Pope emphasizes mercy in discourse on Sacrament of Reconciliation
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday spoke to participants of a “Course on the Internal
Forum,” which deals with the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the ministry of Confessors.
In his discourse, Pope Francis spoke about how the annual course helps “the
Church and Confessors to better carry out the ministry of mercy, which is so important.”
He
reminded priests that the Holy Spirit is the “protagonist” of the ministry of reconciliation,
calling on them to “always be ‘men of the Holy Spirit.’” As such, priests must welcome
penitents not with the attitude of a judge, but with “the charity of God, with the
love a father who sees the son returning, the shepherd who has found the lost sheep.”
For this reason, the Pope said, priests are called to be generous in making
themselves available for Confession. “We must never forget,” he said, “that the faithful
often have difficulty approaching the Sacrament of Confession.” And so, priests must
work hard to encourage people to draw near to the Sacrament “of mercy and forgiveness.”
Here,
the Holy Father said, priests must avoid both rigorism and laxity. “Confession is
not a court of condemnation, but an experience of mercy and forgiveness!”
Finally,
recognising the difficulties encountered in Confession, Pope Francis encouraged priests
to take particular care in the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In
particular, he said “it’s good that in every parish, the faithful know when they can
find priests” available to hear Confessions.
Listen to Christopher Wells’
report:
Below, please find the complete text of Pope Francis’
to participants in the course offered by the Apostolic Penitentiary:
Dear
Brothers,
I welcome you on the occasion of the annual Course on the Internal
Forum. I thank Cardinal Mauro Piacenza for the words with which he introduced our
meeting.
For a quarter of a century the Apostolic Penitentiary, aware of the
importance of this ministry, has offered, especially to new priests and deacons, the
opportunity of this course, in order to contribute to the formation of good confessors.
I thank you for this valuable service and I encourage you to take it forward with
renewed commitment, building on experience gained and with skilful creativity, to
always help the Church and confessors to better carry out the ministry of mercy, which
is so important!
In this regard, I wish to offer a few thoughts.
First
of all, the protagonist of the ministry of reconciliation is the Holy Spirit.
The forgiveness that the Sacrament confers is the new life sent by the Risen Lord
by means of His Spirit: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven
them, and whose sins you retain, are retained” (Jn 20:22-23). Therefore, you are called
to always be “men of the Holy Spirit,” witnesses and heralds, joyful and strong, of
the resurrection of the Lord. This testimony is read on the face, is heard in the
voice of the priest who administers with faith and with “unction” the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. He welcomes penitents not with the attitude of a judge, not even with
that of a simple man, but with the charity of God, with the love of a father who sees
the son returning and goes to meet him, [with the love] of the shepherd who has found
the lost sheep. The heart of the priest is a heart that knows how to be moved, not
by sentimentality or mere emotion, but to the “tender mercy” [viscere di misericordia]
of the Lord! If it is true that tradition points out the dual role of doctor and judge
for confessors, we must never forget that as a doctor he is called to heal and as
a judge, to absolve.
The second aspect: if Reconciliation transmits the new
life of the Risen Lord and renews baptismal grace, then your task is to give it
generously to others. To give this grace. A priest who does not attend to this
part of his ministry, both in the amount of time spent and in the spiritual quality,
is like a shepherd who does not take care of the sheep that were lost; he is like
a father who forgets the lost son and neglects waiting for him. But mercy is the heart
of the Gospel! Don’t forget this: mercy is the heart of the Gospel! It is the good
news that God loves us, that He always loves the sinner, and with this love draws
him to Himself and invites him to conversion. We must not forget that the faithful
often have difficulty approaching the sacrament, whether for practical reasons, or
because of the natural difficulty of confessing one’s sins to another person. For
this reason it is necessary to work hard on ourselves, on our humanity, never to be
an obstacle but always to favour drawing near to mercy and forgiveness. But many times
it happens that a person comes and says, “I haven’t confessed for many years, I have
this problem, I left Confession because I found a priest and he told me this,” and
you see the imprudence, the lack of pastoral love, in what that person says. And they
draw away, because of a bad experience in Confession. If there is this attitude of
a father, that comes from the goodness of God, this would never happen.
And
we must guard against two extremes: rigorism and laxism. Neither is good, because
in reality they don’t take charge of the person of the penitent. Instead, mercy truly
listens with the heart of God and wants to accompany the soul on the path of reconciliation.
Confession is not a court of condemnation, but an experience of forgiveness and mercy!
Finally,
we all know the difficulties often encountered in Confession. There are many
reasons, both historical and spiritual. However, we know that the Lord wanted to give
this immense gift to His Church, offering to the baptized the security of the Father's
forgiveness. It is this: it is the security of the Father’s forgiveness. For this
reason, it is very important that in every diocese and in the parish communities,
particular care is taken of the celebration of this Sacrament of forgiveness and salvation.
It’s good that in every parish the faithful know when they can find priests available:
when there is fidelity, the fruits are seen. This is particularly true for the
churches entrusted to religious Communities, which can ensure a constant presence
of confessors.
To the Virgin, Mother of Mercy, we entrust the ministry of priests,
and every Christian community, that they might always grow in understanding the value
of the Sacrament of Penance. I entrust all of you to our Mother and I bless you from
the heart.