Catechism of the Catholic Church
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION TWO
976 The Apostle's Creed associates faith in the forgiveness of sins not
only with faith in the Holy Spirit, but also with faith in the Church and
in the communion of saints. It was when he gave the Holy Spirit to his
apostles that the risen Christ conferred on them his own divine power to
forgive sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."[518]
(Part Two of the catechism will deal explicitly with the forgiveness of
sins through Baptism, the sacrament of Penance, and the other sacraments,
especially the Eucharist. Here it will suffice to suggest some basic facts
briefly.)
977 Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: "Go into
all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes
and is baptized will be saved."[519] Baptism is the first and chief
sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who
died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that "we too might
walk in newness of life."[520]
978 "When we made our first profession of faith while receiving the holy
Baptism that cleansed us, the forgiveness we received then was so full and
complete that there remained in us absolutely nothing left to efface,
neither original sin nor offenses committed by our own will, nor was there
left any penalty to suffer in order to expiate them.... Yet the grace of
Baptism delivers no one from all the weakness of nature. On the contrary,
we must still combat the movements of concupiscence that never cease
leading us into evil "[521]
979 In this battle against our inclination towards evil, who could be
brave and watchful enough to escape every wound of sin? "If the Church has
the power to forgive sins, then Baptism cannot be her only means of using
the keys of the Kingdom of heaven received from Jesus Christ. The Church
must be able to forgive all penitents their offenses, even if they should
sin until the last moment of their lives."[522]
980 It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be
reconciled with God and with the Church:
Penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers "a laborious kind of
baptism." This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those
who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation
for those who have not yet been reborn.[523]
981 After his Resurrection, Christ sent his apostles "so that repentance
and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all
nations."[524] The apostles and their successors carry out this "ministry
of reconciliation," not only by announcing to men God's forgiveness
merited for us by Christ, and calling them to conversion and faith; but
also by communicating to them the forgiveness of sins in Baptism, and
reconciling them with God and with the Church through the power of the
keys, received from Christ:[525]
[The Church] has received the keys of the Kingdom of heaven so that, in
her, sins may be forgiven through Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit's
action. In this Church, the soul dead through sin comes back to life in
order to live with Christ, whose grace has saved us.[526]
982 There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive.
"There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope
for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest.[527] Christ who died
for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should
always be open to anyone who turns away from sin.[528]
983 Catechesis strives to awaken and nourish in the faithful faith in the
incomparable greatness of the risen Christ's gift to his Church: the
mission and the power to forgive sins through the ministry of the apostles
and their successors:
The Lord wills that his disciples possess a tremendous power: that his
lowly servants accomplish in his name all that he did when he was on
earth.[529]
Priests have received from God a power that he has given neither to angels
nor to archangels .... God above confirms what priests do here below.[530]
Were there no forgiveness of sins in the Church, there would be no hope of
life to come or eternal liberation. Let us thank God who has given his
Church such a gift.[531]
984 The Creed links "the forgiveness of sins" with its profession of faith
in the Holy Spirit, for the risen Christ entrusted to the apostles the
power to forgive sins when he gave them the Holy Spirit.
985 Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of the forgiveness of sins:
it unites us to Christ, who died and rose, and gives us the Holy Spirit.
986 By Christ's will, the Church possesses the power to forgive the sins
of the baptized and exercises it through bishops and priests normally in
the sacrament of Penance.
987 "In the forgiveness of sins, both priests and sacraments are
instruments which our Lord Jesus Christ, the only author and liberal giver
of salvation, wills to use in order to efface our sins and give us the
grace of justification" (Roman Catechism, I, 11, 6).
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