Spowiednik wobec penitenta z problemami bioetycznymi

Abstract

A confessor is not required to have special knowledge about bioethical issues. In these cases the confessor needs to discern the internal dispositions of the penitent; i.e., their repentance, conversion and the readiness to change. The minister of reconciliation needs to keep in mind that this sacrament was established for men and women who are sinners, and for this reason the confessor should receive penitents and assume their good will to be reconciled with the merciful God who is willing to be born in a humble heart. The attack on human life touches the very core of the human person. In this area there are no light or irrelevant issues and, therefore, the confessor dealing with this problem is in contact with life and death. God is always first in the sacrament of reconciliation. Let every confessor keep in mind that the confessional is not a torture chamber but the place where the penitent experiences God’s mercy and where they receive an invitation to change and to do good. The penitent should always hear the truth and receive the assurance of salvific love which, in a mysterious way, is at work in every human being independently of their shortcomings and shortfalls.