CatholicTheology.info

Choose a topic from Part 3 Suppl:

• Penance (Continued)
  • 1. Contrition
  • 2. The Object of Contrition
  • 3. Degrees of Contrition
  • 4. The Time or Season of Contrition
  • 5. The Effect of Contrition
  • 6. Confession
  • 7. The Nature of Confession
  • 8. The Minister of Confession
  • 9. The Quality of Confession
  • 10. The Effect of Confession
  • 11. The Seal of Confession
  • 12. Satisfaction
  • 13. Possibility of Satisfaction
  • 14. The Quality of Satisfaction
  • 15. Means of Making Satisfaction
  • 16. Those Who Have the Virtue of Penance
  • 17. The Power of the Keys
  • 18. The Effect of the Keys
  • 19. The Minister of the Keys
  • 20. Use of the Power of the Keys
  • 21. Excommunication
  • 22. Persons Concerned in Excommunication
  • 23. Dealing With Excommunicated Persons
  • 24. Absolution From Excommunication
  • 25. Indulgences
  • 26. The Granting of Indulgences
  • 27. The Gaining of Indulgences
  • 28. Public Penance
• Extreme Unction
• Order (Holy Orders)
• Matrimony
• The General Resurrection
• The Last Things
• Appendix I (The Innocents in Limbo)
• Appendix II (Two Notes on Purgatory)

28. Public Penance

1. For some very grave sins which are committed, so tospeak, in the eye of the public, and are therefore likely to causegreat spiritual harm because of the bad example they set to thefaithful (that is, because of the scandal they cause), theChurch imposes public and solemn penance.

2. Such public penance is very rarely imposed. And itseems that it should not be imposed more than once on anyindividual, even if the individual sins publicly again.

3. Public penance "not imposed in the solemnform" may be repeated. It may be imposed on laymen or clerics.Public and solemn penance, which can be imposed but once, is neverimposed on clerics because of the scandal that would be involved inthe very performing of the penance by such a person. Public andsolemn penance may be imposed by a bishop, but not by a parishpriest.

"We must not be behind time in doing good; for death will not be behind his time. "
St Phillip Neri

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"It is vanity to love what passes quickly and not to look ahead where eternal joy abides. "
Thomas á Kempis

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"The supreme perfection of man in this life is to be so united to God that all his soul with all its faculties and powers are so gathered into the Lord God that he becomes one spirit with him, and remembers nothing except God, is aware of and recognises nothing but God, but with all his desires unified by the joy of love, he rests contentedly in the enjoyment of his Maker alone."
St Albert the Great

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