The Pope, having failed to offload guilt on the press, Jews and gays (in that order) is talking about penance. This is perceived as a step forward by the pontiff, accepting responsibility for something.
But hold on there. When I was just a wee lad, I learned that there’s a road to travel before one does one’s penance. In my experience, too, the penance was the easier part.
Of course, it’s been a while since I was back there in parochial school. But, thanks to the internet, we can turn back the hands of time, and dial up the good old Baltimore catechism, still in use when I was a lad (I don’t know if it is still being inflicted on the defenseless young).
Let’s start with penance:
420. Why does the priest give us a penance after confession?
The priest gives us a penance after confession that we may make some atonement to God for our sins, receive help to avoid them in the future, and make some satisfaction for the temporal punishment due to them.
You see the entire word of God is set forth in sequentially numbered questions and answers. Number 420 explains penance, but note something here. You don’t get to 420 until you pass 408, et. seq, which include the following:
408. What is confession?
Confession is the telling of our sins to an authorized priest for the purpose of obtaining forgiveness.
He that hideth his sins shall not prosper; but he that shall confess and forsake them shall obtain mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)
409. Why must we confess our sins?
We must confess our sins because Jesus Christ obliges us to do so in these words, spoken to the apostles and to their successors in the priesthood: “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.”
414. When is our confession sincere?
Our confession is sincere when we tell our sins honestly and frankly.
…
415. When is our confession entire?
Our confession is entire when we confess at least all our mortal sins, telling their kind, the number of times we have committed each sin, and any circumstances changing their nature.
Ratzi is skipping the hard part (I could tell you stories) and going right to the easy stuff. Anyone can say a few Hail Marys, it’s the confession part that’s hard. Now, in this case, I humbly submit, telling it to a priest won’t do. If he wants the world’s forgiveness, then only public confession will do.
But the hardest part comes after the penance. As Jesus saith, one should “Go, and sin no more”. How likely is that in this case?
By the way, here’s what happens if you don’t fess up on all those mortal sins:
417. What happens if we knowingly conceal a mortal sin in confession?
If we knowingly conceal a mortal sin in confession, the sins we confess are not forgiven; moreover, we commit a mortal sin of sacrilege.
So if Ratzi ever does get around to confessing, he better make a clean breast of it.
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