Part One: The Profession of Faith › Section Two of Part One: The Profession of the Christian Faith: The Creeds ›› CHAPTER 3: I Believe in the Holy Spirit ››› Article 10: I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins

› IN BRIEF

Questions and Answers

963. When did the risen Christ confer on His apostles the divine power to forgive sins? (CCC 976) The risen Christ conferred on His apostles the divine power to forgive sins when, in the evening of the day of Resurrection, He gave them the Holy Spirit (Jn 20).
964. What did Christ say in order to confer on the apostles the power of forgiving sins? (CCC 976) In order to confer on the apostles the power of forgiving sins Christ said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn 20).
965. With which words did Christ institute one baptism for the forgiveness of sins? (CCC 977) Christ instituted one baptism for the forgiveness of sins in Mk 16 with the words: “He who believes and is baptised will be saved (from his sins).”
966. What is the first and chief sacrament of the forgiveness of sins? (CCC 977) The first and chief sacrament of the forgiveness of sins is Baptism.
967. How complete is the forgiveness we receive at Baptism? (CCC 978) The forgiveness we receive at Baptism is so complete that there is nothing left to efface, neither (1) original sin nor (2) actual sins nor is there left any (3) penalty to suffer to expiate them.
968. What wounds caused by original sin remain in man after Baptism? (CCC 978) The wounds caused by original sin remaining in man after Baptism are the weaknesses of nature.
They are: two in the body (passibility, mortality) and four in the soul (concupiscence, weakness, ignorance, malice).
969. What wound of the soul that remains after Baptism never ceases to lead man into evil? (CCC 978) The wound of the soul that remains after Baptism and never ceases to lead man into evil is concupiscence.
970. Why is Baptism not the Church’s only means of forgiving sins? (CCC 979) Baptism isn’t the Church’s only means of forgiving sins, because man keeps sinning after Baptism and thus needs to be forgiven his offences.
971. How are those who have fallen after Baptism reconciled with God and the Church? (CCC 980) Those who have fallen after Baptism are reconciled with God and with the Church through the sacrament of Penance.
972. What did Christ give to the apostles through the power of the keys? (CCC 981) Christ gave to the apostles through the power of the keys the faculty:
1. to communicate to men the forgiveness of sins in Baptism
2. to reconcile them with God and the Church (confession).
In Mt 16 Christ says to St Peter: “I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”