The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1878-04-08
A&'Ay%'M9 &lc9l5tcg.
TaE CHURCHES.
what Was Said nnd DonH ~ Tmcrn
Yesterday.
CATHEDRAL.


Bishop Kain preached yesterday after
noon rom the text: John xN:22 2:
"Rcceiye We the Holy Glost; whose sins
you shall forgive, they are forgiven
them; and whose sins You shall retain,
they are retained
Having dwalt some moments On the
interest which attaches to the question OF
the forgiveness Of sins In the minds OF
both Catholics and ProtCstsnts, the
B.sRop alluded to the cure of tha para
lytic, rs narrated IN Mark, second chap
ter. Our Lord granted the sick man q
greater boon than He had been asked
Tor. lie saved the soul-saying: Thy
sins arc forgiven thee" His enemies
murmured 1T this, and pronounced it
blasphemy. "Who can forgive sins but
God only2' they asked, The enc
mics of tho Catholic Church bor-
row the Identical objection first spoken
by the declared enemies of Christ. ana
say, "Wno can forgive sins but Sod2'
But if the Church and her minis ~ are
OF divine institution, then must we -ecoE-
nizo in her ministers a power wHica be-
lon.s To them, OF rs men, but watch IS
peculiar to TIE Christian ministry. In
their official capacity they have powers
suited 20 their oihce, as the minister's OF
God. lust AS the President or Governor
possesses prerogstiyes which he does not
claim or exercise in his capacity as a
ciujzsn. Does Jesus Christ Hlmso,. de!gn
TO use the instrumentalIty OF the ministry
which He Himself bss established, Tor
the forgiveness OF sins2 This is the que5'
ton OF this evenings discourse.
We maintain, remarked the Bishop,
thst whilst the passion and death OF
Jesus Christ are the one sole meriLorIous
cause OF our redemption, our divine Lord
could and did appoint such means rs lie
pleased for the application OF HIS merits
10 individual souls. OF these means,
baptism is The first. But if men again
sin and iorGei. their heavenly inheritance,
their sins must be committed after bap-
Ism through the fundamentally of the
same diyinely constituted ministry OF the
Apostles. To this power our Lord alludes
IN the 18Th chapter OF 81. Mathew
gospel l7th and 18th verses. But this
power IS expressly delegated IN the words
1f the text, John Xxx, y
and %. Christ brca!hes or His apostles,
IS if communicating Hrs own divine lie.
de states to them why he impgrts TO
them His own spirit; "Whose sin you
shall forgive they are forgiven" Beng
the very God, He coltJd delegate this
power; now that He did delegate 1t, hls
own words admit of no other inLerpre
tstiOn.
This power was no personal favor to
the Apostles. 1t was given 70 them Tor
the benefit Of others. II, therefore, sins
were forgiven by the ministry Of the
Apostolic Church, why may not the same
power be exercised at al times ty the
same ministry? Martin Luther blmselt
believed tho priesthood possessed this
power; this doctrine he taught in Ms
cstechisn, Grd had it inserted in the pro-
,ession Of faith drawn up for the Confer
ence of Augsburg.
The confession of sins 10 tho minister
of God follows necessarily from the dis.
.ret!oLsry power conferred by Christ to
| gJSsIvs or not ajsoLUs. lilo is constituted
the iudge; but no cannot pssS IN eluIta
Die Judgment without knowing .he
merits Of the case brought before MS til
! bunal, and this knowledge he can acquire
only by the seIt-acCusstion OF the
penitent Read acts XIX, Is, and St
james Y, Il and 10.
Against this practice two kinds Of
objections are raised. Some regard 1t as
100 hard and too painful and therefore
sot OF divine institution. In itself 1t Is
painful. bu. cOutrssted with the penalty
5f hell which the sinner deserved, it Is u
most ogsy and merci.ul cispensa.!on
Blu. if hard on the fa!.Liulit Is dou0iy
hard on the miElstcTs OF Lhe sacrameuG
since they mast not only 90 TO confession
themselves. bu. must submit TO any dan
ger in order to hear the confessions o.
penilent sinners.
1t follows that confession is not an in
stltutlon of the priest, rs some would have
It believed; Tor there is no duty OF their
ministry which entails upon them SO
much sacrifice Of personal comfort.
The charge that Catholics must pay
the priest Tor torgiving their sins, Is SIM
DIV Oare.aced lie, used for purposes best
Erowu TO those who circulate II.
Others urge that the forgiveness olsins
in the Catholic Church is too easy so easy
AS to encourage the commission OF crime
The answer to this objection is, that the
Catholic Church requires tor the forgive
ness OF SIN, all the conditions which Pro-
testants require, and coed deal more
The Cnuycn requires the sinner to repent,
to be Truly sorry, to purpose amendment
and make due satisfaction rs tar As be can.
Here the bishop eXhCrted his hearers
to save their conscience from the fear OF
false repentance by using diligently
every means in their power to Pers.yere
lie concluded his discourse by an earnest
appeal to al his people TO prepare thcm-
selves for the worthy reception OF the
sacrameuts during the approaching
Paschal soiemuiues.
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