Editing Absolution (section)

===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."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4C.HTM |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

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 (namely, idolatry, murder, or adultery) 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.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

During the era of [[Scholasticism]], Catholic theologians sought a deeper understanding of the sacrament of Penance and absolution. [[St. Thomas Aquinas]] (c.1224–1274) 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 (III:62:4; III:64:2).<ref>{{Cite web |title=SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: The sacrament of Penance (Tertia Pars, Q. 84) |url=https://www.newadvent.org/summa/4084.htm#article3 |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fourteenth Session of the Council of Trent {{!}} EWTN |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/fourteenth-session-of-the-council-of-trent-1480 |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=EWTN Global Catholic Television Network |language=en}}</ref> Post Tridentine theologians including [[Francisco Suarez]],<ref>Suarez, Disp., XIX, i, n. 24</ref> [[Francisco de Lugo]],<ref>Lugo, Disp., XIII, i, nn. 17, 18</ref> and [[Augustin Lehmkuhl]]<ref>Lehmkuhl, de Pœnit., 9th ed., 199</ref> taught that the absolution would still be valid if the priest were to merely say, "I absolve you from your sins",<ref>Absolvo te a peccatis tuis</ref> or "I absolve you",<ref>Absolvo te</ref> or words that are the exact equivalent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=78 |title= "Absolution," The Catholic Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Catechism of the Council of Trent – The Sacrament of Penance |url=http://www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/trent/tsacr-p.htm}}</ref>

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 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|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.".<ref>"Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis in nomine Patris, et Filii, + et Spiritus Sancti."</ref><ref>''The Roman Ritual: The Rite of Penance'', (Catholic Book Publishing Co.: New York, 1975) paragraph 18, pp. 20–21.</ref>

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]] (and, if one does not commit a mortal sin after having been validly absolved, enables one to die in the "[[State (theology)#The unitive way|state of grace]]", able to eventually enter heaven); but it also allows the valid and non-sinful reception of the sacraments (especially the [[Eucharist]] at [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]), 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 (depending on the seriousness of the type of sin) either by the Pope (through the [[Apostolic Penitentiary]]), the local Bishop, or a priest authorized by the Bishop.

Absolution forgives the [[culpability|guilt]] associated with the penitent's sins, and removes the eternal punishment ([[Hell]]) associated with [[mortal sin]]s. The penitent is still responsible for the temporal punishment ([[Purgatory]]) 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 (priest)|Francis Gleeson]] on the eve of the [[Battle of Aubers Ridge]].]]