Words of absolution

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In this topic fr. Vicent Serpa says:
The priest must say the words of absolution in order for the sacrament of Penance to be valid.
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Which precisely are the words of absolution? In other words what is the absolute minimum priest must say in order for sacrament of Penance to be valid?

Thnaks.
 
“I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Betsy
 
baltobetsy said:
"I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."Betsy
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I don’t think the priest must say those specific words in order for the sacrament to be valid. I believe the Eastern Churches have slightly different wordings, and there was discussion in the 70’s about changing the formulation of the words of absolution. Presumably any of these formulations, from whatever rite, would provide for a valid absolution - as well as variations of the words which are substantially the same (consubstantial?😃 ).

For the sacrament to be licit, however, the priest should follow the books.
 
nas_matko said:
In this topic fr. Vicent Serpa says:

Which precisely are the words of absolution? In other words what is the absolute minimum priest must say in order for sacrament of Penance to be valid?

Thnaks.
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In the Latin Rite “I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
 
Thank you all, I thought these are the required words, but I wasn’t sure.
 
One more question if I may:

What should I do if priest is omitting even the most essential part? It happens to me once or twice that priest said “Ok, now I absolve you, have a nice day.” (I am not joking).
Shell I ask him to absolve me properly or shell I go for another confession?
 
Hello,

Your questioned troubled me so I looked in the Code of Canon Law, and the ordinary form of the sacrament should include the full text of the absolution from: “God the Father of mercies…” to “…in the name of…” Canons 959-997 speak of the sacrament and the commentary found on page 1141 in the New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law says this much.

However, according to the Council of Florence, the absolution in its simplest form must be “I absolve you” so your reception of the sacrament was valid, but really not ideal. The main reason for the longer form is for the instruction of the people of God. You should be reminded who it is that forgives you, and why it’s important for a priest to be involved, and how that ties into the whole experience of being a member of the Catholic community. I’m sorry that you were made to worry about your reception of the sacrament. Kudos to you for going - many don’t anymore, but you might want to find a new confessor next time - they can make all the difference in your desire to go again and to experience the whole situation with the joy that is supposed to be involved. Also, if you can find a tactful way to do so, you might want to let the priest know how it made you feel. I’m sure he didn’t mean to put you in doubt.
 
Thank you trog for your time you spent searching for answer. It was very comprehensive and gave me some reassurance.
 
If the priest hearing your confession does not even say “I absolve you,” than you should ask him to say the proper Absolution prayer. If he can’t or won’t, than ask him to at least say “I absolve you.” If he refuses you should notify your bishop, who will then correct the problem.
 
baltobetsy said:
“I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Betsy
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That is not correct. The minimum words for valid absolution (form) are “I absolve you”. A priest saying this would not be following a licit practice, but the sacrament would still be valid and the sins forgiven and gone.
 
I think the minimum is “I absolve you,” and I think you could still go to communion, but this is a very serious liturgical abuse the priest is practicing, and you should do something about it, whether notifying him, or contacting (politely, respectfully, and making it clear your intention is to FIX the situation) the bishop’s office.

Ugh, why do some clergy put us in this situation?
 
In the Latin Rite the proper form of absoultion is as follows:

God the Father of mercies,
through the death and resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins
in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.

For pastoral reasons the priest may shorten the formula to

I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit

ANy other words would not render the sacrament invalid but the words of absolution in one of the two forms would be essential.

Fr Tom - a preist for 20+ years
 
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