Catechism of the Catholic Church · Part One › Section Two › Chapter Three · Article 10 (§§976–987)
Paragraphs · 12
The Catechism's text is under copyright, so each paragraph is quoted briefly here with a link to the full text at vatican.va.
"I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins"
- §976 — The Apostle's Creed associates faith in the forgiveness of sins not only with faith in the Holy Spirit, but also with faith in the Church and in the communion of saints.vatican.va
I. One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins
- §977 — Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved."vatican.va
- §978 — "When we made our first profession of faith while receiving the holy Baptism that cleansed us, the forgiveness we received then was so full and complete that there remained in us absolutely nothing left to efface, neither original sin nor offenses committed by our own…vatican.va
- §979 — In this battle against our inclination towards evil, who could be brave and watchful enough to escape every wound of sin? "If the Church has the power to forgive sins, then Baptism cannot be her only means of using the keys of the Kingdom of heaven received from Jesus Christ.vatican.va
- §980 — It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church:vatican.va
II. The Power of the Keys
- §981 — After his Resurrection, Christ sent his apostles "so that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations." The apostles and their successors carry out this "ministry of reconciliation," not only by announcing to men God's forgiveness merited for us…vatican.va
- §982 — There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. "There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest.vatican.va
- §983 — Catechesis strives to awaken and nourish in the faithful faith in the incomparable greatness of the risen Christ's gift to his Church: the mission and the power to forgive sins through the ministry of the apostles and their successors:vatican.va
- §984 — The Creed links "the forgiveness of sins" with its profession of faith in the Holy Spirit, for the risen Christ entrusted to the apostles the power to forgive sins when he gave them the Holy Spirit.vatican.va
- §985 — Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of the forgiveness of sins: it unites us to Christ, who died and rose, and gives us the Holy Spirit.vatican.va
- §986 — By Christ's will, the Church possesses the power to forgive the sins of the baptized and exercises it through bishops and priests normally in the sacrament of Penance.vatican.va
- §987 — "In the forgiveness of sins, both priests and sacraments are instruments which our Lord Jesus Christ, the only author and liberal giver of salvation, wills to use in order to efface our sins and give us the grace of justification" (Roman Catechism, I, 11, 6).vatican.va
Scripture cited · 10 verses
Matthew 18:21 · Matthew 18:22 · Mark 16:15 · Mark 16:16 · Luke 24:47 · John 20:22 · John 20:23 · Romans 4:25 · Romans 6:4 · 2 Corinthians 5:18