Among the various offices and agencies within the Vatican, the Apostolic Penitentiary is perhaps the least familiar to the Catholic faithful.
The Apostolic Penitentiary is one of three tribunals of the Roman Curia, a tribunal of mercy related to the forgiveness of sins. These include absolution from automatic excommunications (penalties incurred immediately upon commission of certain canonically specified sins or crimes) which are reserved to the Holy See, dispensation from sacramental impediments reserved to the Holy See, and the issuance and governance of indulgences.
Established in 1200 as the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, this tribunal particularly adjudicated cases involving confessor-penitent disputes involving the commission of sins or violation of Church law in the external forum.
In the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, a distinction is made between the internal forum, where an action is made without public knowledge, and the external forum, where the act is public and verifiable. This practice was particularly true in the medieval Church, for sins referred to a bishop for absolution.
If a penitent felt that the penance imposed was disproportionate to the sins committed, he could submit the dispute to the Apostolic Penitentiary. If the tribunal decided in favor of the penitent, they would issue a formal statement confirming that appropriate recompense had already been made, that the penitent's sins were forgiven, and that the matter was closed.
These disputes were transcribed by legal clerks, who were paid by fees assessed by the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary for the transcription of their decisions. It was this practice that led to claims (especially by Protestant Reformists) that the Church accepted money for the forgiveness of sins.
In 1917, the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Relics was officially suppressed and its duties transferred to the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary.
In 1984, the tribunal was renamed the Apostolic Penitentiary.
The Penitentiary Major is a is normally a member of the College of Cardinals. Since September of 2013, the Penitentiary Major is Cardinal Mauro Piacenza. Since June of 2012, Monsignor Krzysztof Nykiel has served as the the Regent, the second-highest-ranking official in the Apostolic Penitentiary. They are assisted by four canon lawyers appointed with the approval of the Pope himself.
Today, the work of the Apolostic Penitentiary involves sins or crimes which Canon Law explicitly states are reserved to the Holy See for absolution. These violations incur automatic excommunication by virtue of the law itself.
Only after the automatic excommunication is lifted, can absolution be granted.
The ordinary procedure in such cases would be for persons seeking absolution or a dispensation reserved to the Holy See to write a petition to the Apostolic Penitentiary. The impediment or act in question must not be public, as it would then be a matter of the external forum and cannot be absolved or dispensed by the Penitentiary.
Usually, the petition is written through the penitent’s confessor. The petition must be anonymous when explaining the situation to avoid revealing the identity of the persons involved. Otherwise, the Seal of Confession would be violated. The Penitentiary Major considers the matter personally, unless he judges that it would be appropriate for the matter to be considered by the whole trbunal.
The other members of the Apostolic Penitentiary only give advice regarding the petition—the Penitentiary Major alone has the ultimate decision on whether the dispensation or absolution should be granted.
If the Penitentiary Major remains uncertain as to whether he has authority in a given case, he submits the matter directly to the Pope.
The Penitentiary Major, is one of three Vatican officials (the others being the Cardinal Vicar of Rome and the Vicar General of Vatican City State) who retain their positions when the Holy See is vacant due to the death or abdication of the Supreme Pontiff.
If the Penitentiary Major is a Cardinal Elector, he is one of only three persons in the Conclave allowed to communicate with the outside world, so that he can continue to fulfill his duties.
The Apostolic Penitentiary in its institution structure and service reminds us that the care and salvation of souls remains the singular and supreme mission of the Church.
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