THE JUBILEE YEAR: AN OPPORTUNITY TO COME TO CONFESSION

VATICAN CITY, MAR 13, 1999 (VIS) - John Paul II this morning received the participants in the annual session on the internal forum, organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary.

The Pope asked that "the Jubilee year be for all the faithful, thanks to the generous service of confessors, an opportunity for a pious and spiritually serene approach to the Sacrament of Reconciliation."

He then recalled some "truly essential" points to propose to those who are spiritually thirsting.

"Sacramental confession," he said, "is necessary to obtain the forgiveness of mortal sin committed since Baptism. However, if a sinner, touched by the grace of the Holy Spirit, repents of their sin thanks to supernatural charity, ... they immediately receive forgiveness, including of mortal sin, but should always however be open to the possibility of confessing it sacramentally whenever they can."

The same can be said, he continued, of the penitent who, "responsible for serious sin, receives collective absolution, without the previous individual admission of their sin to the confessor. The desire (to confess it) is so necessary that, if it were lacking, absolution would be invalid. ... Venial sins can be also forgiven outside sacramental confession, but it is certainly very good to confess them." Moreover, the faithful have the right "to go to confession and obtain sacramental absolution for venial sins alone."

The Pope also recalled that "to receive the Eucharist justly and fruitfully, sacramental confession is necessary when one is aware of mortal sin."

"Reconciliation with God requires and involves reconciliation with one's brothers and sisters, without which God's forgiveness cannot be obtained. ... The Sacrament of Penance assumes and must nourish generous, noble and active brotherly love."

In conclusion, the Holy Father said that "in the Sacrament of Penance, once the offenses caused by sin are eliminated, the unity of the Church is consolidated. ... God's mercy and the Church's mediation offer a precious corollary to the sacramental remission of sin, with the gift of the additional remission of temporal punishment through indulgences."

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