Penance

=====Penitential acts=====
{{See also|Paenitemini}}

In the 1966 [[apostolic constitution]] {{lang|la|[[Paenitemini]]}} [[Pope Paul VI]] said, "Penance therefore—already in the Old Testament—is a religious, personal act which has as its aim love and surrender to God: fasting for the sake of God, not for one's own self...<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_19660217_paenitemini.html Pope Paul VI. ''Paenitemini'', Chapter 1, February 17, 1966, Libreria Editrice Vaticana]</ref> [The Church] reaffirms the primacy of the religious and supernatural values of penitence (values extremely suitable for restoring to the world today a sense of the presence of God and of His sovereignty over man and a sense of Christ and His salvation)."{{sfn|Paenitemini, Chapter III A}} In {{lang|la|Paenitemini}} it is affirmed that "[b]y divine law all the faithful are required to do penance."{{sfn|Paenitemini, Chapter III, 1.1}} "As from the fact of sin we Christians can claim no exception, so from the obligation to penance we can seek no exemption."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/lent/us-bishops-pastoral-statement-on-penance-and-abstinence.cfm|title=Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence|website=usccb.org}}</ref> Chapter 8 of the [[Didache]] enjoined Christians to fast every Wednesday and Friday.

The conversion of heart can be expressed in many ways. "Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, ''fasting, prayer, and almsgiving'', which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccc.usccb.org/flipbooks/catechism/index.html#378/z|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|website=ccc.usccb.org}}</ref> Also mentioned are efforts at reconciliation with one's neighbor, and the practice of charity "which covers a multitude of sins" as in 1 Peter 4:8.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Peter|4:8}}</ref> "Taking up one's cross each day and following Jesus is the surest way of penance."{{sfn|CCC §1434}}

In the Liturgical year, the seasons of Advent and Lent are particularly appropriate for penitential exercises such as voluntary self-denial and fraternal sharing.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church"/> Under canon 1250 of the [[1983 Code of Canon Law]], "The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4O.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law - IntraText|website=vatican.va}}</ref> Canon 1253 states that "The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast."{{sfn|1983 Code of Canon Law, can.1253}}

In 2001 the [[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]], in a document titled "Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics", reiterated their decision to allow U.S. Catholics to substitute another form of penance for abstinence from meat on the Fridays outside of Lent. While the document includes a list of suggested penitential practices, the selection of a Friday penance is left to the individual.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/lent/penitential-practices-for-todays-catholics.cfm|title=Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics|website=usccb.org}}</ref>

In 2011, Catholic bishops in England and Wales reversed their earlier decision to permit Catholics to practice a penance other than meat abstinence on Fridays. They said, in part: "The bishops wish to re-establish the practice of Friday penance in the lives of the faithful as a clear and distinctive mark of their own Catholic identity.{{nbsp}}[...] It is important that all the faithful be united in a common celebration of Friday penance."<ref>[http://www.osv.com/RSS/365DaysToMercy/TabId/2752/ArtMID/21013/ArticleID/19367/Honoring-Christ%E2%80%99s-sacrifice-with-penance-every-Friday.aspx Emmons, Dennis. "Honoring Christ's sacrifice with penance every Friday", ''OSV Newsweekly'', March 2, 2016]</ref>

It is held that if fasting honestly causes one to be unable to fulfill their required tasks, it is uncharitable to fast, and the law of fasting would not apply.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Many acts of penance carry an [[indulgence]], which may be applied in behalf of the souls departed. God alone knows what remains to be expiated. The Church, in granting an indulgence to the living, exercises its jurisdiction; over the dead it has no jurisdiction and therefore makes the indulgence available for them by way of suffrage ({{lang|la|per modum suffragii}}), i.e. it petitions God to accept these works of satisfaction and in consideration thereof to mitigate or shorten the sufferings of the souls in [[Purgatory]].<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07783a.htm Kent, William. "Indulgences." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 14 November 2016</ref>