Misericordia Dei
Misericordia Dei ( Latin : The Mercy of God) is the title of an Apostolic Letter as " Motu Proprio ". It is subtitled: “On some aspects of the celebration of the sacrament of penance” and was promulgated on April 7, 2002 by Pope John Paul II .
About the personal sacrament of penance
“By the mercy of God, the Reconciling Father, the word became flesh in the pure womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary to“ redeem his people from their sins ”( Mt 1:21 EU ) and for them“ the way of eternal salvation With these words Pope John Paul II begins his Motu Proprio and in the following specifies some aspects of the practice of the sacrament of penance . In theogischen , pastoral and canonical approach, he emphasizes the personal character of the sacrament. The Pope says that God is not man in his society consider entirety, but always as a personality. From this it can be concluded that even personal confession can lead to personal forgiveness. “Collective absolution” is only allowed in emergencies.
About slacking off in the church
John Paul II deplored the neglect of personal penance and deplored a certain abuse of the celebration of the sacrament, which in some “parts of the Church contributed to the disappearance of this sacrament”. In this context, the Pope refers to the post-synodal apostolic letter " Reconciliatio et paenitentia " from 1984 and again includes the forms of the administration of the sacraments in his considerations. He refers to the passage in the Bible which says: “How can this person talk like that? He is blaspheming God! Who can forgive sins but God alone? "( Mk 2,7 EU )
The Pope expresses that only God alone can forgive sins. He outlines the long path in the development of the sacraments that began after the Council of Trent . Here - he adds - the Church's teaching on the sacrament of penance also has its origin. As a result of these considerations, the Pope rejects the so-called “ general absolution ”, with a few exceptional cases. He gives precise instructions according to which the bishops should proceed in individual cases and exceptions.