Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-05
BISHOP CONATY
ON CONFESSION
FIRST OF SERIES OF LENTEN
SERMONS AT CATHEDRAL
Authority of the Church for Believing
Man May Be Used as ln-
strument for Forgive
ness of Sin

served yesterday with special sermons
in many of the churches appropriate
to the season of fasting and prayer.
While Lent is not generally observed In
the Protestant evangelical churches,
there seems to be a growing tendency
to observe it in minor way with spe-
cial services during holy week, when
the passion Of Chist is comment
morated. While these services do not
partake of the solemn grandeur given
them by the Catholic and Episcopal
churches, they bespeak much feeling.
On the Easter morn all churches unite
in one grand anthem of joy at the
resurrection, when creed lines are for
gotten In the grander Significance of
the day.
In many churches special courses of
sermons are being preached, especially
adapted to the season.
Bishop Conaty preached the first Of a
series OF sermons at the Cathedral of
st. Vibiana, iii which he dwelt on the
Catholic confessional and it's meaning
to Catholics. He said in part
Bishop Conaty's Sermon
1.-THE sacrament of penance is estab-
lished by Christ for the pardon of sin
and Is the means by which sin COM
mitted after baptism is RENTED. 1t is
placed in the care of the Christian
church, as are all the sacraments, and
dates its existence from Christ himself,
who conferred upon the apostles and
through them upon their successors,
full authority over sin-that authority
which he possessed himself and which
he shared with them. The church
exists by it's sacraments to cleanse the
soul OF man from sin as well as to in
crease in them the grace of God after
sin has been RENTED.
"The church is established by Christ
to continue his work. Her first object,
as was his first object, is to seek the
sinners and bring them to repentance
and pardon so that in her organization
there must be found the pardoning
power by which to man in all stages of
life there may be extended forgiveness
and salvation, but always on the con-
ditions laid down by the Redeemer.
The whole question resolves itself into
finding the mind of Jesus Christ con-
corning sin and its pardon as well as
the conditions of forgiveness.
1.-THE query, Who can forgive sins
but God alone? was asked of Christ
himself when he was face to face with
the man sick with the palsy. 1t belongs
to God to forgive sins, but God may
make use of instruments that are
human to do his work among men,.
Many who find stumbling block in the
thought of man as an instrument in
the forgiveness of sin still believe in
Christian baptism by which, through
the fundamentally of man, the child is
made a Christian and the original sin
is RENTED.
Much Prejudice Exists
prejudice has been created against
this belief of the church and much mis-
representation exists. The Catholic
who understands his religion and who
has practiced 1t for a lifetime knows
how wickedly false are many of the
things that are currently said against
confession. He knows from his own
experience that confession is the means
by which he is able to rise out of sin
into virtue; that it Is not only not an
opportunity to commit sin with impun-
ity, but that he must be sincerely de-
termined to abandon the sins which he
has confessed before he can hope for
pardon. He knows that If he practices
the teachings of the church he will
acquire in the sacrament of penance
the power to rise superior to tempta-
ton and to lead a life of virtue. He
knows, too. that it is not possible that
an act of religion so opposed to the or
binary promptings of human nature
could ever have become the universal
law and practice without being founded
upon the authority of Christ, for 1T is
a fact that the children of the church
in all ages and countries and languages
have followed this religious obligation
and have realized that in it is one of
the means of sanctifying their souls
1t is not possible that this could be
accomplished if confession were what it
81, bod To 1NA 1,xy yKrh n T.
prejudiced against it or misinformed
about it 1t is also known to everyone
of us that the sacrament is absolutely
free and that no one is obliged at any
time or under any circumstances TO
give money for confession.
1.-THE DEGREES OF the councils concern
ing confession do not express the estab-
lshment of it by those DEGREES but
they rather define the belief and estab-
lish regulations for the way in which
confession should be followed,
Belief of Catholics
"Men differ from the Catholic church
with regard to the Interpretation of the
scriptures upon the sacrament, the
question of sin and the conditions of
It's pardon, but one man should be just
enough to another to, at least, find
what his belief is and upon what it is
grounded and not accuse people of doc
trine which they are in no wise pre-
pared to acknowledge as being the doc
trine which they profess. We know
what we believe and practice better
than those outside our fold.
"The Catholic church believes in con-
fession and teaches it and practices it
because it claims in the authority given
by Christ to his apostles there is a par
don for sins which to be known must
be confessed and that that pardon is
exercised in the name and by the
authority Of Christ by the ministers Of
the church who have had transmitted
by regular succession the same author