A Topic of Moral Theology
The Obligation of Knowing the Cause
The Obligation of Knowing the Cause, as treated in Noldin (Article Three. Concerning the Obligation of Questioning Penitents.).
In the index as Obligations of the confessor
In the manuals
Summa of Moral Theology (Summa Theologiae Moralis)
Vol. III, Book Fifth. On Penance., Ch. III, Question Three. Concerning…, Article Three. Concerning …, Section 1. Concerning the Obligation of Knowing the Cause., n. 388 — 388. Concerning Knowledge of the Cause. 1. Before absolution the confessor ought to know the cause, or render judgment concerning the sins of the penitent and their moral malice, namely whether they are mortal, and wheth… Read in context →
Treated under the broader heading Obligations of the Minister in Reference to the Recipient — McHugh–Callan, Moral Theology — this work does not divide the matter as finely as we do here, so its treatment stands one heading up (ed.)