release the penitent soul from its galling fetters, and to
restore it to the liberty of a child of God.

In the Gospel of St. John we have a still more striking declaration of the
absolving power given by our Savior to His Apostles.

Jesus, after His resurrection, thus addresses His disciples: "Peace be to
you. As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.... Receive ye the Holy
Ghost; whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins
ye shall retain, they are retained."(441)

That peace which I give to you you will impart to repentant souls as a
pledge of their reconciliation with God. The absolving power I have from
My Father, the same I communicate to you. Receive the Holy Ghost, that you
may impart this Holy Spirit to souls possessed by the spirit of evil. "If
their sins are as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow; and if
they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool."(442) If they are as
numerous as the sands on the seashore, they shall be blotted out, provided
they come to you with contrite hearts. The sentence of mercy which you
shall pronounce on earth I will ratify in heaven.

From these words of St. John I draw three important conclusions:

It follows, first, that the forgiving power was not restricted to the
Apostles, but extended to their successors in the ministry unto all times
and places. The forgiveness of sin was to continue while sin lasted in the
world; and as sin, alas! will always be in the world, so will the remedy
for sin be always in the Church. The medicine will co-exist with the
disease. The power which our Lord gave the Apostles to preach, to baptize,
to confirm, to ordain, etc., was transmitted by them to their successors.
Why not also the power which they had received to forgive sins, since
man's greatest need is his reconciliation with God by the forgiveness of
his offences?

It follows, secondly that forgiveness of sin was ordinarily to be obtained
only through the ministry of the Apostles and their successors, just as it
was from them that the people were to receive the word of God and the
grace of Baptism. The pardoning power was a great prerogative conferred on
the Apostles. But what kind of prerogative would it be if people could
always obtain forgiveness by confessing to God secretly in their rooms?
How few would have recourse to the Apostles if they could obtain
forgiveness on easier terms! God says to His chosen ministers: I give you
the keys of