Official writings about this?

[jesusmademe]

I would like to know if there is some writings (maybe by a pope) on this:
If People commit a crime they will recieve a penalty according to different things. The penalty/sentence Will be harsher if a person is killed rather than just beaten harshly. To me it seems that we dont want a system in which a person gets do to penance and become a penitent after comiting a crime. You would then give the penance according to the need of that person and not just basing a sentence/penalty on the result the crime had, ie wheter a person was killed or just besten harshly. Prison would then be penance rather than something that does not help. I am not really sure what I thinking since I know too little about this. But it seems that a Catholic who commits a crime would have both the sacrament of penance and the goverment giving out a sentence.
Are there something official written about this?

 

[DisorientingSneeze]

Prison would then be penance rather than something that does not help

Are you suggesting a priest should not assign a pennance because the person is already being punished in prison?

These serve entirely different functions. Prison aims to eventually restore that person’s relationship with society through retribution, incapacitation, deterrence or rehabilitation.

Confession/reconciliation aims to repair that person’s relationship with God. Anything the priest assigns certainly does help.

 

[Francis]

Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Matthew 5:25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court[[k]with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c2a4.htm

IV. INTERIOR PENANCE

**[1430 Jesus’ call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, “sackcloth and ashes,” fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion . Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance.23

**[1431] Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace. This conversion of heart is accompanied by a salutary pain and sadness which the Fathers called animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) and compunctio cordis (repentance of heart).24

**[1432] The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart.25 Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return to him: "Restore us to thyself, O LORD, that we may be restored!"26 God gives us the strength to begin anew. It is in discovering the greatness of God’s love that our heart is shaken by the horror and weight of sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being separated from him. The human heart is converted by looking upon him whom our sins have pierced:27

Let us fix our eyes on Christ’s blood and understand how precious it is to his Father, for, poured out for our salvation it has brought to the whole world the grace of repentance.

 

[Francis]

Continuation

V. THE MANY FORMS OF PENANCE IN CHRISTIAN LIFE

**[1434] The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways. Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, prayer , and almsgiving ,31 which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others. Alongside the radical purification brought about by Baptism or martyrdom they cite as means of obtaining forgiveness of sins: effort at reconciliation with one’s neighbor, tears of repentance, concern for the salvation of one’s neighbor, the intercession of the saints, and the practice of charity "which covers a multitude of sins."32

1435 Conversion is accomplished in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of justice and right,33 by the admission of faults to one’s brethren, fraternal correction, revision of life, examination of conscience, spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering, endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness. Taking up one’s cross each day and following Jesus is the surest way of penance.34

**[1436] Eucharist and Penance . Daily conversion and penance find their source and nourishment in the Eucharist, for in it is made present the sacrifice of Christ which has reconciled us with God. Through the Eucharist those who live from the life of Christ are fed and strengthened. "It is a remedy to free us from our daily faults and to preserve us from mortal sins."35

1437 Reading Sacred Scripture, praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the Our Father - every sincere act of worship or devotion revives the spirit of conversion and repentance within us and contributes to the forgiveness of our sins.

**[1438] The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice.36 These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works).

**[1439] The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son, the center of which is the merciful father:37 the fascination of illusory freedom, the abandonment of the father’s house; the extreme misery in which the son finds himself after squandering his fortune; his deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed swine, and still worse, at wanting to feed on the husks the pigs ate; his reflection on all he has lost; his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father; the journey back; the father’s generous welcome; the father’s joy - all these are characteristic of the process of conversion. The beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet are symbols of that new life - pure worthy, and joyful - of anyone who returns to God and to the bosom of his family, which is the Church. Only the heart Of Christ Who knows the depths of his Father’s love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

You would then give the penance according to the need of that person

This does happen. Priests can/do adjust penances based on the individual, and likewise, judges can/do adjust civil/criminal penalties when they see an individual situation that warrants it.

The two things serve different purposes, as those above me have pointed out.

 

[jesusmademe]

I am only saying that prison can be a part of the penance. Why would prison be of any help unless you go there to do penance?

 

[jesusmademe]

Can a Priest see Prison as a part of the penance?
What does the Church officially say about this?

And what if a person goes to pastoral counseling and recieves advices after talking about sins commited? If I, a non-catholic, heed the advice havent I already done the penance before going to the Sacrament of concession?
Or doesnt it count as penance since I did it before becoming Catholic and went to confession? What is the official teaching on this?

 

[GospelOfMatthew]

I do think this needs to be mentioned: penance isn’t punishment. Penance is reparation for the temporal damage we caused. It is not like we are serving some sort of punishment that our forgiveness hinges on.