St. John 20:23 is an uncomfortable verse for most Protestants. Some try to
explain it away as follows:
“Christ in John 20:23 was effectively
commissioning the Apostles to go out and preach the Gospel to all creation.
Those who believed in the Gospel would have their sins forgiven; those
who did not would have their sins retained.” Unfortunately, St. John 20:23
mentions nothing about preaching, nor of God forgiving sins directly
Himself. Rather, Christ speaks of the Apostles forgiving and retaining sins
and empowers them to do so.
Another tactic is to try and ‘smother’ St. John 20:23 by quoting numerous
other verses that speak of God or Christ forgiving sins directly without the
intermediary of any Apostle or priest. Allegedly, the aim of this is to
interpret St. John 20:23 in its proper context and conclude that God could
not have appointed the Apostles as agents of forgiveness. However, none of
these other verses relate directly to St. John 20:23, nor do they aim to
interpret it or contradict it. To accept this approach would render St. John
20:23 utterly useless.
Third objection: “Catholics believe they can commit any sins and
then simply go to confession whenever they like to have them forgiven.
What an abuse!”
Such would certainly be an abuse if it were true. However, in all cases we
must make the clear distinction between use and abuse, remembering that
abuse should never abolish use. If there have been or are Catholics who
approach the sacrament of Penance with the above attitude they can never
have any of their sins forgiven. Only those who approach the sacrament
with true sorrow for their sins and the intention never to commit them again
are eligible for forgiveness. For a valid reception of the sacrament, the
penitent must perform three acts: contrition, confession and satisfaction.
Contrition is the most important condition for forgiveness. As stated,
without true sorrow for sin there can be no possibility of pardon. Sorrow
must be interior and genuine, not merely a hypocritical outward display. It
must cover all mortal sins of which the penitent is aware. Sorrow for sin
may be perfect, that is, out of charity, or love of God: “her sins, which are
many, are forgiven, for she loved much” (St. Luke 7:47); or imperfect
attrition, based on less perfect motives such as fear of hell, loss of heaven
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