Vatican City, Mar 25, 2011 / 15:51 pm
Confession teaches both priests and penitents to be humble and aware of God’s forgiveness, Pope Benedict XVI said March 25.
“By administering the Sacrament of Penance we can receive profound lessons of humility and faith,” he told a gathering of priests at the Vatican. “For each priest, this is a powerful call to an awareness of his own identity. Never could we hear the confessions of our brothers and sisters merely on the strength of our own humanity.”
“If they come to us it is only because we are priests, configured to Christ, the Supreme and Eternal Priest, and granted the capacity of acting in His Name and Person, so as to make present the God Who forgives, renews and transforms,” the Pope said.
His remarks addressed participants in an annual course organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican tribunal in charge of granting indulgences, resolving sins reserved to the Pope, and resolving matters of conscience forwarded to the Holy See.