ceed the Apostles in the Priesthood, as the Church has always believed and taught.
6. Why was the power of forgiving sins to pass from the Apostles to their Successors also?
Because Christ instituted His means of salvation for all times, and for all men, who stand in need of them.
7. Can all sins be forgiven by the Sacrament of Penance?
Yes, all the sins we have committed after Baptism can be forgiven, if we confess them with the necessary disposition of repentance.
'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity' (1 John i. 9).
Yet not all sins can be forgiven by every Priest. For, 1. In order that a Priest may be able to absolve validly from sins, it is not only required that he should have received this power in Holy Order, but also that he should have been especially authorized by the Bishop to administer the Sacrament of Penance in his diocese. 2. According to an ancient, lawful, and salutary practice, the Pope and the Bishops are accustomed to reserve to themselves the absolution from certain very grievous sins, from which, therefore, other Priests can absolve only in virtue of a particular authorization. When, however, there is immediate danger of death, and no Priest especially authorized to hear Confessions is present, any other Priest can absolve from all sins.
8. But why must we confess our sins in order to have them forgiven?
Because Christ ordained it so when He instituted the Sacrament of Penance.
9. How do we prove that Christ has ordained Confession?
We prove it, 1. By his own words: ' Whose sins you shall forgive,' etc., for unless we declare our sins, and the whole state of our soul, to the Priest, he cannot know whether, in virtue of the judicial power which God has conferred on him, he is to forgive or to retain them;
2. By the testimony of the holy Fathers of the Church, who unanimously teach that we have not to expect from
