"Even in these days and age, marked by so many religious and social challenges", the sacrament of confession should be "rediscovered and re-proposed". It was said by the Pope who, as he received in audience the Penitentiaries of the four papal basilicas of Rome, defined the confessor as "a father, a spiritual judge, a master and a teacher" and recommended to the priests "to keep themselves constantly updated" in this area. Benedict XVI began by recalling "all the priests of the world, who devote themselves with zeal to the ministry of the confessional" and defining the sacrament of penance as "a spiritual rebirth, which turns the penitent into a new creature". "This miracle of grace recalled the Pontiff can only be wrought by God, and He works it through the words and the gestures of the priest". To, the confessor "is not a passive onlooker" but a "proactive instrument of God’s mercy". Hence the need, for the confessor, to combine "a good spiritual and pastoral sensitivity" with "a serious theological, moral and educational background that may enable him to understand the person’s experience" (to be continued).
