Apostolic Penitentiary Regent: No one is too great a sinner to return to God

Vatican News

“We never stop returning to God, because he never stops waiting for us,” says Bishop Krzysztof Nykiel. The Regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary reaches out in particular to those who have drifted away from confession because of fear, shame or repeated falls into sin.

In an interview with Vatican News, he explains the meaning of sincere repentance and introduces a seminar on the sacrament of Reconciliation, which will bring together more than 800 people, both in person and online, on 23 and 24 October.

The Apostolic Penitentiary has been promoting initiatives to provide formation on the sacrament of Reconciliation for many years. How did the idea of organising a seminar specifically for the lay faithful come about?

The idea grew out of listening to a need that has become increasingly clear over the years. For more than thirty years, the Apostolic Penitentiary has organised the Course on the Internal Forum for priests who wish to deepen their preparation so that they can carry out the delicate ministry of hearing confessions with competence and sensitivity.

Alongside this initiative, we have also received many requests from lay faithful who want to learn more about this sacrament and understand its meaning more deeply. We therefore asked ourselves how best to respond to this interest and came up with a programme of formation intended above all for penitents, to help them prepare for confession and experience it with greater awareness, serenity and trust.

Pope Francis encouraged this initiative from the outset, recognising its pastoral value. Pope Leo XIV, too, is giving us great support as we continue along this path, which we want increasingly to place at the service of the faithful’s spiritual formation.

The interest generated by previous editions confirms that this idea responds to a real need. Now in its fifth edition, the seminar has attracted significant participation: more than 800 people have registered, including those attending in person and those joining online.

Who is this formation programme primarily intended for?

The seminar is aimed first and foremost at the lay faithful, who often have fewer opportunities for in-depth formation than those available to priests. We are thinking in particular of catechists, educators, formators and all those involved in the pastoral life of Christian communities, accompanying others on their journey of faith.

Participation is, of course, also open to priests and to men and women religious. Their presence is valuable because it enables them to share with their respective communities what they have heard and explored during the seminar.

The need to recognise our limitations and accept forgiveness concerns every Christian. No one can consider themselves untouched by the need for God’s mercy. We all need to know that we are forgiven, to recover our inner peace and to find the strength to continue our journey when we realise that we have strayed from what is good.

The theme chosen for this fifth edition places “contritio cordis”, or contrition of the heart, at the centre. What is the underlying theme of the reflections being proposed, and why is this aspect of Confession so important?

Contrition is not a secondary element in the sacrament. It is a fundamental inner disposition because it expresses a sincere recognition of the wrong we have done and a genuine desire to change our lives. It is not simply a matter of feeling sorry for a mistake or fearing its consequences; it means understanding that sin wounds our relationship with God, with others and with ourselves.

To explore this theme, we wanted to bring Sacred Scripture into dialogue with anthropological reflection and sacramental and pastoral theology. Our aim is to show that authentic repentance does not arise from the fear of being rejected, but from the awareness that we are loved and called to a new life.

The programme will open at 4 p.m. CET on Friday, 23 October, with an address and a lectio by the Major Penitentiary, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis. His reflection will focus on the biblical foundations of contritio cordis, with particular reference to Psalm 50, one of the great penitential prayers of the biblical tradition.

This will be followed by a reflection from Professor Lodovica Maria Zanet of the Salesian University, who will examine the relationship between guilt, regret, repentance and contrition, offering criteria for distinguishing these experiences and understanding their significance in a person’s life.

Proceedings will continue on Saturday morning with a talk by Father Giuseppe Forlai, of the clergy of Rome, on the stages of true repentance and a comparison of the spiritual perspectives of East and West. This will be followed by a presentation from Father Jaime Emilio González Magaña, S.J.,Theologian of the Apostolic Penitentiary, on reparation, understood as the possibility of rebuilding what sin has wounded within the sacramental and pastoral life of Reconciliation.

These are different themes, but they are deeply interconnected. Together, they help us understand that confession does not end with acknowledging our faults: it is a journey in which truth encounters mercy and repentance becomes the beginning of a renewed life.

What place will personal testimonies have, and how will the seminar conclude?

The testimonies will be particularly valuable. Theological reflection is indispensable, but personal witness helps us understand how God’s grace can enter everyday life, sustain those going through difficult times and restore hope to those who think they can never begin again.

Listening to people who have experienced this encounter can help each of us overcome fears and prejudices. It reminds us that mercy is not an abstract reality, but a love that reaches people within the concrete circumstances of their lives.

Our hope is that participants will return home with a renewed understanding and a desire to share the joy of this encounter with others.

Your Excellency, what is the difference between simply feeling sorry for having done something wrong and true contrition of the heart?

This is a very important distinction. We can all feel sorry about something we have done, especially when we see its negative consequences or realise that we have damaged a relationship. But contrition goes deeper: it arises when we sincerely acknowledge the wrong we have done and desire to return to the Lord, allowing his grace to transform us.

True repentance does not mean remaining trapped in guilt or convincing ourselves that we are worthless. Rather, it means having the courage to look honestly at our lives, acknowledge our responsibilities and open ourselves to the possibility of change.

Authentic repentance naturally also brings a desire to avoid sin and, as far as possible, to make amends for the harm done. Mercy does not remove our responsibility; rather, it gives us the strength to accept it and set out on a new path.

Ultimately, what is your hope for this fifth edition of the seminar? What would you like participants to take away in their hearts?

We hope this gathering will help many people look at the sacrament of Reconciliation with fresh eyes, rediscovering its beauty and its power to transform lives. We would like the sacrament of mercy to be seen not as an occasional obligation to be fulfilled, but as a privileged place where we can restore our relationship with God and receive the strength to begin again.

We know that people sometimes drift away from confession out of fear, distrust, because of negative experiences or because they no longer fully understand its meaning. Some may feel there is no point in going to confession again, especially when they seem to keep falling into the same mistakes. Others may feel ashamed or believe that their past is too burdened for them to entrust it to God’s mercy.

It is to these people that we want to extend a special invitation: do not let fear overcome you, and do not doubt that you can be forgiven. The Lord does not ask us to be flawless before we draw near to him. He asks us to come before him sincerely, acknowledging our need for his love and our desire to change.

If we can help people understand this reality, even in part, the seminar will have achieved one of its most important aims: helping the faithful rediscover the joy of being loved, welcomed and forgiven by God.