Confession spurs New Evangelization, Pope says

March 09, 2012

The sacrament of Reconciliation is an important part of the New Evangelization, Pope Benedict XVI argued in a March 9 address to 1,300 clerics participating in an annual course on the “internal forum” hosted by the Apostolic Penitentiary. "The Sacraments and the announcement of the Word must, in fact, never be seen as separate from one another,” the Pope said. He explained the role of Confession in the process of evangelization:

True conversion of hearts, which means opening ourselves to the transforming and regenerative action of God, is the 'motor' of all reform and turns into an authentic force for evangelization.

To be effective in their role as confessors and thus as promoters of the New Evangelization, Pope Benedict said, priests must be conscious of the fact that they, too, are sinners, in need of forgiveness, and should make frequent use of the sacrament as penitents themselves.

 

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Further information:

• New Evangelization Also Begins in the Confessional (VIS)