Penance requirements?

[coda]

If one were to go to the sacrament of confession and having confessed a sin like stealing or slandering someone, the priest gives absolution and a penance of maybe 10 Our Fathers, is that all that is required? If the priest doesnt advise you to rectify with whom you stole or slandered, are you requred to do so? Is the confession valid? ---- {not that anyone in particular has done these particular things}
— just wondering what is required for the fullness of the sacrament. Does the penance given alone rectify all?

 

[puzzleannie]

all the elements of the sacrament are required
Confession
Contrition
Penance (satisfaction)
Reparation
Absolution
amendment

Confess all mortal sins in kind and number since you last valid confession to the priest
Express contrition
do penance (a symbolic prayer or action)
make reparation if possible, in the manner suggested by the priest if it is indicated (returning stolen property ie.)
receive sacramental absolution
declare a firm purpose of amendment to sin no more
(it is one thing to fear that one might commit the same sin again, but if one fully intends to keep doing the same sin, there is no valid confession)

all elements are necessary
however, confession is not invalid if the penance is not completed, it is a spiritual exercise designed to aid healing, reconciliation and avoidance of further sin.

when reparation is suggested it should be done to the extent possible, but if not possible, the penance takes its place.

 

[coda]

all the elements of the sacrament are required
Confession
Contrition
Penance (satisfaction)
Reparation
Absolution
amendment

Confess all mortal sins in kind and number since you last valid confession to the priest
Express contrition
do penance (a symbolic prayer or action)
make reparation if possible, in the manner suggested by the priest if it is indicated (returning stolen property ie.)
receive sacramental absolution
declare a firm purpose of amendment to sin no more
(it is one thing to fear that one might commit the same sin again, but if one fully intends to keep doing the same sin, there is no valid confession)

all elements are necessary
however, confession is not invalid if the penance is not completed, it is a spiritual exercise designed to aid healing, reconciliation and avoidance of further sin.

when reparation is suggested it should be done to the extent possible, but if not possible, the penance takes its place.

If the priest does not indicate any reparation be done, are you obliged to do it on your own? The catechism seems to say so… Or, if reparations are not suggested, does the priest imply “fullness” through the penance he imposes.—[Are you "off the hook’ if the priest requires nothing more than your penance?]

 

[nerddad]

well, there is that wonderful Catholic guilt, which is really telling you
to do the right thing…
i think just the fact that you are asking means you know the answer

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

If one were to go to the sacrament of confession and having confessed a sin like stealing or slandering someone, the priest gives absolution and a penance of maybe 10 Our Fathers, is that all that is required? If the priest doesnt advise you to rectify with whom you stole or slandered, are you requred to do so? Is the confession valid? ---- {not that anyone in particular has done these particular things}
— just wondering what is required for the fullness of the sacrament. Does the penance given alone rectify all?

Completing the Penance given closes the book. You do not need to do anything else. It would however be a good act to give the item stolen back somehow or donate it to charity. In other words you should not continue to benefit from the stolen item.

 

[THurifer2]

If the priest doesnt advise you to rectify with whom you stole or slandered, are you requred to do so? Is the confession valid? ---- {not that anyone in particular has done these particular things}
— just wondering what is required for the fullness of the sacrament. Does the penance given alone rectify all?

The priest cannot include rectification as part of a penance due to the seal of confession.

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

You must make reparation for something stolen/destroyed/etc., but the priest cannot bind you to do so in a way that might reveal you and your sin to others. I think this might be why you don’t often hear penances that speak directly to reparation.

Say, for instance, that I stole a book from a library. If I were to simply walk back into the library and give them back the book that I stole, this would get them their book back but might open me to criminal charges (I know, as if the library would take you to court, but play along). So that might be off the table, but I could still make a donation to the library accounting for the cost of the book.

If even making some sort of donation directly to them might arouse suspicions, I might even be able to fulfill the spirit of reparation by giving elsewhere, but that would have to be an extreme case because it wouldn’t actually restore what was lost to the person who lost it in any way, shape, or form. But if I were a bank robber and stole a million dollars, you might be able to see how it would be hard to find an inconspicuous way to simply give that back to the bank…

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

You must make reparation for something stolen/destroyed/etc., but the priest cannot bind you to do so in a way that might reveal you and your sin to others. I think this might be why you don’t often hear penances that speak directly to reparation.

Say, for instance, that I stole a book from a library. If I were to simply walk back into the library and give them back the book that I stole, this would get them their book back but might open me to criminal charges (I know, as if the library would take you to court, but play along). So that might be off the table, but I could still make a donation to the library accounting for the cost of the book.

If even making some sort of donation directly to them might arouse suspicions, I might even be able to fulfill the spirit of reparation by giving elsewhere, but that would have to be an extreme case because it wouldn’t actually restore what was lost to the person who lost it in any way, shape, or form. But if I were a bank robber and stole a million dollars, you might be able to see how it would be hard to find an inconspicuous way to simply give that back to the bank…

Your alternative ideas are correct. However actually returning the book, does not “break the seal of Confession” and just because you might face criminal charges does not eliminate the returning of the book as a possibility. Criminal charges are a civil consequence of doing the act, they are not forgiven in Confession. So you may still have to “dance to the music” in civil court for what you have done.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Catechism:

2412 In virtue of commutative justice, reparation for injustice committed requires the restitution of stolen goods to their owner:

Jesus blesses Zacchaeus for his pledge: "If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold."193 Those who, directly or indirectly, have taken possession of the goods of another, are obliged to make restitution of them, or to return the equivalent in kind or in money, if the goods have disappeared, as well as the profit or advantages their owner would have legitimately obtained from them. Likewise, all who in some manner have taken part in a theft or who have knowingly benefited from it—for example, those who ordered it, assisted in it, or received the stolen goods—are obliged to make restitution in proportion to their responsibility and to their share of what was stolen.

[2487](http://javascript:OpenPopupWindow()[Every offense committed against justice and truth entails the duty of reparation](http://javascript:OpenPopupWindow(), even if its author has been forgiven. When it is impossible publicly to make reparation for a wrong, it must be made secretly. If someone who has suffered harm cannot be directly compensated, he must be given moral satisfaction in the name of charity. This duty of reparation also concerns offenses against another’s reputation. This reparation, moral and sometimes material, must be evaluated in terms of the extent of the damage inflicted. It obliges in conscience.

 

[coda]

Catechism:

So even if the priest doesnt specify that you must make a reparation, your penance is NOT 'all" that is required… you STILL need to make a reparation? Why isnt it a requirement that must be met prior to confession? What sin or penalty remains if one doesnt make reparation ?

 

[jmcrae]

So even if the priest doesnt specify that you must make a reparation, your penance is NOT 'all" that is required… you STILL need to make a reparation? Why isnt it a requirement that must be met prior to confession? What sin or penalty remains if one doesnt make reparation ?

I think we are expected to use our God-given heads, in these situations. If you stole something, find a way to give it back without drawing attention to yourself. (Or if you must draw attention to yourself, deal with a functionary who has no decision-making power, and maybe some reasons of his own for not wanting to draw the attention of the management.)

 

[coda]

I think we are expected to use our God-given heads, in these situations. If you stole something, find a way to give it back without drawing attention to yourself. (Or if you must draw attention to yourself, deal with a functionary who has no decision-making power, and maybe some reasons of his own for not wanting to draw the attention of the management.)

This isnt about theft or any other"specific" sin. It is about any situation where someone is wronged and a person brings it before Christ in the confessional. The original question was " are reparations required if the priest doesnt tell you to make them?" If they are and you dont, does any sin remain, or does temporal punishment increase because you didnt make them?

 

[THurifer2]

Confessions are NOT conditional. Abolution is absolution.

A priest cannot give reparation as a penance

penance has no bearing on absolution…

failing to do reparation will put you back into the confessional though.

 

[twf]

As the catechism says, reparations are always necessary. If you hurt a friend, it is your responsibility to make things right (Scripture mandates this as well…
Matthew 5:23-24 (NAB)

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

If you confess theft, you are forgiven at the moment of absolution, but I would argue that you commit a new sin by keeping the stolen goods! If you stole your neighbour’s family heirloom he or she will continue to hurt until you return it! The Church also requires us to be good citizens and to submit to the governing authorities, as the Apostle also exhorts (see Romans 13:1-2). So if your sin involved a civil or criminal offense (such as theft or murder) you should turn yourself in! Just because you’ve been absolved (forgiven by God) doesn’t mean you suddenly have the right to avoid the consequences. The seal of the confessional applies only to the priest. It doesn’t preclude you from telling others.