§ I. On the Duties of the Confessor

A fourfold duty or office of the confessor is assigned, namely 1° of Father; 2° of Physician; 3° of Doctor; 4° of Judge.

1413. - The Confessor is a spiritual father, who gives spiritual life to the penitent, or restores and fosters it; for in the tribunal of Penance he acts in the place of the best of all parents, namely Christ Himself, and therefore by penitents he is called by the sweetest name of father. But that which especially stands out in the true name of father is remarkable and inexhaustible charity. For what affection is stronger than the affection of a father? What is truer, purer, more chaste, more constant, fuller of solicitude and more alien from one's own advantage, indeed readier and more prompt for every kind of privation and inconvenience? Therefore such must be the charity of the confessor, so that, clothed with the bowels of mercy of Christ Jesus, Who came not to call the just, but sinners, he may know how to deal zealously, patiently, and meekly with sinners. Thus, as a good father, he will sustain all things for his spiritual children: for charity is patient, ... bears all things, ... endures all things.

The Confessor must be full of charity toward penitents, both at the beginning, and in the course, and at the end of Confession. It is pleasing to hear St. Alphonsus himself speaking on these things.

1414. - I. At the beginning of Confession. "First he" (the Confessor) "must employ charity in receiving kindly all, whether they are poor, or rude, or sinners. Some spend time only in hearing the Confessions of certain devout persons or persons of rank, because they have not so much courage as to repel these from themselves. But if some miserable sinner approaches them, he is heard unwillingly and is driven away loaded with reproaches: whence it happens that that wretched one, after he has brought the greatest force upon himself so that he might come to confess his sins, feeling himself so harshly received, conceives hatred for the Sacrament of Penance, and, despairing that he can find someone who may help him and absolve him from sins, rushes headlong with loosened reins into the slippery way of a lost life, and falls into despair of salvation. Good confessors act otherwise. When sinners of this kind flow together to them, they receive them kindly, and, as a victor over captured prey, they exult, considering that the lot has fallen to them to snatch a soul from the hands of the demon. They know that this Sacrament was instituted properly not for the just, but for sinners; for venial faults, in order to be remitted, do not need sacramental absolution, since they can be blotted out in many other ways. They know also that Christ protested in these words: I came not to call the just, but sinners. Therefore the confessor, clothing himself with the bowels of charity, the more he finds souls stained by the multitude and atrocity of sins, the more, that he may gain them for God, should embrace them with greater charity, and give them courage with these or similar words: Come, brother, be of good courage, do not fear; confess your sins fearlessly. Open all things confidently; be ashamed of nothing: it does not matter if you have not looked into all the recesses of your conscience; it suffices if you answer what is asked. Give thanks to God, Who has awaited you until now for penance. Now your life must be changed. Rejoice, because God certainly remits all sins to you, however great, if you have a good will, and therefore He has awaited you, that He might spare you: therefore say all things with a cheerful soul, cover nothing with wrappings."

1415. - II. In the course of Confession. "He must show far greater charity in hearing the Confession. Let him take care not to show himself impatient or affected by weariness; nor let him show himself struck with amazement at the sins which are narrated; provided the penitent is not so hard or insolent in soul that he exposes several and more atrocious sins without any shame, and without any displeasure and sense of soul; because then one must labor with all one's powers that the penitent may perceive how great is their deformity and magnitude; and therefore then a sharper correction is required, so that he may be awakened from lethal lethargy. It is indeed true that... in the act of Confession confessors must abstain from making correction, lest perhaps penitents, frightened, hold back sins; nevertheless this is understood when speaking regularly: besides, many times it is expedient not to proceed to further things, and immediately to correct the penitent, especially when he confesses a very enormous sin, or if he has been habituated in some vice, so that he may comprehend the gravity of the sin. Yet let him advert not to exasperate him, nor to terrify him. Wherefore, after he has corrected him as much as shall have been needed, immediately let him give him courage for confessing the remaining sins, saying: Come, brother, do you wish to recover from this vice? Is it not so? And since you are prepared to do this, be of cheerful soul. Therefore narrate the remaining sins, holding back nothing. Take care, I beg you, lest you commit some sacrilege; for this would be the greatest of all the sins which you have committed until now. Therefore say all things with a strong soul; conquer yourself: confess all things sincerely: for God is prepared to spare you."

1416. - III. At the end of Confession. "At the end of Confession also it is necessary that the confessor apply himself with a more vehement ardor and zeal, so that he may make the penitent perceive the gravity and multitude of his sins, and the miserable state of damnation in which he is found; but let this always be done with the greatest charity. Nevertheless it is more fitting then to use graver words, so that thus he may better be able to return to a good fruit of mind; nevertheless he must effect that the penitent understand that what is said to him proceeds not from an angry soul, but from singular love and commiseration toward his soul, which can be expressed in this way: My son, do you consider the life of a damned one which you have led? Do you perceive the evil which you have worked? What evil has your God ever done to you, Whom you have so recklessly despised? If there had been no one more hostile to you than Jesus Christ, could you have borne yourself worse toward Him? But, I ask you, consider who this Jesus is? He is the one Who, though He was God, needing nothing, was made man for you, wished to die on the cross, that He might redeem you from hell. Ah! son, if meanwhile you had died, if on this night, whither would you have gone? Where would you now be? You would be in the eternal fire of hell. What will become of you, if you go on in the future to live the life you have led until now? Will you be able to be saved thus? Awake and see that, unless you change your morals for the better, you are already damned. What good have you gathered for yourself from so many sins? Do you not consider that you prepare for yourself a double hell, one here of anguish and misery, another there of punishments? Come, son, turn away from evil, cease to sin, and commit yourself wholly into the arms of God, which are extended to receive you: enough, as much as you have sinned against Him. I wish to help you with all my powers and with my whole heart; come to me always and whenever you please, since you will find a father who will receive you kindly. Behold, now firmly resolve that you wish to be made holy. It depends on you. For God is always prepared, and has imparted this time to you for this, that you may turn yourself away from evil and do good. O how good it is to have God as a friend! etc."

To the charity of Father can also be referred the following warning of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore: "Lest any delay hinder those wishing to confess, we earnestly exhort and beseech pastors of souls that they be present at the confessionals for hearing penitents on each Sabbath, and on the Vigils of Feasts at least in the evening time, and on Sundays and feast days in the morning before the first Mass.... But if the number of the faithful is greater than that all who approach can be heard on one day, let him also choose other times, other days, which he may spend on this necessary work."

The Confessor is a true physician of souls, since he must rescue them from the various diseases of sin, remove them from the depraved affections of the passions, and restore them to divine grace. Therefore the Confessor, as a skilled physician, must 1° know the cause of the evil; 2° heal it; 3° prevent relapse. Let us hear St. Alphonsus again.

1417. - I. The Confessor must know the cause of the disease. "For the Confessor, that he may meet the infirmities of his penitent with opportune remedies, the origin and cause of all his spiritual diseases must be known. Some... beyond the species and number of sins inquire nothing else: if they see the penitent disposed, they immediately absolve him; but if not, without spending one word, they dismiss him at once, saying with a turned eye: Depart from me, because I cannot absolve you. Good confessors proceed otherwise: for these first begin to investigate the origin and gravity of the disease, by questioning concerning the habit of sinning, concerning occasions, concerning the time, concerning the place, concerning the persons with whom, and with what concurrence of things. For thus they will be better able to correct the penitents, dispose them for absolution, and add salutary remedies."

1418. - II. He must heal the disease. "When the origin and gravity of the disease have been known, let the confessor proceed to make the due admonitions. And although he as Father must listen to penitents with charity, nevertheless as physician he is held, as much as is needed, to warn and correct them, especially those who, burdened with many mortal sins, rarely approach the Sacrament of Penance.... Nor then must the confessor attend to other penitents who surround him. For, as St. Francis Xavier used to say, it is better to hear the rightly made Confessions of a few than the disordered and fruitless Confessions of many. Here it is necessary to advert how wrongly those confessors act who, if they find a penitent indisposed, immediately order him to go away from them, lest they spend some time with him.... And it matters little that others wait or depart unconfessed; for the confessor must render an account on the day of judgment concerning this one only, who now confesses to him, not concerning others." - I think an exception from this rule conformable to the mind of the holy Doctor in the case in which, on the one side, there is a crowd of penitents who, unless they are heard now, cannot or are foreseen not to be about to return except after a long time, and on the other side, the penitent who needs a longer time, e.g. on account of a necessary general Confession, can easily return and is hoped with foundation to be about to return.

"After due corrections or warnings, it is better that labor be spent on disposing the penitent to absolution through acts of true sorrow and purpose; wherefore I wish confessors to be warned that those penitents are very few, especially the rude, who come to confess with an act of sorrow premised. Some confessors think that they have done enough for their office if they merely question penitents of this kind in the following way: Come, do you ask pardon from God for all these things (which in truth is not a true act of sorrow)? Are you sorry from the heart for all your sins? and, with no other word interposed, they bestow absolution on them. Altogether different from this is the method of good confessors. For these first of all labor so that penitents (the discourse is about those who are held by mortal sins) may conceive true sorrow and detestation of sins. And first they prepare them through an act of attrition, e.g.: My son, where now ought you to be in eternity? In hell. Ah! in that fire you would always be tortured! Nor would any hope remain to you any longer that you could be rescued thence! There you would be dwelling, abandoned by all, rejected by God for all eternity! Therefore, are you sorry that you have offended God on account of the hell which you have deserved?... Afterward let him take care that an act of contrition be elicited, in this way: My son, what have you done? You have sinned against God, the highest and infinite good; you have had no regard for Him; you have turned your face away from Him: you have cast Him behind your back; you have despised His friendship and grace. Come therefore, because you have offended God, infinite goodness, are you now sorry from your whole heart? Detest and hate, above all evils, all the injuries by which undeservedly you have affected so good a God. Are you not now ready to die a thousand times rather than commit these things in the future?"

1419. - III. He must prevent relapse. The confessor will prevent relapse by assigning to the penitent remedies suited to the disease. But remedies are either general or particular.

1° General remedies are 1) pious prayer and love toward God; 2) frequent invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the holy Guardian Angel, and of the holy Patron; 3) frequency of the Sacraments and Confession as soon as any mortal sin has been committed; 4) consideration of the eternal truths, especially of death and of the last end, according to that saying: Remember thy last things, and thou shalt not sin forever; 5) recollection of God present when temptation presses, by saying: God sees me; 6) evening examination of conscience with sorrow of soul and purpose; 7) mental prayer and pious readings, especially for priests.

2° Particular remedies will be assigned according to the diversity of vices: e.g. to him who is held by some hatred, let it be suggested that daily he commend to God him whom he hates, reciting for him the Lord's Prayer, etc. And when the memory of the injury disturbs him, let him recall the insults by which he himself has affected God. - To him who has fallen into shameful sins, let it be enjoined that he avoid idleness, flee evil companions and depraved occasions. - To him who has contracted a depraved habit through a long time in this vice, let it be prescribed that he avoid not only proximate occasions, but even certain remote ones, which to one so weak are as if proximate. But especially let the confessor take care that this one communicate frequently; because the Eucharist is called: wine bringing forth virgins. And thus concerning others.

The confessor will assign other remedies according to his prudence, the circumstances of occasions, persons, etc., having been inspected. For prudence is the chief quality which must stand out in a physician. - See St. Alphonsus in Praxis Confessarii; and in H. A. Cf. n. 1389.

The Confessor, that he may rightly fulfill the duty of doctor, must have sufficient knowledge, so that he may fittingly teach penitents.

1420. Principles. - I. The Confessor is held under grave obligation to know all those things which are required for rightly fulfilling his duty. - Thus all with St. Alphonsus, who speaks thus: "I affirm that that confessor is in a state of damnation who exposes himself to hearing Confessions without sufficient knowledge." The reason is that otherwise a confessor of this kind exposes himself to the evident danger of badly discharging so grave a duty, with injury to the Sacrament and with great detriment to souls.

Therefore God requires special knowledge from His Ministers, as is clear from various words of Sacred Scripture: The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth. - Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will reject thee, that thou shalt not perform the priesthood for Me. - If the blind offer leadership to the blind, both fall into the pit. - Woe to you, blind guides! - It is clear also from innumerable testimonies of the Holy Fathers: "No art is presumed to be taught, unless it is first learned by attentive meditation. Therefore the pastoral magisterium is undertaken by the unskilled with great rashness, since the governance of souls is the art of arts." - St. Gregory. Cf. what was said p. XCIII. under IV.

II. Nevertheless the Confessor is not held:

1) To have knowledge so perfect that he can always immediately and by himself solve all doubts that occur; but it suffices if he can do this in cases commonly occurring, and concerning more difficult ones knows at least how to doubt, so that he may consult books or, with due permission (if he has need of it), learned men. For greater knowledge can be had with more difficulty, since not even the more learned themselves are able immediately to solve all cases. Hence in more involved doubts, especially if the case is public or easily to be made public, not only are other learned men and men of greater experience to be consulted, but especially the Bishop is to be heard, if time is available. - Sometimes also the warning which Lugo gives will be useful: "When counsel must be given for the future, or restitution imposed, or a doubtful contract prohibited, or something similar, if the confessor cannot by himself" (or not immediately) "resolve it, it will be good counsel to ask the penitent whether he is prepared to consult skilled men and to stand by their judgment concerning that doubt" (or to return to himself, the confessor): "but if the penitent promises, let him absolve, telling him the obligation which he has of consulting someone or some persons concerning that doubt" (or of returning to himself, the confessor). Nor even

2) Is the confessor held to discern concerning each of the sins accused whether they are mortal or not; since this is often impossible; but it suffices that he hear each thing as it was done, and know how to judge concerning them, both according to common principles and according to the adjuncts of things set forth by the penitent, and to apply a suitable remedy. Nor ought it then move the confessor that afterward he certainly knows that, while the confession was being made, it was uncertain to him. On the matter St. Alphonsus warns with Suarez, that although in some case the confessor does not discern which things are grave or light; if nevertheless the penitent in good faith says his sin, the Confession is valid; and although afterward it is noticed that it was mortal, there is no reason that it be repeated in another Confession. Nor

3) Is the same knowledge required in all, but greater or lesser according to the diversity of places, penitents, and adjuncts. It is said: a) of places, and thus lesser knowledge is required in small towns. - It is said: b) of penitents, and thus likewise lesser knowledge is required for hearing the Confessions of boys or country people than for hearing merchants, judges, etc., who have more difficult cases. But for the Confessions of a learned Theologian much less knowledge is required, because the confessor can be instructed by the penitent himself, provided nevertheless, I would add, that he is God-fearing, concerning whom you may not legitimately suspect that he chose one less learned in order that he might be absolved more easily. - It is said: c) of adjuncts; for the scarcity of priests will be able to excuse a Bishop, so that, if on account of it the faithful otherwise would have to lack a confessor for a long time, as happens more easily in Mission places, he may send a less sufficient minister.

Nevertheless the less sufficient are held diligently to apply themselves to studies, and they are to be warned by the Bishop concerning this obligation. - Lugo.

It is clear of itself that in the article of death, another being lacking, even an ignorant and unlearned priest must hear the Confession and absolve.

1421. Resolves. - 1° Any Confessor whatsoever is held to know all those things which regard the value, substance, integrity, and effect of the Sacrament of Penance, and which are required for its licit administration, both on his own part and on the part of the penitent. Hence also what is the difference between a Confession simply null or invalid and one which, besides, is sacrilegious.

2° He must know also the common obligations and the proper obligations of states; the various species of sins; their adjuncts changing the species; the principles of discerning between mortal and venial sins, and what things are mortal and venial in individual precepts, at least according to general principles and the common opinion of Theologians. Likewise which acts are valid and licit. The reason is clear, because he must know that concerning which he must judge; otherwise he will not be able to render an equitable judgment.

3° He must know cases and censures from which he cannot absolve, and with respect to those from which he can absolve, under what conditions he can do this; impediments of Matrimony; conditions of contracts; various causes of restitution; roots and occasions of sins; remedies to be brought to them; salutary and suitable satisfactions to be imposed, etc.

4° Therefore a confessor sins who certainly knows that the aforesaid knowledge is lacking to him, even if he hears Confessions from charity alone and obedience. Nor does the approbation of the Bishop excuse him of itself; for this does not give the knowledge due from the nature of the thing, nor supply its defect. I have said: certainly knows; for he who doubts concerning his aptitude will be able to lay aside the doubt, when the Prelate, who knows him well, imposes that duty on him.

5° The Superior also sins who gives permission to an ignorant confessor to hear Confessions, because he consents to and cooperates with his sin. H. A. Tr. XVI. 99 in fine.

6° The penitent himself also sins who deliberately chooses an inept confessor. Nevertheless, if someone is in good faith, the Confession will be valid; because on the part of the penitent there intervenes an integral declaration of sins and due disposition of soul; on the part of the confessor there intervenes at least cognition of sins under the confused notion of sin, which suffices for the matter of the Sacrament. L. VI. 628 sub 1 and 2.

7° Experience cannot supply knowledge, but only assist it; but where knowledge is destitute of support, it will drive a rash confessor into very many errors, and those most grave.

8° Therefore every Confessor whatsoever is held diligently to apply himself to the study of Moral Theology; and, as St. Alphonsus asserts, he must never interrupt that study; "because from so many diverse things and things disparate among themselves, which pertain to this knowledge, many things, although read, since they happen more rarely, in the progress of time fall from the mind; wherefore it is necessary always by frequent study to recall them into the mind."

9° Hence it is clear how gravely they err who consider the knowledge of Moral Theology easy and hardly worthy of any attention, repeatedly saying that nearly all cases can be solved by some common sense, with knowledge of general principles. - Aptly the same St. Alphonsus says: "Let those who aspire to this duty of hearing Confessions not easily persuade themselves that they can render themselves sufficiently suitable for so great a duty without prolonged study of moral knowledge, for which certainly it does not suffice to run through some little summary of those which are carried about; nor is it enough to know the general principles of this faculty, as certain men think, who (despising Casuists) arrogate to themselves the name of literati. For moral knowledge is not only very necessary to the Christian commonwealth, since the good governance of souls depends upon it, but it is also supremely difficult; both because it requires a general knowledge of all other sciences, offices, and arts; and because it embraces so many diverse matters separated among themselves; and because in great part it consists of so many positive laws, which are found cited only among Casuists, and especially among more recent ones, since laws of this kind come forth day by day. - Finally it becomes most difficult on account of innumerable circumstances of cases, upon which the variation of resolutions depends: for from the diversity of circumstances diverse principles must be applied, and in this the difficulty consists, since this cannot be done without great discussion, or the accurate reading of several books which examine and elucidate matters."

1422. Principles. - I. The confessor is held to teach penitents all those things which pertain to the Sacrament being rightly received here and now. The reason is that, since the priest is the minister of the Sacrament, he must procure its valid and licit reception, and therefore deliver the instruction necessary here and now.

II. He must teach penitents, when he adverts that someone is ignorant of something from those things which are necessary for living Christianly, such as, e.g., the obligations of his own state.

III. Nevertheless, per se and strictly, he is not held to instruct them concerning all things which they ought to know and can learn from elsewhere. The reason is that the duty of doctor in a confessor pertains of itself only to the right administration of the Sacrament of Penance. Yet per accidens there could be an obligation from charity, when with the greatest difficulty the penitent could acquire this knowledge for himself either by himself or through another.

IV. In teaching or warning a penitent concerning the gravity of sin, the confessor should employ these four cautions:

1° That he not set down as mortal that concerning which it is disputed among Doctors with probability on each side whether it is such.

2° Before he makes a conscience for his penitent concerning a mortal sin, let him be sufficiently certain that he has rightly understood the sense of the penitent's words; for not rarely penitents use such expressions which at first sight seem to indicate mortal sins, while in truth there is no question of a mortal sin in any way. Thus, e.g., when the penitent says: I have hatred against my neighbor, sometimes there is question only of displeasure and inevitable antipathy on account of some injury received. The same sometimes happens in girls, who say: I had bad thoughts; I made bad conversations with other girls; I committed immodesties, etc.; - or in boys, who say: I did shameful things.

3° Let him advert whether the sin truly committed by the penitent is also truly mortal. Thus the confessor would act imprudently if, hearing a penitent accusing himself of some sin against the Sixth Precept, immediately and in every case he accused him of mortal sin. For although the principle is most true that in venereal matter there is not smallness of matter, nevertheless it must be understood in the sense in which we spoke n. 484. 485. Wherefore, speaking with St. Alphonsus concerning sins of non-consummated luxury, we taught (n. 486-492 and 503. 3°) that certain things, although, for the most part, especially among persons of different sex, they are not done without mortal sin, nevertheless can sometimes be done without mortal sin, because they are done from curiosity, levity, etc., and with the proximate danger of consent, grave scandal, lustful intention (under which in practice also comes the intention of merely sensible delight), and grave influence on pollution set aside.

4° Let him advert whether perhaps the penitent is in good faith, insofar, namely, as that which he does is indeed in itself a mortal sin; but he thinks that he either does nothing evil or sins only venially. On this matter let there be the following:

1423. Questions. - Query 1° Must a penitent laboring under ignorance concerning some obligation always be warned?

Resp. 1° Affirm., if the ignorance seems vincible, i.e. if the confessor adverts that the penitent doubts in such a way that good faith is now lacking. The reason is that in the admonition being made no danger is imminent; but otherwise the penitent, acting with that doubt, is not free from sin.

Resp. 2° If the ignorance of some obligation is invincible, the penitent is to be warned if fruit from the admonition is hoped for; but otherwise, generally speaking, if it is not hoped for. The reason is that on the one hand this admonition would not profit, and on the other hand it would harm him; since, having been warned, he would sin formally in the future. Therefore if no fear of harm is present, it is to be made.

Therefore the penitent is to be warned, 1° whenever he himself asks concerning the malice of some thing; because, since he doubts concerning the licitness of the thing, he is no longer in invincible ignorance, and because the silence of the confessor would often be an approval of error, which is never licit. Yet prudently the confessor will not extend the response beyond that concerning which the penitent asked; 2° whenever the silence of the confessor would harden him in the purpose of performing an evil thing; 3° whenever his ignorance turns upon the primary principles of natural law, or upon their proximate conclusions; because such ignorance, although possible as regards proximate conclusions (n. 167. q. 1°. Resp. 2°), cannot be invincible for long; 4° whenever, the warning omitted, the penitent would remain in a proximate occasion of sinning formally; 5° if the ignorance would yield to the common harm, as in a Pastor, Bishop, confessor, etc., since the public good must prevail over the private good. Besides, there is hope that the penitent, if he is absolved by no one, will finally amend himself; next, public scandal must be met, arising thence e.g., namely that penitents would say that such a thing cannot be impious or iniquitous, because confessors are little solicitous concerning it, and say nothing; rarely, finally, will such ignorance be inculpable; 6° if the penitent is going to obey a brief warning, although in the beginning he does not acquiesce; 7° if the ignorance turns upon those things which must be known by necessity of means, as is clear from what was said n. 257-259 and 1422. I.

Query 2° Must an admonition be made in doubt whether it will profit or harm?

Resp. 1° Affirm., if it is more probably going to profit; otherwise, if it is more probably going to harm.

Resp. 2° In a doubt equal on each side, generally speaking, formal evils are rather to be avoided than material ones.

Query 3° Must a spouse be warned concerning the invalidity of Matrimony on account of an occult impediment which the confessor detects?

Resp. Neg., generally speaking, until the confessor has obtained a dispensation, unless this can be obtained immediately and easily from the Pope or Bishop. The reason is that most often the greatest inconveniences would follow thence, e.g. danger of infamy, scandal, quarrels, or incontinence, etc., and therefore material fornication would become formal. - Thus commonly with St. Alph.

But can the confessor oblige a spouse, ignorant of the impediment and denying the debt, to render it? Resp. affirmative. The reason is that, with the persuasion of the spouse standing that the Matrimony is valid, he is held to render the debt, so that he may follow the dictate of conscience. More safely he will say to the penitent in general, that he cannot be absolved who refuses to satisfy his obligation, and that it is now known that a spouse is held to render the debt.

Query 4° Must a penitent, about to contract Matrimony, be warned concerning an unknown impediment?

Resp. Generally speaking, the warning is to be made. - Thus commonly with St. Alph. - The reason is that after Matrimony ignorance can cease by no means with difficulty, e.g. from the fact that it is detected that consanguinity, affinity, etc., is present between the spouses; and then, besides the easy danger of sinning formally, other most grave inconveniences can follow, namely scandals, quarrels, and perhaps even separation of the spouses, etc. - Yet St. Alphonsus excepts the case in which no fruit at all is hoped for from the warning, nor can the impediment easily be detected; because it is better to permit a material sin until a dispensation is obtained than to furnish the occasion of a certain formal sin.

Note. - Let the Confessor take care that he be neither too easy nor too difficult in supposing the good faith of the penitent. Let him take counsel from probable conjectures, drawn e.g. from the natural character of the penitent, from his instruction, from the nature itself of the sin, and especially from the words and expressions of the penitent himself.

There must be treated 1° of the case to be instructed; 2° of the sentence to be rendered.

1424. - Principle I. The practice of making no questions is not a little to be disapproved, especially for these reasons:

1° It is because that practice redounds to the harm of souls; for: a) it can produce not a few sacrileges, insofar as many are those who, unless they are questioned, do not reveal graver sins. "Frequently," says St. Thomas, "those things which the penitent would be silent about from confusion, when questioned he reveals"; - b) it leaves many without opportune remedies; for the confessor not questioning concerning habit, concerning occasions, concerning causes of sins, concerning diligence employed or not employed for amendment, etc. (which things penitents for the most part pass over in silence), will not be able to assign suitable remedies for preventing relapses; - c) it harms others also than penitents, insofar as penitents, for the most part, do not accuse themselves of scandal, or of most grave omissions in the duties of their own state, e.g. in the education and custody of children; and thus, unless they are questioned and suitably warned, they do not cease from the same scandals and omissions.

2° It is because it redounds to the prejudice of the Sacrament; for: a) very often it prejudices its integrity, as if the confessor does not question a penitent accusing himself in this way: Father, I have done shameful things, the species and number not having been explained; - b) it often prejudices validity also; for if the confessor does not question penitents, e.g. whether they have employed any care for not relapsing, whether they have fulfilled the remedies assigned, etc., he will never be able prudently to judge whether they are disposed, or whether they need a more fervent exhortation in order that they may be disposed, and thus he will often give absolutions that are altogether invalid.

3° It is because it is opposed to the concordant opinion of Theologians.

4° It is because it is opposed to the authentic rules of the Church, as is clear from the Canon Omnis and from the Roman Ritual.

Principle II. Since the confessor must procure three things, i.e. the validity of the Sacrament, the integrity of Confession, and the cure of the penitent: therefore, whenever he reasonably presumes or prudently doubts that something of those things which are required for these has not been sufficiently declared, he is held to inquire concerning it. - Hence:

1° For procuring the validity of the Sacrament, it can be necessary to investigate by questioning - whether sufficient matter is present, e.g. if there is question of imperfections, or of light faults which are often committed without advertence; - whether the penitent holds back anything from shame, as especially happens in boys and girls; - whether sufficient disposition is present, for knowing which it will often be necessary to question the penitent, e.g. whether and how after Confession he has abstained from faults; whether and how he has fulfilled the prescribed means.

2° For the integrity of Confession, it can be necessary to question the penitent - concerning the number of sins, - concerning their species; - concerning circumstances changing either the objective or the theological species (n. 27); - concerning some sins which he is accustomed from thoughtlessness altogether to pass over in silence, e.g. sins of thought, and sins of omission concerning obligations of one's own state.

3° For the cure of the penitent, questions can be necessary through which it becomes known, e.g., what are the causes of his sins, whether namely they proceed from some occasion; from some habit; from a defect of custody of the senses; from impure thoughts, etc.

4° The penitent must not be questioned concerning sins of which it is not likely that he committed them; for then a reasonable presumption and prudent doubt are lacking that those things which must be declared are not sufficiently declared. - But on account of the contrary presumption "he should be questioned concerning the sins which are accustomed to abound in men of such a condition."

5° If the penitent seems sufficiently instructed, as devout persons, Religious, Ecclesiastics, and is sufficiently accurate in explaining his sins, he is to be questioned concerning nothing, unless perhaps there is fear lest he hold back something from shame, or unless it is necessary to add some question for assigning opportune remedies to him. The reason for each part of the resolution is the same as that which was just alleged under 4°.

Principle III. Questioning, where it must be made, should be moderate, prudent, opportune.

1° Moderate. Hence the confessor:

a) Should never ask useless things, nor suffer them to be narrated to him.

b) Should be mindful that he is not held to question the penitent except with ordinary diligence.

c) Should remember besides that a less distinct knowledge is required "from him who either on account of incapacity, or on account of sickness, or on account of the multitude of sins, or for another cause, could render an exact knowledge with more difficulty.... And this is the reason why from a prostitute and a concubinary and the like we ask less exactly and distinctly the number of sins than if for one month or for one week only e.g. they had been in that sin." Besides "it must be adverted," says St. Alphonsus, "concerning the number of sins of which some are held by a depraved habit, since a certain number cannot be had, let the confessor take care to know the state of the penitent, namely the manner of living, the application which he spends on other affairs, the time of habit with the accomplice, the place where he especially stayed; and then let him question concerning the number, questioning the penitent how often approximately he sinned in a day, or in a week, or month, proposing to him several numbers, e.g. three or four times, eight or ten times, so that he may see to which number he rather adheres. And if the penitent adheres to the greater number, the best thing to do will be if he is again questioned concerning a greater number. But in this the confessor should advert not to form a certain judgment concerning the number; let him note the frequency in general, and make a judgment in a confused way, apprehending the sins as many as they are before God. Some Doctors say that concerning the internal sins of the habituated, such as sins of hatred, of depraved delights and desires, it suffices for the most part to question concerning the time through which the evil habit endured; but this altogether does not satisfy me, because it can be that someone is more intent on external business, or stays where fewer occasions of depraved thoughts occur to him; another will be more allured by another passion of soul; and therefore general questions must be employed concerning one's own application, concerning place, concerning inclination of soul, etc., so that he may form a judgment of greater or lesser frequency of internal acts."

d) Those confessors err who, from boys, half-witted persons, the hard of hearing, stammerers, men of confused mind (who now affirm, now deny to the same question), would wish to know how the matter precisely stands. Moreover in this manner, the more they question, the less they understand, and the more they confound both the penitents and themselves. Hence St. Alphonsus wrote: "After two or three questions, the confessor should not be anxious if the judgment which he makes seems to him to be too confused; for from involved and confused consciences it is morally impossible to hope for greater clarity."

2° Prudent. Concerning this quality of questions it will soon be treated more broadly, where there is question of questions concerning shameful things.

3° Opportune. The question, namely, must be made at the time and in the manner in which it is suitable. Hence:

a) Certain questions must be made before Confession, but few, lest the penitent be offended: e.g. from what time has he not confessed? was he absolved? has he fulfilled the penance? is he not anxious about his past life? Yet this last question must be made only when the penitent has not confessed for a long time, or when a general Confession is being instituted from a determinate time. - But questions concerning the condition of life, state, age, etc., if these are not made manifest from the Confession itself, will be made more suitably when an occasion is given in the course of the Confession: for thus on the one hand every suspicion of curiosity and levity will be avoided; but on the other hand the penitent will more easily respond, since his confidence in the confessor will have grown more.

b) "It is better" if "the confessor examines the sins one by one as soon as the penitent sets them forth, than that he defer the examination until the end; because either the confessor easily forgets those things which he heard, or the penitent would have to be obliged with his own grave burden to repeat the things confessed." Yet this warning of St. Alphonsus, according to the mind of the holy Doctor himself, does not hold where there is question of easier or shorter Confessions, nor in the case in which the penitent accurately declares his sins. For apart from necessity the accusation of the penitent is not to be interrupted by any questions, or even warnings, lest namely fear or confusion be injected into him thence.

c) Those confessors would be vehemently disapproved who would scarcely concede to penitents time for responding to questions, and would urge them with an impatient voice, repeating: What further? Do you know other things? etc. For they would disturb and confound the penitent.

1425. - Principle IV. Questions concerning carnal sins must be: 1) necessary; 2) prudent; 3) modest; 4) such as do not bring grave harm to the confessor himself. I explain each.

1) Necessary, i.e. they must be made from a just cause; for without a just cause it is illicit to expose - oneself to temptations, - the penitent to the same temptations, and besides to the suspicion that the confessor delights in such conversations, or even that he is practically versed in things of this kind, - the Sacrament, Religion, and the priestly body to reproach, insofar as to the penitent an occasion is easily given afterward of laughing and joking concerning inept questions made to him.

But questions are necessary, or are made from a just cause, if they are required either for aiding the shame of the penitent, or for knowing what remedies are to be assigned to him, or for procuring the integrity, even material, of Confession.

1° For aiding the shame of the penitent. This can more easily be present in boys and adolescents. Therefore St. Alphonsus wisely warns: "Many times, even if boys deny" that they have committed shameful things, "it is profitable to use suggestive questions with them, e.g. and now tell me, how often have you done these things? Five times? ten times?" - Yet those confessors exceed who in every Confession make and repeat questions for aiding the shame of the penitent, even with those concerning whom it is not likely that they commit shameful things and hold them back. Indeed, although this suspicion is present, one must beware of questions too often repeated and multiplied. - But much more and in a very worse manner do those confessors exceed who, under the pretext of aiding the shame of penitents, make many particular and minute questions, even when one or another, expressed in generic words, would suffice.

2° For knowing what remedies are to be applied. For this it ordinarily suffices to inquire whether sins arise from some occasion, or from an evil habit, or from freedom of the senses, or from depraved thoughts. - I have said: ordinarily suffices; because if the penitent could employ fasts and other macerations (which indeed is a rarer case), it would be useful also to know whether his sins arise chiefly from carnal motions, and whether these arise from a more robust constitution of body. But it is not necessary to question directly concerning these motions; for if the penitent is asked whether he always rushes into sins on account of evil thoughts, from his response the confessor will be able to infer whether the cause of his sins is to be placed in thoughts of the mind rather than in motions of the body.

3° For procuring the integrity, even material, of Confession. For this not only do questions suffice which are necessary for knowing the species, and, insofar as it can be morally known, the number of mortal sins, but questions concerning other things besides species and number are altogether to be disapproved. Hence confessors exceed when they question: whether a) concerning circumstances only aggravating; - or b) concerning imperfect acts preliminary to copula or done immediately after copula, when the penitent already accuses himself of copula (n. 218. 4°; 222); - or c) concerning the manner in which the sin was committed, if that manner does not change the species; - or d) concerning the number of imperfect acts which were done in the same impulse of passion (n. 220. Note).

I said: the species and... number of mortal sins; for it is not necessary to question concerning simple temptations, concerning carnal motions, concerning involuntary pollutions, concerning light disorders in the use of Matrimony, unless from another head a good reason urges for questioning concerning some of these. Hence, if someone moved by a vain scruple comes to Confession saying that he committed shameful things in childhood without cognition of malice, and now wishes to accuse them because he never confessed them, the confessor will teach him that no obligation is present of accusing such things; yet if the penitent desires to disclose them for greater tranquillity, this can be permitted to him; but it will not be necessary to add questions.

Note. - In questioning penitents concerning the species of sins, the distinctions of Theologians are to be followed as a norm, provided the penitents are not such that concerning them (either on account of childish age, or on account of extraordinary ignorance or stupidity) it cannot be presumed that they have formally contracted those special malices. Cf. n. 199. Resolves 2°.

2) Prudent. For Theologians cry out with one voice that it should rather be permitted that material integrity be lacking to Confession than that scandal be furnished to penitents through imprudent questions. - But an imprudent question is one which contains the danger lest it produce evil rather than good; and especially lest penitents learn the malice which perhaps they are ignorant of, and thus on account of that very question begin to sin. Cf. Lit. Rom.

3) Modest. But questions will not be modest if the confessor uses words too free, shameless, and least fitting to priestly modesty.

But what expressions will the confessor be able to use in particular cases, so that with due prudence and modesty he may question penitents?

Behold some particular examples of questions for some cases often occurring in practice.

A girl says: I made indecent jokes with my sister in bed; - the Confessor should ask: were these touches very shameful?

A married woman says: I had copula in a preposterous manner. - The Confessor will ask: in this manner can you conceive offspring?

A husband says: I touch my wife with my hands; - the Confessor will ask: do you linger in these touches, without coming to the conjugal act? On account of these touches did an evil effect happen?

An adolescent says: I did shameful things with my brother in bed; - that the confessor may understand whether sodomy was present, he will ask: therefore did you touch your brother with your hands? To the one responding affirmatively he will add: did you do something worse with him?

A man says: I sinned with a woman, or I slept with a woman, or I did what I wished with a woman; - these things are to be understood of perfect copula, and therefore no question is to be made, except for knowing whether that woman was married, consanguineous, etc.

A married man says: I did shameful things with a girl; - the Confessor will question him, saying: did you make the matrimonial act with her?

A girl says: I did shameful things with a lover; - the Confessor will add: did you do these things with the hands, or also in a worse manner? - Thus he will understand whether there was, or was not, union of bodies, in which there is present the malice of fornication. Yet if the confessor sees the necessity of knowing whether this fornication was effectively completed, he will also be able to say: by that which you did, could you become pregnant? To the one responding affirmatively he can further question, saying whether she actually remained pregnant, that he may forearm her against temptations to abortion, and that he may strive to impede scandal in the best possible way.

A man says: I have a vice of touching women; - the Confessor will be able to add: are these touches very shameful?

A married woman says: I did not well perform the matrimonial act; - the Confessor will be able to say: in the manner in which you bear yourself with your husband, can you conceive offspring? If she affirms, then he will teach her that in that manner there is a light fault, or even none, if the husband wishes to do this; but if she denies, then the confessor will add: explain therefore what you did.

A girl or boy says: I touched myself. - Should it then be inquired whether pollution was present? Certainly not at all. "Let him take care," says St. Alphonsus, "not to inquire of girls or boys whether emission of semen was present," lest namely "they apprehend what they had not yet known, or be placed in curiosity of learning." The same caution is to be had generally with respect to unmarried women, even adult ones; whence P. a Bergamo wrote: "Nevertheless nothing is to be hinted concerning pollution; since this is not equally sensible to all women; indeed to many it is altogether unknown;... whence one must abstain from these words: pollution, corruption, and the like.... Worthy of being known is that the vice of pollution is not so common generally among women as among males, and very many women are in no way infected with this lust. Therefore one must speak more cautiously with women, lest they draw malice from our expressions."

Here finally it can be asked what questions are to be made to girls or young persons who accuse nothing at all concerning faults against the Sixth Precept, if the confessor fears lest they hold something back from shame? He can say: have you heard evil conversations? have you had evil thoughts? Have you done some indecent thing? Have you made evil jokes? These questions can induce no danger, because, if the penitent does not know the malice, he will not learn it; nor will he be placed in curiosity of learning what these words of the confessor signify, because he will understand that there is question of indecent things and jokes in another kind. Meanwhile, if they respond negatively, sometimes the confessor will be able to use a suggestive question, saying, as was noted above from St. Alphonsus: And now say, how often have you done these things? If they affirm that they have committed indecent things, or have made evil jokes, then the confessor will be able to say, e.g.: explain what these indecent things and these evil jokes are which you did? Did you do them secretly? Were you alone? Where were you? Would you have done thus, if your mother had been there? If your mother had seen you, would you have been suffused with shame? And on account of shame you have never accused these sins; is it not so? Ordinarily from the responses the confessor will know either certainly or almost certainly whether that boy truly did shameful things, and thence, according to the rules given above, he will be able to come to other questions, if they seem necessary. - Some confessors instead of saying: have you done some indecent thing? say: have you committed some dishonesty? or: have you committed something against the virtue of holy purity? I judge that these questions made thus abruptly are not sufficiently prudent; because, if the girl does not know the malice, she will not be able to attach any sense to these questions, and therefore she will easily be in curiosity of learning what those words mean; whence also she will easily seek an explanation from other girls, and thus she will badly learn what she was well ignorant of. - Other confessors behave much worse, and to nearly all boys, girls, and adolescents they say abruptly: have you touched yourself? But they do this because from experience they know that other questions, made in general and under a certain veil, are not effective, as this one is, for extorting the confession of sin. I indeed confess that this open question is more effective, so that, if other questions extort confession from seven or eight boys, this one will extort confession from nine or ten; but I judge altogether that it is not ordinarily to be employed; for if it were ordinarily employed, it would teach malice to very many; but is it fitting, in order to aid some, to inflict harm of this kind on very many others? - At most, therefore, such a question will be able to be made in some rare case, when namely the confessor is certain of the sin committed by the penitent, the confession of which he could not obtain unless by employing the aforesaid question.

4) That they bring no grave harm to the confessor himself. For if the confessor on account of some special questions would be cast into grave danger of sinning mortally, certainly he neither ought, nor would be able, to make them. That he ought not is clear; because, just as a penitent is not held to the material integrity of Confession with his own grave spiritual harm, much less will the confessor be held to procure the same integrity with grave harm to his own soul. Besides, all know that charity begins from oneself. But that then he cannot make those questions is clear from the general obligation itself of avoiding grave dangers of sinning mortally, when it is possible to avoid them. Besides, if there were question only of some temptation or of some carnal motion, through these things the confessor would not be obliged to abstain from necessary, prudent, and modest questions; but rather he should fortify himself with prayer, and, before he begins to hear Confessions, renew his right intention. Thus almost concerning questions Berardi.

1426. Questions. - Query 1° What must the confessor do in doubt concerning the sincerity of the penitent?

Resp. There is a common rule, and as it were a received axiom: The penitent is to be believed, both when speaking for himself and against himself. The reason is that the penitent in the Sacred Tribunal is at once defendant and witness, his own accuser and advocate, and otherwise in doubt is always to be presumed truthful. Wherefore, after opportune questions, the confessor must absolve the penitent denying.

Query 2° What must the confessor do if he knows certainly that some sin is being sacrilegiously held back or denied by the penitent?

Resp. 1° If he knows it from the Confession of another, and has not obtained from this one license to speak with the accomplice concerning the sin declared (which license is not ordinarily to be sought), he must, lest the seal of Confession be violated, only question generally, as he otherwise would have done or ought to have done; but if the penitent questioned has denied it, let him answer nothing, but, where this can be done without suspicion, let him merely exhort generally that the conscience be opened with all confidence. But whether the confessor must absolve such a penitent is controverted. - St. Alphonsus, after reporting the opinions of others, concludes thus: "Better, in my judgment, Croix thinks,... that in that case he should in no way absolve, but only pray something to conceal the denial of absolution." And rightly indeed. For whenever, as in the case, injury to the seal can be avoided, the Sacrament cannot be ministered to one unworthy who asks it occultly.

Resp. 2° If he knows it outside Confession, of itself he must absolve the penitent denying, because the penitent speaking for himself and against himself is to be believed; nor of itself can the report of another make greater faith than the declaration of the penitent himself; nor therefore is the confessor held to believe others more than the penitent himself. For if the penitent committed that sin, the confessor must presume that he either has forgotten his sin, or has confessed it to another, or has a just cause for holding it back, or that the reporters rather were deceived.

I said: of itself; for, if the confessor is altogether certain concerning the sin committed by the penitent, because e.g. he himself saw him stealing, heard him blaspheming, etc., or knows it from the certain report of others, he cannot absolve the one denying, provided he is certain that he had not forgotten his sin, nor has any motive for holding it back; for this rule: The penitent is to be believed, etc., holds indeed in a less certain matter, but not in an evidently certain matter.

In practice let confessors take care not easily to give faith especially to women, although pious, by whom they are informed concerning the sins and the manner of life of those who are going to approach them; for very often some things are exaggerated, and not rarely reports of this kind bend the judgment of the confessor concerning the disposition of those approaching him to the worse side than is fitting.

1427. Principles. - I. Absolution must be granted from justice and under grave obligation to every penitent rightly confessed and disposed. The reason is that in the very act of Confession there is entered into a certain quasi-contract, by force of which the penitent rightly confessed and disposed has the right to receive the Sacrament. But otherwise an intolerable burden would be imposed on the penitent without just cause, namely that he institute Confession before another, without besides being able certainly to trust that he is going to receive absolution from that new confessor. Moreover this is also required by the end of the institution of the Sacrament and of the tribunal of Penance, which was instituted by Christ for the sake of imparting mercy. Therefore the priest, denying absolution to a penitent disposed, would act unjustly, would abuse the power of the keys, and would render the Sacrament odious.

II. Nevertheless absolution can be delayed for a brief time, even for a penitent sufficiently disposed, and even without his consent, when namely the confessor judges that this is useful for his amendment. The reason is that the delay of absolution is not the denial of the same; and, although a disposed penitent has a right to absolution, nevertheless he does not have a right, at least speaking of itself, to obtaining it immediately. For the confessor is not only judge, but also physician; and therefore, if he judges such a remedy to be going to profit the amendment of the penitent, he will be able to use it prudently; indeed he will be held to use it, when he judges that a remedy of this kind is necessarily useful for the salvation of the penitent. - Thus expressly St. Alphonsus, from whom that Theologians, even older ones before the Sixteenth Century, do not dissent, the Vindiciae clearly prove.

I said: at least speaking of itself; because if the delay of absolution 1° is judged more likely to harm than to profit, or 2° cannot be done without a sufficiently notable inconvenience of the penitent, it must be granted immediately: for the penitent is then considered to have a strict right to obtaining it immediately.

III. Absolution is altogether to be denied in every case, even of extreme necessity, to penitents certainly indisposed. But to penitents doubtfully disposed, absolution is to be delayed, or, according to the rules handed down n. 1344. q. 8°. pag. 93. col. 2., can be imparted under condition, or even sometimes must be.

IV. In order that the delay of absolution may be the more profitable, the penitent is gently to be drawn to consent to it.

1428. Questions. - Query 1° Is it often expedient to delay absolution for a sufficiently disposed penitent, without his consent?

Resp. Outside the two cases alleged n. 1427. II., "it is better to say," says St. Alphonsus, "that a certain rule cannot be established in this; but the confessor must direct himself from the occurring circumstances, and, after he has commended himself to God, as he shall have been inspired by God, let him delay or impart absolution." Then he distinguishes a twofold kind of recidivists, and for each brings forward its proper resolution, as will be explained n. 1480.

Query 2° Is certitude concerning the disposition of the penitent required, so that he can be absolved?

Resp. 1° Absolute certitude is not required, nor even strict moral certitude, such as is required in other Sacraments, e.g. concerning wine for the consecration of the Eucharist. The reason is that the Sacrament of Penance scarcely admits a more certain judgment of this kind.

Resp. 2° Prudent probability is required and suffices, to which no prudent suspicion of indisposition is opposed. For evidence is not possible.

Query 3° What are the ordinary signs of sufficient disposition?

Resp. A rightly made Confession with a protestation of penance and purpose.

Query 4° Is the confessor held to excite sorrow in the penitent?

Resp. 1° Affirm., if the penitent does not seem sufficiently disposed; the reason is that one absolving an indisposed person exposes the Sacrament to the danger of frustration; "but if he dismisses him without absolution, he exposes him to the danger of remaining long in the state of mortal sin, or even of not returning any more." - Nor is he excused from this because he must spend much time on it, or because others are waiting, provided nevertheless that there is hope that he is to be disposed here and now.

Resp. 2° Neg., if the penitent seems sufficiently instructed and disposed, as are mature penitents, and those who confess frequently. For then the confessor is held to nothing, neither by reason of charity, since the penitent does not need special help, nor by reason of reverence of the Sacrament, which is exposed to no danger.

Query 5° Can, indeed must, a penitent be absolved who wishes to follow an opinion opposed to the sentence of the confessor?

Resp. Affirm., provided 1° the opinion of the penitent is somewhat probable, at least extrinsically; for the confessor is not a judge of opinions; 2° the penitent is not so unlearned that he is unable to form for himself a right conscience from probability, at least extrinsic, e.g. from the response of another learned and prudent man, with whom, against the opinion of the confessor, he wishes to stand: for he would act against conscience; 3° there is not question of a judgment which directly regards the administration of the Sacrament, e.g. the disposition of the penitent or the jurisdiction of the confessor, because then there is question not only of permitting the penitent his own opinion, but of following it in one's own operation: I add, from the mind of St. Alphonsus, 4° the opinion of the penitent must be not only speculatively but also practically probable, or not joined with a certainly probable danger of formal sin, as was said n. 87. Reg. 1. 2°: for then there is question of judgment concerning the disposition of the penitent.