• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis hears a man's confession during a Lenten penance service March 8, 2024, at the parish of St. Pius V in Rome. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope tells priests: ‘Don’t ask too much’ during confession, forgive always

March 8, 2024
By Justin McLellan
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Lent, News, Vatican, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

ROME (CNS) — Catholics should not be afraid to bear their sins before God whose mercy is a model for the church’s ministers, Pope Francis said.

“Put this in your mind and heart: God never tires of forgiving,” the pope said during a Lenten penance service March 8. He then asked the approximately 600 people gathered at the parish of St. Pius V in Rome to repeat his words with him: “God never tires of forgiving!”

Before putting on a stole to personally hear confessions in the church, Pope Francis asked priests to “forgive always, like God who never tires of forgiving.”

“Don’t ask too much” during confessions, he told the priests, instructing them to “forgive everything.”

“Let us always grant forgiveness to those who ask for it and help those who feel fear to confidently approach the sacrament of healing and joy,” he said. “Let us put God’s forgiveness back at the center of the church.”

The pope was spirited while reading the entirety of his lengthy speech, frequently stopping to add personal anecdotes and to solicit participation from the crowd. He had an aide read his speeches earlier in the day and said earlier in the week that he had persistent cold symptoms.

Hundreds of people crowded outside the parish entrance to greet Pope Francis upon his arrival. Inside, pews were filled as the visibly animated pope engaged with the crowd.

Pope Francis asked people during his homily to “look at your sins, look at the bad things you have said and done.”

“In silence say to the Lord: ‘Lord, if you wish you can make me clean.’ And he can,” the pope said, quoting the leper who asks Jesus for healing in St. Mark’s Gospel.

Pope Francis said he could imagine someone saying, “Oh, Father, I’ve committed a sin that is surely unforgivable.”

“Listen,” the pope responded, “God forgives everything because he does not tire of forgiving,” rather, “we tire of asking for forgiveness.”

After his homily, the Eucharist was placed in a monstrance on the altar and Pope Francis went to a corner where two chairs were set up for him to hear confession. The Vatican said 20 priests heard confessions in the church and that the pope offered the sacrament to nine people.

In his reflection, the pope said that Lent is the time to return to the path of God’s forgiveness which begins with baptism and never ends.

“There is no retirement from this, nobody on this journey retires, they must always go forward,” he said.

Yet after traveling some distance on the path toward God, “perhaps we have lost sight of this holy life that flows within us,” he said.

“Day after day, immersed in a repetitive rhythm, caught up in a thousand things, dazed by so many messages, we look everywhere for satisfaction and novelty, stimulation and positive feelings, but we forget that there is already new life flowing within us,” he said.

“When we are busy with so many things, do we think about the Holy Spirit that is within us?” the pope asked. “Many times I don’t think about it and that’s bad.”

Being overly caught up in work can cause people to “forget the true path we are walking in the new life,” he said.

Pope Francis also called out the “bad habit” he said people often have of “transforming our companions on the journey into adversaries.”

“Our neighbor’s faults seem exaggerated to us and their merits hidden,” he said. “How often we are inflexible with others and indulgent with ourselves.”

The pope urged Christians to welcome their new lives in God by confessing “the leprosy of sin (that) has stained our beauty.”

Encouraging the crowd to repeat after him, Pope Francis told them when they are being duplicitous, when they neglect prayer, are dishonest, false and judgmental, to say to God: “Lord, if you wish you can make me clean.”

Read More Vatican News

Ukraine religious leaders issue ‘desperate cry’ to world to end Russia’s war

care of creation

Pope Leo wears Chicago-made vestments to July 9 ‘care of creation’ Mass

Russia Ukraine Vatican peace

Pope: Vatican still ready to host peace talks between Russia, Ukraine

Pope prays for conversion of those resisting climate action at new Mass

Castel Gandolfo

After 12 years, locals welcome pope back to his summer home

Synod office provides guidelines to help local churches, bishops implement synodality

Copyright © 2024 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Justin McLellan

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • 3 North Americans named to Vatican dicasteries for ecumenism, interreligious dialogue

  • Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

  • St. Mary’s purchases former Annapolis Area Christian School

  • St. Clement Mary Hofbauer adapts to times, cultures as it celebrates 100th anniversary

  • Augustinian prior opens up about papal vacation, first encyclical, appointments and tennis

| Latest Local News |

Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

DUAL ENROLLMENT

Double the learning: Dual enrollment provides college credit to high school students

St. Mary’s purchases former Annapolis Area Christian School

Radio Interview: Exploring the Nicene Creed – Part Two

St. Clement Mary Hofbauer adapts to times, cultures as it celebrates 100th anniversary

| Latest World News |

Judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship order as part of class action lawsuit

Ukraine religious leaders issue ‘desperate cry’ to world to end Russia’s war

care of creation

Pope Leo wears Chicago-made vestments to July 9 ‘care of creation’ Mass

sorry baby

Movie Review: Sorry, Baby

ICE

ICE deports Iowa parishioner to Guatemala homeland as supporters pray for his release

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship order as part of class action lawsuit
  • Ukraine religious leaders issue ‘desperate cry’ to world to end Russia’s war
  • Pope Leo wears Chicago-made vestments to July 9 ‘care of creation’ Mass
  • Movie Review: Sorry, Baby
  • ICE deports Iowa parishioner to Guatemala homeland as supporters pray for his release
  • Come away and rest awhile
  • French woman hopes sharing mystical encounter with Minnesota Benedictine helps sainthood cause
  • Pope: Vatican still ready to host peace talks between Russia, Ukraine
  • Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en