Does contrition forgive sins before absolution?
Does contrition forgive sins before absolution?
§ 94. The eighth controversy is: “Does perfect contrition united with the desire for the sacrament remit sins before the absolution of the priest?” Bellarmine responds affirmatively (De poenitentia, 2, ch. 13).
We judge that salutary contrition—that is, contrition which is joined with faith in Christ and with the earnest desire for emendation of life—is sufficient to obtain the forgiveness of sins, even if the priest’s absolution is missing in an emergency situation. Nevertheless if absolution can be had, it should by no means be neglected, for the confirming of faith. Dr. Chemnitz does not go on to deny what Bellarmine attributes to him. But he does deny that contrition alone, without faith in Christ (which is strengthened by the word of absolution), is sufficient for the remission of sins. He denies that contrition is perfect in this life. He denies that remission of sins happens through this contrition. This we deny as well.
But Bellarmine is contradicting himself, for he is arguing here that if contrition is perfect and has connected with it the desire for the sacrament of Baptism or of absolution, it entirely reconciles a person to God and forgives sins, and, in fact, before the sacrament is actually received. This he proves with many arguments, and he refutes contrary arguments. But later (De poenit., bk. 3, ch. 3, col. 1349) he clearly writes the contrary: “If priests were not judges and were not to forgive sins truly but were only to announce that they had been forgiven, no one would perish from being unable to have a reconciling priest. For anyone who believes according to the opinion of our adversaries [thinks that one] already has forgiveness, even if there is no one to testify of it in words. But St. Augustine (Letter 180 ad Honoratum) writes clearly that some who wished to be reconciled and thus believed in Christ perished forever because they died before they could be absolved by a priest.” These are the words of Bellarmine, who is very clearly contradicting himself.