Pastoral letter on the Sacrament of Reconciliation

Praised be Jesus Christ! Praised be his holy name!

1. In this year's Lenten mandate¹, I earnestly encouraged all the faithful to go to confession during these holy forty days. To further strengthen the place of confession in our local Church, I wish in this pastoral letter to explain some fundamental points about the sacrament, sin and God's mercy, and to offer some practical advice.

Confession in the teaching of the Church

2. The sacraments belong to the Church's liturgical life and serve “to sanctify people, to build up the Body of Christ, and … to offer worship to God”.² The seven sacraments—Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, the Anointing of the Sick, Reconciliation, Matrimony and Holy Orders—were all instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ³ and are therefore in no way arbitrary. The sacraments are willed by God and flow from Jesus' saving work.

3. Furthermore, the sacraments are “effective signs … perceptible to our senses”.⁴ They are tangible, identifiable and visible. As the sacraments are celebrated, we receive grace through them. Grace is God's gift to us,⁵ a gift that supports us on our “path towards holiness”.⁶ The sacraments are therefore rightly described as means of grace and salvation. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we receive forgiveness for the offence, the sin, we have committed.⁷

Sin and God's mercy

4. To understand this forgiveness, we must recognise what sin is and what it does to us. At every Mass we confess that sin consists of “thoughts, words, deeds and omissions”⁸ contrary to God's law. By sinning, we attempt to take God's place and make ourselves judges of good and evil, as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.⁹

5. Every sin harms our relationship and bonds with God, the Church and our neighbours. Grave sins,¹⁰ also known as mortal sins, actually break these bonds. Venial sins do not break them, but weaken them.¹¹ If we break our bonds with God, the Church and our neighbours, we are left alone, like the prodigal son in Jesus' parable.¹² Saint Paul writes plainly: “The wages of sin is death.”¹³ Sin is therefore far more destructive in our lives than we may often think. References: 1 BISHOP FREDRIK HANSEN, Lenten Mandate 2026 for the Catholic Diocese of Oslo, 14 February 2026. 2 SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 59. 3 Catechism of the Catholic Church 1114. See also COUNCIL OF TRENT, Introduction to the Seventh Session, 3 March 1547. 4 Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church 224. 5 See Ephesians 2:6. 6 Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church 231. 7 SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 11. 8 Roman Missal, Confiteor. 9 Genesis 3:1–7. 10 Catechism of the Catholic Church 1855–1861. 11 Catechism of the Catholic Church 1862–1863. 12 Luke 15:11–32. 13 Romans 6:23.

6. Enlightened by Jesus' powerful words, however, we live in the hope that sin need not have the last word in our lives. In confession, God in his mercy forgives us, restores divine life within us and brings us back into friendship with him and unity with the Church. As we read in the First Letter of John: “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just, forgiving our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.”¹⁴

7. We therefore go to confession not to dwell on our failings, but to encounter God's unfathomable mercy and receive his forgiveness and peace. If our faith proclaims anything clearly, it is that God is rich in mercy and rejoices in every sinner who repents. The Book of Psalms tells us that “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is [God's] mercy towards those who fear [him]”,¹⁵ and Saint Luke writes that when the lost and repentant son was reconciled with his father, “the celebration and joy began”.¹⁶

Going to confession

8. The path to confession should therefore be short and free of obstacles. It is a path we should take regularly, and along which we should run whenever we have committed grave sins. If we remain in sin, outside the state of grace, we are left alone. This often leads to further sins. Sin should instead stir in us a desire to confess our sins and receive God's forgiveness. The Church also teaches—and it bears repeating here—that anyone conscious of grave sin must refrain from receiving Communion.¹⁷

9. Every member of the faithful should go to confession regularly. In this way, we learn to examine our lives for venial sins, understand God's law more deeply, and eagerly seek the holiness to which the Lord calls us: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”¹⁸ A good habit of confession means more than going once a year. I therefore venture to encourage all the faithful to go to confession at least three times a year: during Lent, in the summer before the feast of Saint Olav, and during Advent.

10. It is important to prepare well for confession and thus fulfil the sacrament's requirements: that we truly repent of our sins, humbly confess them and faithfully carry out our penance.¹⁹ This begins with careful reflection on our lives in silence and prayer, identifying the sins to confess and what specifically to bring before the priest. To help with this self-examination, an examination-of-conscience guide, the Ten Commandments or other key biblical texts are recommended. Some words to the faithful and to priests

11. Dear faithful, many find it difficult to go to confession. Perhaps it has been a very long time. Perhaps we are unsure what to say, how to say it, or how the priest will react. Perhaps we do not remember how to begin or how the rite unfolds. Perhaps we carry sins so burdensome or seemingly unforgivable that the path to the confessional feels endlessly uphill. As bishop, I feel obliged to help those who, for these or other reasons, hesitate to go to confession. I therefore ask you to write to me about what makes confession difficult, so that together we can make the Sacrament of Penance a living part of every believer's life.

12. Dear brothers in the priestly ministry, we know the greatness of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and its importance in our own lives and those of the faithful. I therefore encourage you, and myself, to lead the way by going to confession regularly and faithfully. Let us make confession still more accessible, easier to approach, safer, and more fully a living encounter with God's infinite mercy. To take this work forward, I will ask the Council of Priests to make practical proposals for strengthening confession in our local Church in the months and years ahead. References: 14 1 John 1:9. 15 Psalm 103:11. 16 Luke 15:24b. 17 Code of Canon Law, canon 916. 18 Matthew 5:48. 19 Catechism of the Catholic Church 1450–1460.

13. One week remains before we go up to Jerusalem with Our Lord. From the mysteries of Easter, not least Jesus' death on the wood of the Cross for our sins, shines forth victory over death and sin. This victory becomes tangible in us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. May it help us ever more in our lives as the Lord's disciples. Given at St. Olav Cathedral in Oslo,

Fifth Sunday of Lent 2026. +Fredrik Hansen, Bishop of Oslo