Nicknamed the "tribunal of conscience," the group invited the public into the imposing 16th-century palazzo to explain what the Apostolic Penitentiary actually does. The idea is that this would encourage more people to go to confession. "Even though it's the oldest department of the Holy See, it's very little known--specifically because by its nature it deals with secret things," Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, the tribunal's No. 2 official, told The Associated Press. "We want to relaunch the sacrament of penance." The Vatican wants the faithful to know that the sacrament of confession saves souls. "Today it seems as though the sense of sin has been forgotten," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told the gathered people.
So what sins are so heinous that only the pope can forgive them? The first three are so evil that they bring automatic excommunication from the church unless absolution is granted.
--Defiling the Eucharist, which Catholics believe is the body and blood of Jesus Christ. An example would be receiving Communion and then spitting out the host.
--A priest who breaks the seal of the confessional by revealing the nature of the sin and the person who sought penance.
--A priest who has sex with someone and then offers forgiveness to the victim for the act.
--A man who directly causes an abortion, such as by paying for it, who then seeks to become a priest or deacon.
This Florida town may be heaven on earth, but do you dare live here?
