The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-04-10
ORIGIN Or CONFESSION
Rev. E. G. M. Carroll Says
Christ Established the
Rite In His Charge
to His Disciples.

Rev. l.. C. M. Carroll, rector OF st.
Patrick's r. C. Church, preached at the
high mass yesterday, IN confession with
direct reference to the controversies that
have recently agitated s'his Protestant
friends to whom, he said, he alluded
courteously and without acrimony.
confession, Father Carroll aid, 'is a
religious rite, established by the practice
Of a large proportion of the populations Of
all Christian countries. The existence OF
the institution is undeniable, but It's
origin is the subject of much discussion
Many people contend it is the work OF
human minds, some going SO far as to
regard it as a mere device Of priest TO
maintain their supremacy over their
fiocks. The theory that laynen instituted
confession is. Father Carroll, said, con-
trary to human nature, since there IS no
duty so difficult to perform, none so re-
pugnant to every feeling of man. 1t -
the laying bare of secret thoughts and sins
and the abasing of oneself in the presence
of a fellow creature. To the priest the
hearing of confession is equally distaste-
full, involving as it does arduous labor and
severe responsibility. Popes Gregory VII
and Innocent VII have been credited with
originating the doctrine of penitence for
their own ends. but in neither case with
Justice, as mention of confession is to be
found in the works of the earliest Fathers
even in those of Origen in the third CEN
fury.
For our authority for confession, Father
Corroll said, we must go to the Gospel
where we find Christ's direct charge to
his disciples. Whose sins you shall for
give they are forgiven would not alone
nave constituted the power of judgment
which is to be found in the conclusion,
HWhose sins you shall retain, they are
retained" 1t is this divine order that
makes the priest for the time he occupies
the confessional something more han
man and renders possible the exposure to
him of the souls of his fellow beings.
Father Carroll spoke of a picture he
had seen of Pius *. as a penitent and
declared that a church must indeed be
great that humbled while it exalted and
exacted that it's Sovereign Pontif should
kneel at the feet of a subordinate and
receive that absolution which is only ac-
corded on meek and sincere repentance.
The benefits of confession were treated
by the preacher, who laid much stress on
it's deterrent influence. Countries, he
said, in which the rite is sincerely prac-
ticed are especially free from many forms
Of crime, Ireland and Belgium being ex-
amples of Catholic communities where
personal purity is far above the average.
Even Martin Luther recognized the eff
ficacy of confession and advocated It's
practice, in 1.-The Babylonian Captivity
as a cure for the sickness (meaning sins)
from which the people were suffering.
where confession has fallen into disuse,
there are many attempts at revival" said
Father Carroll, land even in our own
town there has lately been a TEMPEST in
a teapot in consequence of an effort to
establish its practice where it has
hitherto been unknown"
pOIJ.S OPEN TOMORROW.....6 A. NJ.