Press Conference introducing the Apostolic Letter Misericordia
Dei in the form of Motu Proprio
On Thursday, 2 May, Cardinals Ratzinger, Medina Estévez and
Archbishop Herranz presented the Holy Father's new Motu Proprio
Misericordia Dei on Certain Aspects of the Celebration of the Sacrament
of Penance to the press. Here are the translations of the presentations.
The Apostolic Letter, in the form of the Motu Proprio Misericordia
Dei, on "Certain Aspects of the Celebration of the Sacrament of
Penance", signed by the Holy Father John Paul II on the 7 April,
the Second Sunday of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, is not an isolated
act in the context of the Pope's Magisterium. On the contrary, it
belongs to a series of doctrinal and pastoral teachings that have given
rise to a corresponding series of canonical norms for the universal
Church, that are expressions of the pastoral responsibility entrusted to
the Successor of Peter. In this context we have to recall the
significant events of the Pontificate of John Paul II, such as his
publishing the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church and of the Code
of Canons of the Eastern Churches, the Post-Synodal Exhortation Reconciliatio
et poenitentia, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the
recent Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday.
Return to basics: sin, conversion, justification through the
sacramental economy
Even if the circumstances that brought about the publication of the
Motu Proprio Misericordia Dei indicate a weakening of conscience
and relaxation of the Christian life, the positive motivation would
comprise the Catholic teaching on sin, conversion and justification
through the sacramental economy, and especially, through the celebration
of the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation.
In the Church which is the mystery, sacrament and universal
instrument of salvation, one finds God's saving power at work whose
source is the Father's mercy, rendered visible and effective in the work
of his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose for our justification through
the mysterious action of the Holy Spirit. So the Church is at the
service of the salvation of every human being and this task is so
essential that it distinguishes her pastoral activity, that of her
ministers and of the whole People of God. Moreover, the gift of
salvation is impossible without conversion, just as conversion is the
fruit of the grace of God who takes the initiative of saving man from
the power of the Evil One and the slavery of sin, to lead him to
communion with the Father, re-establishing his original image as a child
of God, a member of the Body of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Scriptural images of seriousness of sin
Sacred Scripture stresses the terrible reality of sin. It compares it
to death, leprosy, exile, poverty, hunger and slavery: all these images
portray the particular effects it can produce in a person's life; they
are strong words and images, but in no way are they exaggerated. Sin
brings ruinous effects, not only in the disintegration of man's vital
bond with God, but also in his relational balance with himself, and also
with regard to the imbalance of social relations. Indeed, sin is an
offence perpetrated against God's goodness, a wound in the holiness of
the Church and the cause of the disorders that afflict society.
Sacramental grace comes through the Sacrament of Penance celebrated
by ordained
In this perspective, the announcement of salvation is the Church's
primary and essential mission, just as the ministry of the celebration
of the sacraments is her permanent mission. The Sacrament of Penance or
Reconciliation is the secunda post naufragium tabula (the
second plank after our shipwreck) instituted by the Lord Jesus to
reach out to the men and women who, after Baptism, have succumbed to
temptation, following the Evil One and moved away from God. With sin,
man is burdened with a guilt that endures until the moment when, under
the influence of grace, he is converted and regains his participation in
divine life, the pledge of eternal salvation.
The Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation was entrusted to the
Church, to the Bishops in particular as custodians of ecclesial
communion, and to priests as their close collaborators. Far from being a
privilege or an exercise of power, the ministry of Reconciliation is an
expression of the pastoral responsibility that the bishop and priest
accepted before God on the day of their ordination; thus it is a service
owed to the brethren as a sign of the Church's tender concern for the
lost and injured sheep that need to return to the Good Shepherd's fold.
The faithful and painstaking exercise of this ministry is a sign of true
pastoral zeal and of the attainment of an awareness of the mission God
has entrusted to his ministers, that is, to be at the service of the
Christian people. The sacramental ministry of Penance is certainly not
an easy one; the Holy Father explained its features in his recent Letter
to Priests for Holy Thursday, in which he stresses the fact
that the faithful have the right to find in priests ministers who are
willing to hear their confession.
Ordinary way of celebrating the sacrament is integral confession and
absolution
The Motu Proprio Misericordia Del reasserts the traditional
teaching of the Church that holds that the only ordinary way to
celebrate the Sacrament of Penance is with the integral confession of
sins to the priest, with personal absolution. The so-called
"general" or "communal" absolution is to be
considered an extraordinary and exceptional means, to be used only when
the danger of death is imminent, or when the celebration of the
sacrament in its ordinary form is physically or morally impossible. To
equate "general absolutions" with the ordinary form of the
celebration of the Sacrament of Penance is a doctrinal error, a
disciplinary abuse and a pastoral harm.
The Church is mindful of the example of holy priests who dedicated
their entire lives to the exercise of the ministry of sacramental
Reconciliation. Think of St John Mary Vianney, of St Leopold Mandic and
Bl. Pio of Pietrelcina, of whom I quote a few simple but impressive
comments. "In the tumult of passions and adverse events, may we be
sustained by the dear hope of God's inexhaustible mercy: let us run
confidently to the tribunal of penance, where at every moment he awaits
us with fatherly concern; and although we are aware of our poverty
before him, we are in no doubt of the forgiveness solemnly pronounced
over our errors".
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