Section I: Canonical Norms

Utility. - For the sake of greater order, we have separated the canonical norms from the moral ones. But since the matter concerns the internal forum, which exists for the spiritual good of the faithful, a confessor who did not know the canonical sanctions very accurately would be ignorant of many means of helping the penitent, and would become not only less useful to him, but easily even positively harmful. First of all he ought to know how far his power extends, and what, when power is lacking, is nevertheless available to him for the good of the penitent.