RECONCILIATION WITH GOD, AND OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS

VATICAN CITY, SEP 22, 1999 (VIS) - During the general audience, held today in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II spoke on "Reconciliation with God and with our brothers and sisters."

The Pope affirmed that "reconciliation is a gift from the Father," that God offers us through "the mystery of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," and His resurrection.

The Holy Father went on: "Even after pardon, the 'residue of sin' still remains, this must be rejected and combatted through a program of penitence that involves greater commitment to doing good. In the first place, this requires the reparation of the physical and moral wrong done to groups or to individuals. Conversion thus becomes a life-long path in which the mystery of reconciliation, fulfilled in the sacrament, becomes both point of arrival and of departure."

He highlighted that reconciliation in Christ "particularly comes about in celebrating the sacrament of Penance." He added that "it is necessary to overcome a certain individualism when considering reconciliation. The whole Church cooperates in the conversion of sinners through prayer, exhortation, fraternal correction and the support of charity."

The Pope concluded by recalling that "ancient penitential practice emphasized the communal and ecclesial aspect of reconciliation, especially at the moment of final absolution by the bishop, and the full re-admission of the penitents into the community. The teaching of the Church and the penitential discipline promulgated after Vatican Council II call for a rediscovery and a restoration of the communal and ecclesial dimension of Reconciliation, while still respecting the doctrine on the necessity of individual confession."

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