Did all the Church Fathers believe in penance and confession to a priest?
The Catholic Catechism teaches that
“The Church, who through the bishop and his priests forgive sins in the name of Jesus Christ and determines the manner of satisfaction...” (para. 1448).
Also,
“Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance:...‘When Christ’s faithful strive to confess all the sins that they can remember, they undoubtedly place all of them before the divine mercy for pardon. But those who fail to do so and knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for remission through the mediation of the priest...’ ” (para. 1456).
And,
“Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing some thing more to make amends for the sin: he must ‘make satisfaction for’ or ‘expiate’ his sins. This satisfaction is also called ‘penance’ ” (para. 1459).
But Clement of Rome (d. 97), who is quoted five times in the Catholic Catechism, believed that we need to confess our sins only to God and that we do not need to do anything more to make amends for those sins.
“The Lord of all things, brethren, is in need of naught; neither requireth he anything of anyone, except to confess unto him. For the elect David saith, “I will confess unto the Lord, and that shall please him more than a young calf that putteth forth horns and hoofs. Let the poor behold and rejoice thereat.” And again he saith, “Offer unto the Lord the sacrifice of praise: pay thy vows unto the Most High. And call upon me in the day of thy affliction, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” For “the sacrifice unto God is a broken spirit.” (Clement of Rome, First Epistle, Chapter 52)
Clearly, not all the Church Fathers believed that penance and confession to a priest are necessary for the forgiveness of sins.
Other Church Father topics:
- Did all the Church Fathers believe in transubstantiation?
- Did all the Church Fathers believe Mary never sinned?
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