CONFESSION IS NOT AN ALTERNATIVE TO PSYCHOANALYSIS
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VATICAN CITY, MAR 21, 1988 (VIS) - John Paul II sent a message to those
participating in the annual course on the internal forum, promoted by the
Apostolic Penitentiary in order to deepen the study and meditation of the
Sacrament of Penance.
In this message of March 20, the Pope recalls that the Sacrament of Penance forgives personal sins committed since Baptism: "above all mortal sins, then venial sins." "Obviously the faithful who approach the Sacrament of Penance also desire the remission of the temporal punishment as a result of sin," that is to say, an indulgence. "In this regard, we should remember the truth of our faith concerning purgatory where in the next life remaining sins are atoned for." For the penitent, it is rightful to "try to establish that inner process which leads to ... the progressive assimilation of one's own psychological state to that deeper peace which is due to the conformity to the will of God". The Holy Father indicates further on that one of the effects of the Sacrament of Penance is "a mitigation of the passionate impulses, a correction of logical and emotional defects (as is the case of scruples), a fine tuning of all our freedom to act as a result of a supernatural charity which is restored and growing." "However, it is an unjustified hope of those who would like to transform the Sacrament of Penance into psychoanalysis or psychotherapy. The confessional is not and cannot be an alternative to the studies of the psychoanalyist or the psychotherapist. Nor can one expect from the Sacrament of Penance the healing of situations of a psychological nature. "The confessor," he continues, "is not a healer, nor even a doctor in the technical meaning of the word; he is more than that, if the state of the penitent requires medical attention, the confessor should not try to deal with this, but should send the penitent to honest and competent professionals. Similarly, although the illumination of the conscience requires the enlightenment of ideas regarding the very content of the commandments of God, the Sacrament of Penance is not and should not be the place where the mysteries of life are explained." MESS/APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY/... VIS 980323 (370) |