The reconciling community : the rite of penance

463 Pages·1991·12.67 MB·English

by  James Dallen

To disclose the underlying mystery of the
Church in relation to Christ and sinners,
James Dallen traces the complex develop¬
ment of ecclesial repentance from the
Church's first centuries to the present
time.
He shows that the Church has always worked
with sinful members, assisting them to
live out the implications of their baptismal
conversion and recognizing them as members
of its assemblies. It is in this history,
the tradition that survives from those who
have gone before marked by the sign of
faith, that the Church must find the way
to exercise the ministry of reconciliation
today and in the future.
ISBN: 0-916134-76-8

The Reconciling Community:
The Rite of Penance
Studies in the Reformed Rites
,
of the Catholic Church
Volume III
/
James Dallen
The Reconciling Community:
The Rite of Penance
Pueblo Publishing Company
New York
Design: Frank Kacmarcik
Excerpts of this book appeared as articles in Worship
entitled, "The Laying on of Hands in Penance" and
"Church Authority and the Sacrament of Penance."
Scriptural pericopes quoted from the Revised Standard
Version.
Excerpts from the English translation of the Rite of Penance
© 1974, International Committee on English in the Liturgy,
Inc. All rights reserved.
Excerpts from Documents on the Liturgy, 1963-1979:
Conciliar, Papal, and Curial Texts © 1982, International
Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights
reserved.
Excerpts from Documents of Vatican Council 11 by Austin
Flannery, O.P., Costello Publishing Company.
Copyright © 1986 Pueblo Publishing Company, Inc., New
York, New York. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN: 0-916134-76-8
For my parents —
whose love first showed me
a reconciling community

Contents
Introduction x
Part One: Shaping the Tradition
CHAPTER ONE
Origins of Ancient Penance 5
Responsibility for Sinners 7
Repentance and Reconciliation 9
Authority in and of the Church 12
Controversy over Reconciliation 15
CHAPTER TWO
Controversy and Institution 29
Rigorism and Reconciliation 30
Third-Century Eastern Practice 44
Controversy and Policy 49
CHAPTER THREE
Canonical Penance and Its Liturgy 56
The Canonical Discipline 57
The Liturgy of Canonical Penance 65
The Practice of Penance 73
Other Forms of Ecclésial Penance 77
CHAPTER FOUR
Pastoral Adaptation in the Middle Ages 100
Origin and Development of Tariff Penance 102