Catholic priests, people and penance
Posted at 10:02 PM ET, 01/27/2013
Jan 28, 2013 03:02 AM EST
TheWashingtonPost
By Mathew N. Schmalz
Forgiving sins.
Restoring the authority of the priesthood.
This is the agenda of a recent pastoral exhortation on penance released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This call for a return to Sacrament of Penance [also called reconciliation, or simply confession] is intended to be distributed to parishes on the eve of the penitential season of Lent.
The document is titled Gods Gift of Forgiveness. It is short, and it is welcoming. The calm and reassuring language was well chosen because the bishops statement is responding to two real crises in American Catholicism: the decline in participation in the sacraments, and the decline of the authority of the priesthood.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/catholic-priests-people-and-penance/2013/01/27/cfcf9f26-68f3-11e2-af53-7b2b2a7510a8_blog.html
http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/sacraments/penance/upload/Penance-Statement-ENG.pdf