Priestly Absolution by Converted Catholic

International Tract and Missionary Society · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Jul 15, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 27.

Priestly Absolution.

By Converted Catholic

INTELLIGENT and respectable Roman Catholics deny that the priest forgives them their sins when he gives them absolution. Here are the facts of the case: They confess all their sins of thought, word, and deed; they make an act of contrition, saying they are sorry for them, and purpose amendment; then the priest raises his hand over the confessing penitent and says, "May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve thee, and I by his authority absolve thee, from all excommunication, suspension, and interdict, as far as I am able and thou needest. Now then, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen." As the Council of Trent says, followed by all Roman Catholic theologians, this is a judicial act. The priest is the judge who declares the penitent "not guilty." There is the whole thing in a nutshell.—Converted Catholic.