Article I. On Confession Itself.

266. Necessity of confession. Confession of all mortal sins which have been committed after baptism is necessary for salvation by divine law. For, to obtain remission of mortal sins, by the will of Christ recourse to the power of the keys of the Church is necessary: Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose you shall retain, they are retained;¹ but through the power of the keys of the Church sins cannot be remitted without confession; therefore by the will of Christ confession of all mortal sins is necessary.²

To the major. The power of remitting and retaining sins granted to the apostles must be understood in such a way that remission of mortal sins cannot be obtained independently of this power: for the apostles could retain sins; but the power of retaining sins (the power of refusing absolution so that sins must again be submitted to the keys) would be none if their remission could be obtained independently of the power of the keys.

To the minor. The power of remitting and retaining sins is a judicial power, which is exercised by pronouncing sentence concerning sins; but judicial power cannot be exercised over sins without confession of all sins being made by the sinner himself. a. For a judicial sentence cannot be pronounced unless there is prior knowledge of the case about which it is being dealt with; since, therefore, the case about which it is being dealt with is the sins to be remitted, a judicial sentence cannot be pronounced without knowledge of the sins; but this knowledge cannot be had from any other source except from the confession of sinners. b. Moreover, the power granted to the apostles, since it is judicial, essentially contains the power of punishing sins; but this power cannot be exercised without confession of all sins: for a just punishment must be imposed not according to the judgment of an arbitrator, but according to the magnitude and multitude of the sins. c. Finally the Council of Trent, explaining the words of St. John (20, 23), has this: from the institution of the sacrament of penance the universal Church has always understood and understood explicitly that the complete confession of sins was instituted by the Lord also and is necessary by divine law for all who have fallen after baptism.³

¹ John 20, 23.

² Cf. dogmaticians, e.g., Pesch VII, n. 176 ff., n. 353 ff.

³ Sess. 14, c. 5. Cf. also ibid., c. 6.

267. What confession is sacramental. Sacramental confession is an accusation of sins made to a competent priest in order to obtain their absolution. Therefore three things must concur in order that confession can be called sacramental: a. it must be made to a competent priest, who either is truly such or at least is thought to be such; wherefore a confession which is knowingly made to one who is not a priest, or to a priest who lacks jurisdiction, is not sacramental. b. It must be made with the intention (at least implicit) of obtaining absolution; therefore a confession which is made to a priest indeed, but for the sole cause of counsel, is not sacramental; but he who knowingly confesses without disposition or deliberately conceals sins confesses sacramentally: for he wills absolution, although invalid. c. One true or supposed sin at least must seriously (not fictitiously) be manifested; therefore even a confession begun but not completed is sacramental.

268. Qualities of confession. Among the various qualities of sacramental confession which are usually enumerated,¹ four come under special consideration, namely that confession must be true, secret, vocal, and entire. And indeed concerning the integrity of confession the discussion will be below in the next article; but concerning the other qualities, which are necessary to know, indications are given in this place.

¹ Sixteen qualities of confession are assigned altogether by the teachers of the schools; compare St. Thomas, Suppl., q. 9, a. 4.

269. 1. Confession must be true or performed without falsehood. a. To lie in confession concerning a grave matter, and one necessarily to be opened in it, is a grave sin of sacrilegious falsehood against truth and against reverence for the sacrament, because a falsehood of this kind alters the sacramental judgment in a grave matter and therefore renders absolution invalid.

a. Therefore he who knowingly denies a mortal sin, or covers it so that it is not understood by the confessor, or deliberately speaks so that the confessor may take venial guilt in place of mortal, commits sacrilege, unless he has a just cause of being silent about the sin: for then, with mental restriction employed, he can deny it.

b. He who knowingly confesses a sin which he has not committed, or more sins than he has committed, sins gravely and renders the absolution null, because he alters the sacramental judgment in a grave matter.

c. If the confessor, in order rightly to administer the sacrament, justly interrogates about a grave matter already accused and remitted, as, for example, he judges about the custom of sinning, and the penitent lies, he sins gravely and renders the absolution invalid, because in a grave matter he fails in the obligation of manifesting the truth.

b. To lie in a light matter, or in a grave matter but one not necessary for confession, e.g., concerning a grave sin already remitted, is of itself a venial sacrilege, because the sacramental judgment is not altered in a grave matter, and therefore the sacrament is not made invalid; and if the confessor interrogates about these things without just cause, they can be denied with restriction employed.

c. If someone lies in confession about a matter which does not pertain to confession, he commits a lie, either grave or light according as the matter itself bears, but by this he does not commit sacrilege, at least grave sacrilege, because he does not alter the sacramental judgment. Thus, for example, in confession he who tells a lie about his neighbor sins gravely, but by lying he does not commit grave sacrilege, although from another reason he may commit grave sacrilege, because namely from defect of disposition he renders the absolution null.

270. 2. Confession must be secret, not public with others hearing, but made to the priest alone, and this indeed not from the nature of the sacrament, but from the institution of Christ and from the use of the Church.¹ Therefore, although confession could of itself also be made publicly, nevertheless, for satisfying the precept of confession no one is ever bound to confess publicly, because Christ did not wish to prescribe public confession on account of its great inconveniences. Wherefore if confession which had to be instituted according to precept could only be made publicly, it would suffice to confess by nods or signs.

a. One ignorant of the confessor's language is not bound to confess through an interpreter: for no one is bound to public confession; but a confession which is made through an interpreter is public, although the interpreter is bound to preserve the secret. Therefore it suffices if penitents ignorant of the confessor's language confess through signs in the better way they can, as mutes do.²

The decree of St. Alphonsus (n. 479) holds that a dying man, who is doubtful about his contrition, ought to confess at least one venial through an interpreter. But this doctrine supposes something false, namely that absolution is never valid unless at least one sin is declared in species.

b. A mute is not bound to confess in writing, even if he can write: for writing goes beyond confession in measure, and, moreover, since it is by its nature perpetual, it of itself supplies an occasion of revelation; but no one is bound to confess with this danger, lest the sins accused be revealed; therefore he is not bound even to write.³

c. If those ignorant of the language and mutes confess only generically and seek absolution, they can be absolved only sometimes, three or four times in a year, because only in moral necessity are they excused from the integrity of confession.

¹ Council of Trent, sess. 14, can. 6; Fourth Lateran Council, c. 21, Omnes utriusque sexus, has: "Let him confess his own sins alone."

² Cn. 903. Those who nevertheless wish to confess through an interpreter are not to be prohibited; but interpreters must be warned about the obligation of preserving the secret. Indeed, missionaries should urge penitents whose language they do not know to confess all or at least some sins through an interpreter. But if they are unwilling to do this, they satisfy their obligation by confessing through signs in the better way they can. S. Officium, 28 Feb. 1633.

³ Cf. St. Alphonsus, n. 479.

271. 3. Confession must be vocal, i.e., sins must be indicated by words. From the very sacramental essence, confession could be made by any sign by which sins are sufficiently manifested; nor does any divine precept of confessing by voice exist; nevertheless by the custom of the Church, which has obtained the force of law, it must be done under grave obligation by voice by him who can speak, unless a grave cause excuses from this obligation. But it is not necessary that each and every sin be recounted by voice: for confession is sufficiently called vocal when the penitent concerning his sins, which are already known to the confessor without sacramental accusation, accuses himself by voice in general only with these or similar words: I accuse myself of the sins already known to thee.

a. Hence he who without just cause confesses by nods or signs or in writing, when he can confess by voice, indeed confesses validly, but without doubt sins gravely, because he rashly recedes from the perpetual use of the Church. But from a just and reasonable cause it is licit also to confess by nods or signs or in writing alone.

b. In these and similar circumstances confession made in writing can be admitted: a. if someone out of excessive shame cannot explain sins by voice; b. if a sick man from a guttural or labial disease, without great difficulty, could not confess by mouth; c. if the confessor is rather deaf but nevertheless not unintelligent, and the penitent cannot accuse sins without bystanders hearing him; d. if someone thinks that otherwise he cannot confess integrally, whether on account of scruples or on account of temptation to hide sins; e. if a mute wishes to confess in writing. In all these cases, if it can be suggested to him, the penitent before absolution should utter these or similar words: I accuse myself of the sins which I have written; yet this is not necessary, because in these circumstances he is excused from confession to be made by voice.

c. Mutes indeed are bound to confession: for the things which are required for the essence of the sacrament they can furnish, since by signs they can in some way manifest sins or at least that they are sinners; but they are not bound to employ the extraordinary means of writing, even if they can.