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Dist. 17, Part 3, Art. 1, Q. 3

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 17

Textus Latinus
p. 455

Quaestio III. Utrum proprio sacerdoti debeat quis confiteri in publico, vel in occulto.

Tertio quaeritur, utrum necesse sit confiteri proprio sacerdoti coram populo, an sufficiat ei confiteri in occulto.

Et quod necesse sit confiteri coram populo, videtur.

1. Augustinus dicit, et habetur supra eadem distinctione1: « Nemo dicat sibi: occulte ago poenitentiam »; et post: « Iob ait: Si erubui in conspectu populi confiteri peccata mea »; adiuratio est, et imprecatur sibi malum: ergo videtur tum ex verbo Augustini, tum ex concordia, quam adducit, quod confessio sit facienda sacerdoti coram multis.

2. Item, Gregorius, de Magdalena in homilia2: « Quia semetipsam graviter erubescebat intus, nihil esse credebat quod verecundaretur foris »; unde commendat eam, quia coram omnibus se peccatricem ostendit: ergo videtur, quod quilibet peccator ita deberet facere.

3. Item, Bernardus super Cantica, homilia quadragesima secunda3: « Si veritatis amore affectus esses, velles procul dubio, eandem quod in te est, de te omnes tenere sententiam, quam ipsam apud te habere cognoscis veritatem. Alioquin, si privato amore contentus detines intra te iudicium veritatis, cui dubium est, minus te veritatem diligere, cui praeponis proprium commodum vel honorem »? Ergo secundum Bernardum nullus est veritatis amator, qui quod veraciter de se sentit non omnibus publice confitetur.

p. 456

4. Item, ratione videtur: quia verus poenitens se ipsum punit et iudicat loco Dei et sacerdoti offert se iudicandum ut Deo: ergo debet, secundum quod potest, se divino iudicio conformare; sed in iudicio finali peccata omnium omnibus innotescent, quia tunc aperientur libri4: ergo nunc debet vere poenitens librum suae conscientiae omnibus aperire.

5. Item, aut poenitens vult, quod alii reputent eum peccatorem, aut bonum. Si vult, quod reputent eum bonum: ergo non est verus poenitens, sed hypocrita superbus. Si vult, quod reputent eum peccatorem; sed nullus potest eum reputare peccatorem, nisi ab ipso sciat: ergo debet omnibus revelare.

6. Item, peccator confitetur sacerdoti, ut reconcilietur non Deo tantum, sed etiam Ecclesiae, quia Deo reconciliatus est per contritionem; sed Ecclesia non est persona singularis, immo multitudo fidelium: ergo videtur, quod sacerdoti, praesente multitudine, deberet confiteri.

Contra:

1. In decretali Innocentii5: « Omnis utriusque sexus » etc.; et post: « Omnia sua peccata semel in anno confiteatur proprio sacerdoti »: ergo solus debet esse.

2. Item, quae debent secretissime custodiri non debent in conspectu multitudinis propalari; sed ea quae in confessione dicuntur, debent secretissime custodiri, sicut infra6 habebitur de sigillo confessionis: ergo nullo modo debent coram multis dici.

3. Item, Bernardus, de Dispensatione7: « Quod ex caritate institutum est contra caritatem militare non debet »; sed confessionem constat pro caritate esse institutam: ergo non debet contra caritatem militare. Sed manifestatio peccati aliquibus est occasio labendi, multis superbiendi et etiam peccatorem contemnendi: ergo non debet multis manifestari.

4. Item, nullus tenetur semetipsum infamare; sed cum manifestatur peccatum in conspectu multitudinis, efficitur homo infamis: ergo nullus tenetur nec debet sic peccatum confiteri: ergo videtur, quod soli sacerdoti.

Conclusio. Non tenetur quis confiteri nisi unico et proprio sacerdoti, non in publico, sed in occulto.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod confessio sacramentalis sacerdoti soli et in secreto debet fieri, nisi sit peccatum adeo enorme, quod totam commoverit urbem, vel etiam totum orbem; quod quidem debet quis confiteri in publico, ut in publico poenitentia solemnis imponatur, et ut ostendat et recognoscat se reum, ut puta, si sit haereticus manifestus8. Quantum vero est de confessione secundum legem communem, debet unico sacerdoti fieri in privato, sicut expresse dicit illa decretalis.

Ratio autem huius est, quia occultatio dupliciter ex causa competit Sacramento: tum quia hic manifestantur peccata sacerdoti, non ut manifestentur, sed ut deleantur et occultentur, quia caritatis confessio operit multitudinem peccatorum9; tum etiam, quia manifestantur sacerdoti ut Deo ad testimonium conscientiae internae; et ideo, ut homo totam conscientiam revelet homini tanquam Deo, et hoc testificante teste secreto; in tali manifestatione non debet admitti alienus, sed sacerdos unicus, qui tenet locum Christi. — Et sicut occultatio competit duplici ex causa, ita propalatio coram omnibus disconvenit ex duplici causa10. Una est, quia confessio est onerosa sive ignominiosa adeo, quod vix aliquis aut nullus auderet coram multitudine confiteri, cum pauci audeant plene et integre confiteri etiam coram unico sacerdote. Alia ratio est, quia periculosa. Si enim conscientiae manifestarentur, infinita mala orirentur et rixae et discordiae et infamiae, sicut manifeste apparet.

Et ideo dicendum est, quod non tenetur quis confiteri nisi unico et proprio sacerdoti, et huic solitario, quantum est de praecepto apostolico sive ecclesiastico.

Ad argumenta:

1. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur de Augustino, dicendum, quod loquitur de occultatione respectu iudicii sacerdotalis, quibus Dominus commisit auctoritatem et officium iudicandi inter lepram et non lepram. Et si tu obiicias de Iob, dicendum, quod illa translatio non est recta, sed alia, quam habemus. Tamen si velimus illam sustinere, dicendum, quod intelligitur de generali confessione, qua omnes confitentur se peccatores.

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2. Ad illud quod obiicitur de Magdalena, dicendum, quod illud fuit perfectionis et supererogationis; unde non omnibus competit. Vel dicendum, quod ipsa non fuit confessa peccata sua coram omnibus, quae fecerat occulte; sed quia signa lasciviae non occulte portavit, sed in publico; ideo etiam signa poenitentiae in publico manifestavit; et hoc est dignum et laudabile et imitandum; nec tamen dico, quod homo ad hoc teneatur nisi de bono et aequo.

3. Ad illud quod obiicitur de Bernardo, dicendum, quod facienda est vis in hoc quod Bernardus dicit: « Quod in te est »; et ipsemet facit ibi vim: « Sane, quod in te est, dixerim, quia plerumque non expedit innotescere omnia quae nos scimus de nobis; atque ipsa veritatis caritate vetamur palam fieri velle quod noceat agnoscenti ». Et sic patet, quod quamvis homo, quantum est de se, debeat esse promptus, non tamen debet palam peccata dicere, ne alii inde damnificentur.

4. Ad illud quod obiicitur de divino iudicio, quod omnibus propalabitur; dicendum, quod secus est: quia illud erit iudicium severitatis, hoc autem est misericordiae et benignitatis. Praeterea, nulli nocebit illa manifestatio, sed in hoc Dei iustitia clarior apparebit; nunc autem nulli prodesset et multis obesset.

5. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod poenitens debet velle, quod alii reputent eum peccatorem; dicendum, quod verum est, quod debet velle suam humiliationem, ita tamen, quod alii non peccent contemnendo, vel imitando; et ideo sufficit, quod peccatores se dicant in generali, sed non expedit in speciali ita multis dicere simul11, maxime qui non sunt sacerdotes: non ergo debet celare peccatum propter suum commodum et gloriam, sed propter cavendam culpam alienam.

6. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod confitetur, ut reconcilietur; dicendum, quod sacerdos habet potestatem reconciliandi Deo, quia ipse ratione auctoritatis fungitur iure Dei et Ecclesiae tanquam mediator utriusque; et ideo non oportet, multitudinem adesse; secus autem est in iudicio contentioso, ubi homo se non accusat, sed defendit, ubi producuntur testes; hic autem non oportet.

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English Translation

Question III. Whether one ought to confess to one's own priest in public or in secret.

Thirdly it is asked whether it is necessary to confess to one's own priest before the people, or whether it suffices to confess to him in secret.

And that it is necessary to confess before the people seems to be the case.

1. Augustine says, and it is found above in the same distinction1: "Let no one say to himself: I do penance secretly"; and afterward: "Job says: If I have been ashamed to confess my sins in the sight of the people"; it is a solemn protestation, and he calls down evil upon himself: therefore it seems, both from Augustine's word and from the concordance which he adduces, that confession ought to be made to the priest before many.

2. Likewise, Gregory, concerning Magdalene, in a homily2: "Because she was grievously ashamed of herself within, she counted as nothing that she should blush outwardly"; whence he commends her, because she showed herself a sinner before all: therefore it seems that any sinner ought to do likewise.

3. Likewise, Bernard on the Canticle, in the forty-second homily3: "If you were moved by love of the truth, you would without doubt wish, as far as in you lies, that all should hold the same judgment of you which you know that the truth itself holds concerning you. Otherwise, if, content with a private love, you keep within yourself the judgment of truth, there is no doubt that you love the truth less, since you set before it your own advantage or honor"? Therefore, according to Bernard, no one is a lover of the truth who does not publicly confess to all what he truly judges concerning himself.

4. Likewise, it seems so by reason: for the true penitent punishes and judges himself in God's place, and offers himself to the priest to be judged as by God: therefore he ought, as far as he can, to conform himself to the divine judgment; but in the final judgment the sins of all will be made known to all, because then the books will be opened4: therefore now the true penitent ought to open the book of his conscience to all.

5. Likewise, either the penitent wishes that others reckon him a sinner, or good. If he wishes that they reckon him good: then he is not a true penitent, but a proud hypocrite. If he wishes that they reckon him a sinner; but no one can reckon him a sinner unless he know it from him himself: therefore he ought to reveal it to all.

6. Likewise, the sinner confesses to the priest in order that he may be reconciled not to God only, but also to the Church, because he is reconciled to God through contrition; but the Church is not a single person, but rather the multitude of the faithful: therefore it seems that he ought to confess to the priest with the multitude present.

On the contrary:

1. In the decretal of Innocent5: "Everyone of either sex" etc.; and afterward: "Let him confess all his sins once a year to his own priest": therefore he alone ought to be the one.

2. Likewise, the things which ought to be kept most secret ought not to be divulged in the sight of the multitude; but the things which are said in confession ought to be kept most secret, as will be shown below6 concerning the seal of confession: therefore in no way ought they to be said before many.

3. Likewise, Bernard, On Dispensation7: "What has been instituted out of charity ought not to militate against charity"; but it is agreed that confession was instituted for charity: therefore it ought not to militate against charity. But the manifestation of sin is for some an occasion of falling, for many of pride and even of despising the sinner: therefore it ought not to be manifested to many.

4. Likewise, no one is bound to defame himself; but when sin is manifested in the sight of the multitude, the man is made infamous: therefore no one is bound nor ought thus to confess his sin: therefore it seems that he ought to confess only to the priest.

Conclusion. One is not bound to confess except to a single priest and one's own, not in public, but in secret.

I respond: It must be said that sacramental confession ought to be made to the priest alone and in secret, unless it be a sin so enormous that it has stirred up the whole city, or even the whole world; which indeed one ought to confess in public, so that solemn penance may be imposed in public, and so that he may show and acknowledge himself guilty, as for example if he be a manifest heretic8. But as for confession according to the common law, it ought to be made to a single priest in private, as that decretal expressly says.

The reason for this is that secrecy belongs to the Sacrament from a twofold cause: both because here sins are manifested to the priest, not that they may be manifested, but that they may be blotted out and hidden, because the confession of charity covers a multitude of sins9; and also because they are manifested to the priest as to God for the testimony of the inner conscience; and therefore, so that a man may reveal his whole conscience to a man as to God, and that with a secret witness bearing testimony; in such a manifestation no stranger ought to be admitted, but a single priest, who holds the place of Christ. — And just as secrecy belongs from a twofold cause, so disclosure before all is unfitting from a twofold cause10. One is that confession is so burdensome or ignominious that scarcely anyone or no one would dare to confess before a multitude, since few dare to confess fully and completely even before a single priest. The other reason is that it is dangerous. For if consciences were manifested, infinite evils would arise, both quarrels and discords and slanders, as manifestly appears.

And therefore it must be said that one is not bound to confess except to a single and one's own priest, and to him alone, as far as concerns the apostolic or ecclesiastical precept.

Replies to the arguments:

1. To that, then, which is objected concerning Augustine, it must be said that he speaks of concealment with respect to the priestly judgment, to whom the Lord committed the authority and office of judging between leprosy and non-leprosy. And if you object concerning Job, it must be said that that translation is not correct, but another which we have. Yet if we wish to maintain it, it must be said that it is understood of the general confession, by which all confess themselves sinners.

2. To that which is objected concerning Magdalene, it must be said that that was a matter of perfection and supererogation; whence it does not befit all. Or it must be said that she did not confess before all her sins which she had done in secret; but because she did not bear the signs of wantonness in secret, but in public; therefore she also manifested the signs of penance in public; and this is worthy and praiseworthy and to be imitated; yet I do not say that a man is bound to this except out of what is good and fitting.

3. To that which is objected concerning Bernard, it must be said that emphasis is to be laid on this which Bernard says: "What is in you"; and he himself lays emphasis on it there: "Indeed, I have said 'what is in you,' because for the most part it is not expedient to make known all that we know about ourselves; and by that very love of truth we are forbidden to be willing to make openly known what would harm the one acknowledging it." And so it is plain that, although a man, as far as concerns himself, ought to be ready, nevertheless he ought not to declare his sins openly, lest others be thereby harmed.

4. To that which is objected concerning the divine judgment, that it will be disclosed to all; it must be said that it is otherwise: because that will be a judgment of severity, but this is one of mercy and kindness. Moreover, that manifestation will harm no one, but in it God's justice will appear more clearly; whereas now it would profit no one and would harm many.

5. To that which is objected, that the penitent ought to wish that others reckon him a sinner; it must be said that it is true that he ought to wish his own humiliation, yet in such a way that others do not sin by despising or by imitating; and therefore it suffices that they call themselves sinners in general, but it is not expedient to say so in particular to many at once11, especially to those who are not priests: therefore he ought not to conceal his sin for the sake of his own advantage and glory, but in order to avoid another's fault.

6. To that which is objected, that he confesses in order to be reconciled; it must be said that the priest has the power of reconciling to God, because he himself by reason of his authority exercises the right of God and of the Church as mediator of both; and therefore it is not necessary that the multitude be present; but it is otherwise in a contentious judgment, where a man does not accuse himself, but defends himself, where witnesses are produced; but here this is not necessary.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. 1
    Cap. 1. — Locus seq. Scripturae Iob 31, 33. ita refertur ab Augustino; verba Vulgatae vide supra p. II. a. I. q. I. fundam. 2. — Plures codd. in eadem decretali, scil. C. Agite poenitentiam (44.), de Poenitentia, d. 1. — Inferius vox concordia significat locum Scripturae sententiae August. concordantem.
    Ch. 1. — The following scriptural passage, Job 31:33, is thus reported by Augustine; for the words of the Vulgate see above, pars II, art. I, q. I, fundamentum 2. — Several codices read in the same decretal, namely the canon Do penance (44), On Penance, d. 1. — Below, the word concordia signifies the place of Scripture agreeing with Augustine's statement.
  2. 2
    Libr. II. Homil. in Evang. homil. 33. n. 1.
    Bk. II, Homilies on the Gospels, homily 33, n. 1.
  3. 3
    Num. 6: Nam si veritatis ipsius, quae te tibi veraciter atque salubriter demonstravit, sicut splendore illuminatus, ita affectus amore fuisses, voluisses procul dubio... veritatem habere cognoscis... [Hic inseruntur quae habentur infra in solut. huius obiect.]. Alioquin, si privato amore tui intentus detines pariter intra te iudicium veritatis inclusum, cui dubium... cui proprium praefers vel commodum vel honorem?
    N. 6: "For if you had been moved by love of that very truth, which has truly and wholesomely shown you to yourself, even as you have been enlightened by its splendor, you would without doubt have wished... you know that you hold the truth... [Here are inserted the things found below in the solution of this objection.] Otherwise, if, intent on a private love of yourself, you likewise keep the judgment of truth shut up within you, of which there is no doubt... to which you prefer your own advantage or honor?"
  4. 4
    Cfr. infra d. 43. a. 3. q. I. seqq.
    Cf. below, d. 43, a. 3, q. I and following.
  5. 5
    Vide hic lit. Magistri, c. 3. et 5. — Cap. 12. de Poenitentiis et remiss. (lib. V. tit. 38.).
    See here the text of the Master, cc. 3 and 5. — Ch. 12, On Penances and Remissions (bk. V, tit. 38). [The decretal Omnis utriusque sexus is canon 21 of the Fourth Lateran Council under Innocent III.]
  6. 6
    Dist. 21. p. II. a. 2. q. I. seqq.
    D. 21, pars II, a. 2, q. I and following.
  7. 7
    Cap. 2. n. 5. Vide supra pag. 453, nota 3. — Inferius pro pro caritate codd. R S ex caritate, edd. cum pluribus codd. per caritatem.
    Ch. 2, n. 5. See above, p. 453, note 3. — Below, for pro caritate codices R and S read ex caritate, the editions with several codices per caritatem.
  8. 8
    Cfr. supra d. 14. p. II. dub. 9.
    Cf. above, d. 14, pars II, dubium 9.
  9. 9
    Iac. 5, 20. et 1. Petr. 4, 8. Cfr. Prov. 10, 12. — Superius pro manifestentur cod. aa propalentur. Inferius substituimus ex codd. FGH tenet locum pro teneat locum.
    James 5:20 and 1 Peter 4:8. Cf. Proverbs 10:12. — Above, for manifestentur codex aa reads propalentur. Below, we have substituted from codices FGH tenet locum for teneat locum.
  10. 10
    Edd., superius posito sic pro sicut, omittunt ita propalatio usque ad ex duplici causa. Inferius post Alia ratio est, quia edd. supplent manifesta confessio est.
    The editions, having put sic for sicut above, omit ita propalatio down to ex duplici causa. Below, after Alia ratio est, the editions supply manifesta confessio est.
  11. 11
    Non pauci codd. hic, incongrue. — (Cfr. etiam:) Ed. 1 omittit simul, cod. H legit dicere, illis maxime. Superius pro imitando edd. inimicando. — Inferius (nota seq.) Cod. K (I a secunda manu) etiam bene vice. — Vide scholion ad I. huius articuli quaest.
    Not a few codices read hic, incongruously. — Edition 1 omits simul; codex H reads dicere, illis maxime. Above, for imitando the editions read inimicando. — Codex K (with the I by a second hand) also reads, fittingly, vice. — See the scholion to question I of this article. ---
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