Absolution


Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the practice of absolution vary between Christian denominations.
Some Christian traditions see absolution as a sacrament—the Sacrament of Penance. This concept is found in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Assyrian Church of the East and the Lutheran Church. In other traditions, including the Anglican Communion and Methodism, absolution is seen as part of the life of the church, with the Thirty-nine Articles and Twenty-five Articles respectively counting absolution amongst the five rites described as "Commonly called Sacraments, but not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel". Confession and Absolution is practiced in the Irvingian Churches, though it is not a sacrament.
In the Reformed tradition, corporate confession is the normative way that this rite is practiced. It is understood as having meaning only for those of congregation who are counted amongst the elect.

Catholic Church

Theology of Absolution

The Catholic Church teaches both that only God forgives sin and that Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, willed his ministry of forgiveness of sins to continue through the ministry of his Church. "In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church."
Thus, the Catholic Church teaches that absolution is one of the acts of the Church's ordained minister in the sacrament of Penance wherein a baptized penitent with the proper dispositions can be assured of being forgiven.
Over the centuries the concrete sequence and manner in which the Church imparted the absolution of sins varied. In the first centuries, Christians who had committed particular public mortal sins after their Baptism seem to have had to confess their sins publicly and do lengthy public penance before they could receive absolution. St. Augustine of Hippo indicates that for non-public sins, there was a private celebration of the sacrament called correptio. Over time, the public confession, penance, and absolution declined such that by the seventh century Irish missionaries spread the practice of privately granted immediate absolution after private confession of sins and before the completion of penance. This manner of receiving absolution became predominant over time. Notably, surviving Roman liturgical books preserve absolution formulas in a deprecatory form, rather than in a first person declarative form.
During the era of Scholasticism, Catholic theologians sought a deeper understanding of the sacrament of Penance and absolution. St. Thomas Aquinas taught: "God alone absolves from sin and forgives sins authoritatively; yet priests do both ministerially, because the words of the priest in this sacrament work as instruments of the Divine power, as in the other sacraments: because it is the Divine power that works inwardly in all the sacramental signs, be they things or words, as shown above. In Summa Theologiae III, q.84 ad3, Aquinas indicated the essential form of absolution which was being used as "I absolve you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." However, he seemed to suggest that to the essential words or sacramental form, "I absolve you," a priest, at his discretion, might add "by the power of Christ's Passion," or "by the authority of God" to indicate his ministerial role.
Two subsequent Councils of the Catholic Church reaffirmed the sacramental form of absolution of the Latin Church, namely, the 1439 decree "Pro Armenis" of Pope Eugene IV at the Council of Florence and the fourteenth session of the Council of Trent in 1551 which stated: "The holy synod doth furthermore teach, that the form of the sacrament of penance, wherein its force principally consists, is placed in those words of the minister, I absolve thee, et cetera: to which words indeed certain prayers are, according to the custom of holy Church, laudably joined, which nevertheless by no means regard the essence of that form, neither are they necessary for the administration of the sacrament itself. Post Tridentine theologians including Francisco Suarez, Francisco de Lugo, and Augustin Lehmkuhl taught that the absolution would still be valid if the priest were to merely say, "I absolve you from your sins", or "I absolve you", or words that are the exact equivalent.
Following the Second Vatican Council Pope Paul VI approved a revision of the Rite of Penance. However, the pope again affirmed that the essential words pertaining to the absolution, that is, the form of sacrament necessary for the Sacrament of Penance to take effect, or, in the language of Church law to be "sacramentally valid" are: "I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, ♱ and of the Holy Spirit.".
As in all sacraments, absolution can only be received by a penitent in the presence of the priest. Some Moral Theologians say the absolution of a penitent more than twenty paces away would be questionably valid. Phone absolutions are considered invalid. An unconscious person who is presumed to want absolution can be conditionally absolved by a priest.
Absolution of sins most importantly forgives mortal sins ; but it also allows the valid and non-sinful reception of the sacraments, the lawful exercise of ecclesiastical offices and ministries by laity or clerics, and full participation in the life of the Church. However, for certain especially grave sins to be forgiven and for the accompanying Church penalties to be lifted, there are sometimes formal processes which must take place along with the absolution, which must then be given either by the Pope, the local Bishop, or a priest authorized by the Bishop.
Absolution forgives the guilt associated with the penitent's sins, and removes the eternal punishment associated with mortal sins. The penitent is still responsible for the temporal punishment associated with the confessed sins, unless an indulgence is applied or, if through prayer, penitence and good works, the temporal punishment is cancelled in this life.
File:The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois.jpg|thumb|A depiction of the general absolution given to the Royal Munster Fusiliers by Father Francis Gleeson on the eve of the Battle of Aubers Ridge.

General absolution

General absolution, where all eligible Catholics gathered at a given area are granted absolution for sins without prior individual confession to a priest, is lawfully granted in only two circumstances:
  1. there is imminent danger of death and there is no time for a priest or priests to hear the confessions of the individual penitents,
  2. a serious need is present, that is, the number of penitents is so large that there are not sufficient priests to hear the individual confessions properly within a reasonable time so that the Catholics, through no fault of their own, would be forced to be deprived of the sacrament or communion. The diocesan bishop must give prior permission before general absolution may be given under this circumstance. It is important to note that the occurrence of a large number of penitents, such as may occur on a pilgrimage or at penitential services is not considered as sufficient to permit general absolution. The second circumstance is thus envisaged more for mission territories where priests may visit certain villages only a few times a year, or military campaigns where combatants may not have a priest at a battle site.
For a valid reception of general absolution, the penitent must be contrite for all his mortal sins and have the resolution to confess, at the earliest opportunity, each of those mortal sins forgiven in general absolution. Anyone receiving general absolution is also required to make a complete individual confession to a priest as soon as possible. An historical example is the absolution given by William Corby to the Irish Brigade during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Contemporary examples of general absolution are the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, where general absolution was granted to all Catholics endangered by the incident, and the firefighters, many of whom were Italian and Irish, who were granted general absolution by local priests before heading into the burning World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001.
The proper belief of imminent danger of death is a sufficient rationale to administer the rite, even though the actual danger might not actually exist. The general absolution was licitly given by Honolulu Bishop Clarence Richard Silva to people at a church programme during the 2018 Hawaii false missile alert as it was believed that direct nuclear attack from North Korea was imminent.

Latin Church

Absolution is an integral part of the Sacrament of Penance, in all Catholicism. To validly receive absolution, the penitent must make a sincere sacramental confession of all known mortal sins not yet confessed to a priest and pray an act of contrition which expresses both motives for sorrow and the resolve to not sin again. The priest then assigns a penance and imparts absolution in the name of the Trinity, on behalf of Jesus Christ, using a fixed sacramental formula.
The formula of absolution used in the Pauline Missal, the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, is as follows:
During a Spring 2021 meeting, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops made some adjustments to the text to make it a more accurate translation of the original Latin. After the USCCB changes they were approved by the Vatican's Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in April 2022. The changes took effect on Ash Wednesday 2023 and became mandatory on Divine Mercy Sunday 2023. The new text is follows:
There is a separate form used for the lifting of excommunications and interdicts in the Pauline Missal; in the older form, the lifting of excommunications and interdicts is part of the same formula as that of the absolution. The older form approved for the Roman Ritual after the Council of Trent, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, is as follows:
Both forms start with a deprecative absolution in the third person subjunctive, and then conclude with a first person indicative declarative absolution. This highlights the priest's God given authority as father, physician, teacher, and especially as judge with the power to bind and loosen.
The older prays that Christ absolve, then the priest absolves by Christ's authority and in the name of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. The newer prayer implies that "God the Father" or Trinity absolves when the priest prays that God might give pardon and peace, without using the word absolve, through the ministry of the Church.