The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

"898 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Elsewhere he says:With us, the Bishop orpriest binds or looses; Dot them who are merelyinnocent or guilty, but having heard, as his dutyrequires, the various qualities of sin, he understandswho should be bound and who loosed." lCould the Catholic doctrine regarding the powerof the priests and the obligation of confession be expressedin stronger language than this ?And yet these are the very Fathers who arerepresented to be opposed to Sacramental Confession ! With a reckless disregard of the unanimousvoice of antiquity, our adversaries have the hardihoodto assert that private or Sacramental Confession wasintroduced at a period subsequent to the twelfthcentury. They do not, however, vouchsafe to informus by what Pope or Bishop or Father of the Church,or by what Council, or in what country, this monstrous innovation was foisted on the ChristianRepublic. Surely, an institution which, in theirestimation, has been fraught with such dire calamity to Christendom, ought to have its originmarked with more precision.It is sometimes prudent, however, not to be too particular in fixingdates.I shall now, I trust, show to the satisfaction ofthe reader: 1. That Sacramental Confession was notintroduced ;2. That it could not have been introduced into the Church since the days of the Apostles,and consequently that it isApostolic in its origin.1Comm. in Matt