§ 3. WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS OF ABSOLUTION

Several conditions are required by Law, whether on the part of the absolving person, or on the part of the person to be absolved, or finally on the part of the form (H. Ap., XIX, 14).

1286. I. On the part of the ABSOLVING PERSON, besides power, free will is required, and indeed under penalty of nullity; that is, both grave fear unjustly instilled, and deception and error, must be absent. Whence, if the principal cause is false, for example if the guilty person falsely says that he has satisfied the injured party, the absolution is null, unless the Superior himself absolves and is conscious of the falsity (VII, 132).

What, you ask, if the error concerns the POWER of the absolving person? - Resp. 1. If the error is private, for example of the confessor and penitent only, absolution of the censure, although given and accepted in good faith, is invalid. 2. If the error is common, and the absolving person is commonly held as endowed with faculty, the absolution of censure accepted in good faith is valid. The reason is that, in this second case, because of the common good, but not in the first, the Church supplies jurisdiction. See the treatise on Penance, n. 1754.

1287. II. On the part of the PERSON TO BE ABSOLVED it is required first of all that he himself seek absolution;2 then that he fulfill all the conditions, whether general or special, which are usually placed in Rescripts.

But the general conditions which are usually expressed under this formula: "THOSE THINGS HAVING BEEN ENJOINED WHICH MUST BE ENJOINED BY LAW," are the following: 1. That the guilty person first satisfy the injured party, for example the Church whose goods he usurped; or if he cannot then satisfy, that he provide sufficient caution, or, if he cannot even furnish this, that at least he swear that he will satisfy as soon as possible (I, 204; VII, 128). As regards excusing causes, see n. 1016-1031. 2. That scandal, if it has been given publicly, be repaired in the better way he can, according to the prudent judgment of the Ordinary or confessor. Thus the Sacred Penitentiary, 10 Dec. 1860. The reason is that repair of scandal is necessary by divine Law. The same must be said concerning removal of the occasion of sin, if it is required (A. S. S., I, p. 565, n. 27). 3. That the one to be absolved from a censure reserved in a special way emit the promise, and in the external forum the oath, of standing by the commands of the Church, as was said n. 1282. 4. That he furnish an oath concerning not perpetrating the crime again, if the crime is very enormous, as would be, for example, the notorious striking of a Bishop or Cardinal, grave striking of a cleric, scandalous violation of a church, etc. (VII, 129). 5. That a salutary penance be imposed and accepted, besides sacramental satisfaction.

1288. IT IS ASKED. Is absolution of a censure given by a DELEGATE invalid when the clauses placed in Law or in the Rescript have been neglected?

Resp. It is controverted. The more probable and more common opinion teaches that clauses which are expressed by an ablative absolute, for example, the party having been satisfied, import a true condition sine qua non; whence, if these have been neglected, absolution would certainly be gravely illicit, and more probably invalid. - But the opposite opinion is also probable, which says that these clauses are placed only for admonishing, and therefore that absolution is not invalid unless this is expressed in the Rescript. Therefore a delegate for absolving should take care before the fact to observe accurately whatever things are prescribed by law; but after the fact, if he notices that something has been omitted in good faith, the absolution is not on that account to be held invalid: for we are dealing with a doubt of law, while which stands the Church supplies (VII, 121, 127; Porpora, tr. 22, n. 78).

1289. • III. On the part of the FORM, certain words are not required for valid absolution; but it is required and suffices that the will of the Superior be manifested by some sensible sign (VII, 116). - For absolving rightly in the exterior forum, the form described in the Roman Ritual should be used, either for the living or for the dead. But in the interior forum, the confessor having faculty of absolving an excommunicated person should absolve according to the common form prescribed in sacramental absolution. Thus the Ritual.

Note. He who possesses the faculty of absolving from reserved cases should use it prudently and discreetly. 1. He should warn the penitent that the case is reserved to the Bishop or Roman Pontiff, so that in this way the guilty person may perceive the gravity of the delict. He who acts otherwise, how will he instill horror of crimes of this more atrocious kind, such as the faithful, according to the Council of Trent, ought to conceive? (Pedicini, La Cost. Ap. S., c. 10, p. 56). 2. Prudence is especially necessary when it is a question of an enormous and easily notorious crime, or when the case is easily to be brought to the contentious forum (cf. n. 1276). - Other things as regards delegated JURISDICTION, see in the treatise on Penance (n. 1776).

1 That the nature of these impediments may be better understood, it must be noted that in relation to episcopal cases no obligation of writing is given, unless perhaps the Bishop imposes this (VII, 89); indeed the penitent is not bound personally to go to a privileged person (VII, ib.). Cf. Lehmkuhl, II, 536; Genicot, II, 347.

2 Absolutely speaking, even he who is unwilling or unworthy can be absolved from censure, at least by him who enjoys ordinary power. For such absolution is not necessarily done in the sacramental forum, nor is it sacramental (cf. n. 1277). Indeed it seems that St. Alphonsus (VI, 618) approves Suarez, who says that an absent and ignorant person can be absolved from censure through words of absolution, with no one perceiving them (cf. Lehmkuhl, II, 1121). Absolution from censures, given by means of telephone, can be said to be valid.