an established and venerable
institution and Luther says that "auricular Confession, as now in vogue,
is useful, nay, necessary; nor would I," he adds, "have it abolished,
since it is the remedy of afflicted consciences."(456) Even Henry VIII.,
before he founded a new sect, wrote a treatise in defence of the
Sacraments, including Penance and Confession.

It was not introduced in the thirteenth century, for the Fourth Council of
Lateran passed a decree in 1215 obliging the faithful to confess their
sins at least once a year. This decree, of course, supposes Confession to
be already an established fact.

Some Protestant writers fall into a common error in interpreting the
decree of the Lateran Council by saying "Sacramental Confession was never
required in the Church of Rome until the thirteenth century." The Council
simply prescribed a limit beyond which the faithful should not defer their
confession.

These writers seem incapable of distinguishing between a law obliging us
to a certain duty and a statute fixing the time for fulfilling it. They
might as well suppose that the revenue officer creates the law regarding
the payment of taxes when he issues a notice requiring the revenue to be
paid within a given time.

Going back to the ninth century we find that Confession could not have had
its rise then. It was at that period that the Greek schism took its rise,
under the leadership of Photius. The Greek schismatic church has remained
since then a communion separate from the Catholic Church, having no
spiritual relations with us. Now, the Greek church is as tenaciously
attached to private Confession as we are.

For the same reasons Confession could not date its origin from the fifth
or fourth century. The Arians revolted from the Church in the fourth
century, and the Nestorians and Eutychians in the fifth. The two
last-named sects still exist in large numbers in Persia, Abyssinia and
along the coast of Malabar, and retain Confession as one of their most
sacred and cherished practices.

In fine, no human agency could succeed in instituting Confession between
the first and fourth century, for the teachings of our Divine Redeemer and
of His disciples had made too vivid an impression on the Christian
community to be easily effaced; and the worst enemies of the Church admit
that no spot or wrinkle had yet deformed her fair visage in this, the
golden age of her existence.

These remarks suffice to convince us that Sacram