Examination of Conscience

Peter Steinfels June 4, 2004 - 8:48am

For centuries, confession or penance (as it was alternatively called) was the linchpin of the Catholic sacramental economy. The Eucharist might be exalted as a miraculous source of sanctifying grace but it was confession that got one over the threshold, so to speak—that could make the difference between eternal happiness or torture. Then, as James O’Toole writes, the system collapsed....

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About the Author

Peter Steinfels, a former editor of Commonweal, is co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture. He wrote the "Beliefs" column for the New York Times from 1990 to 2010.