ABSOLUTION, in ecclesiastical usage, the freeing from sin or its penalties. In the Cath olic Church absolution has two important and distinctive bearings: (1) Absolution from sin; (2) Absolution from censures. The first is defined as the remission of sin, and can only be given by a duly ordained priest in the Sacra ment of Penance, which requires, on the part of the penitent, a sincere confession of all his sins, contrition and a firm purpose of amend ment. The basis of the doctrine is the authority of the Church and the commission in John xx, 23. In circumstances, where the conditions of the Sacrament of Penance cannot be fulfilled, as in severe illness when the penitent is too weak to speak, or in instant danger of death, conditional absolution may be given on the ground of the moral conviction of the penitent's virtual desire to comply with all the necessary conditions. The Councils of Florence and of
Trent defined the form of words to be used: "I absolve thee from thy sins, etc.° In the Greek or Eastern Church the deprecatory form is used: "May Christ absolve thee, etc." Absolu tion from censures merely removes penalties imposed by the Church. It may be given either in the Sacrament of Penance, or in the external form, that is, in the courts of the Church. It is not necessary for the person to be absolved from censures to be present or even living. Absolution for the dead is a short prayer im ploring eternal rest and the remission of the temporal penalties of sin over a dead body. In the Protestant Churches in general absolution is simply a declarative power of the minister imploring the divine forgiveness. Consult 'Decrees of Council of Trent' ; Denys de St. Marthe, 'Traite de la Confession.'