Talk:Reconciliatio et paenitentia

Quote Paragrapah 31 - The sacrament of penance is the primary way of obtaining forgiveness

The first conviction is that for a Christian the sacrament of penance is the primary way of obtaining forgiveness and the remission of serious sin committed after baptism. Certainly the Savior and his salvific action are not so bound to a sacramental sign as to be unable in any period or area of the history of salvation to work outside and above the sacraments. But in the school of faith we learn that the same Savior desired and provided that the simple and precious sacraments of faith would ordinarily be the effective means through which his redemptive power passes and operates. It would therefore be foolish, as well as presumptuous, to wish arbitrarily to disregard the means of grace and salvation which the Lord has provided and, in the specific case, to claim to receive forgiveness while doing without the sacrament which was instituted by Christ precisely for forgiveness. §31

John Paul II. (1984). Reconciliatio et Paenitentia. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Nodelink (talk) 17:11, 21 November 2019 (UTC)