What Does “Absolution” Mean in the Bible?
The words with which the priest, in God’s name, forgives sins in confession.
It can mean
- The words: they end like this: “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
- Who forgives: God. The priest does it in his name, by the power Jesus gave the apostles.
- Careful: at the beginning of Mass, after the “I confess,” the priest says another absolution. That one is not the sacrament of confession.
Today
It is received in confession, after telling one’s sins and receiving the penance.
Where it appears in the Bible
John 20:22; John 20:23
What the Bible says
John 20:22
When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
John 20:23
Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catechism 1449 and 1424; GIRM 51