive for penance anyone entrusted to another priest without the consent of the one to whom the person first entrusted oneself, except because of the ignorance of the one to whom the penitent first confessed. But one who attempts to act against these statutes will be subject to danger to one’s rank.