(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.)
I.
One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins
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 (Mk 16:15-16.)
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 (Rom 6:4; Cf. ⇒ 4:25. )
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
II.
The Power of the Keys
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 (Lk 24:47. ) 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 (2 Cor 5:18. )
[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 (Roman Catechism I, 11, 5. ) 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).
GO TO:
SECTION TWO: CREEDS
CHAPTER THREE:
CHAPTER THREE:
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