“You call your priests ‘Father’? But Jesus expressly forbade it: ‘Call no man your father on earth.’ You are disobeying the Gospel.” The objection is common, often delivered with the verse in hand, and it unsettles many Catholics who have never reflected on the expression they use every Sunday. It deserves a calm answer, because it rests on a literal reading of a single verse, detached from the rest of the Bible—and especially from the way Jesus himself, the Apostles, and the whole of Scripture use the word “father.”
The Catholic answer has two parts. First, Matthew 23:9 targets not the word but pride: Christ is attacking men who love titles, places of honor, and recognition. Second, spiritual fatherhood is a biblical reality: Scripture calls patriarchs, prophets, and leaders of the people “fathers,” and Saint Paul straightforwardly calls himself the “father” of those he brought to faith. Calling a priest “Father” does not betray the Gospel; it continues the language of the Apostles themselves.
This article does not primarily seek to win a controversy, but to restore the word “father” to its full depth. It explains why the disputed verse does not mean what critics make it mean; how the whole Bible speaks of spiritual fatherhood; how the Fathers and the Church received this usage; and why the priest is truly—not by flattery but by grace—a father to souls.
What exactly is the objection?
Before answering, we must read the disputed text in full, not merely the isolated sentence that is usually quoted.
“Call no man your father” (Matthew 23:8-10)
In his great indictment of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus says to his disciples:
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called ‘teachers,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.” — Gospel according to Saint Matthew 23:8-10 (paraphrase)[3]
The objection isolates verse 9 and gives it an absolute scope: no human being should ever receive the name “father” in a religious context. It therefore concludes that the Catholic usage—“Father,” “Father Smith”—directly disobeys Christ.
What the question assumes
The objection rests on an assumption that must be named: it treats this verse as a universal rule of vocabulary with no exceptions. Yet that assumption fails for three reasons that this article will develop: the context of the discourse (Jesus is targeting pride), the absurd consequences of a literal reading (the words “father,” “master,” and “teacher” would have to be banned everywhere), and the constant practice of Scripture itself, which calls men “fathers” without the slightest hesitation.
The context: Jesus condemns pride, not the word
A verse must always be read within its chapter. Matthew 23 is not a treatise on titles: it is a fierce denunciation of religious hypocrisy. That is the key governing the entire passage.
A whole discourse against the vanity of the scribes
The whole of chapter 23 denounces men who turn religion into a theater for their own glory. Jesus says so bluntly from the outset:
“They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called ‘Rabbi’ by others.” — Gospel according to Saint Matthew 23:5-7 (paraphrase)[4]
The sin under attack is unambiguous: the love of honors. What Christ forbids his disciples is not receiving a title, but chasing after a title as personal glory, setting oneself up as the source of truth rather than its servant. The proof is the passage’s immediate conclusion: “The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:11-12)[5]. The real subject is not vocabulary, but humility against pride.
Three titles, one warning
The passage rejects three forms of address in a single movement: Rabbi, Father, Teacher (or Guide). This threefold formula is a Semitic device of emphasis: it hammers home one idea from three angles. God alone is, in himself and as the source, Teacher, Father, and Guide; everyone else holds those roles only by participation, as an instrument. No one may claim for himself what comes from God.
| Title rejected (Mt 23) | What the proud person makes of it | What it remains when rightly understood |
|---|---|---|
| Rabbi / Teacher (v. 8) | Setting oneself up as the source of truth | Serving the truth received from Christ |
| Father (v. 9) | Claiming paternal glory for oneself | Transmitting the life that comes from the Father |
| Teacher / Guide (v. 10) | Drawing disciples to oneself | Leading souls to the one Teacher, Christ |
Hyperbole, a habitual way of teaching for Jesus
Christ often teaches through extreme formulas that should not be taken literally: “If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out” (Mt 5:29), “Leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Mt 8:22), “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother…” (Lk 14:26). No one concludes from the last verse that parents must be despised; it is understood as hyperbole expressing God’s absolute priority. Matthew 23:9 belongs to the same register: a striking saying meant to engrave a truth—God alone is Father in the fullest sense—not a prohibition on vocabulary.
What if Matthew 23:9 were taken literally?
The best test of a literal interpretation is to follow it to its conclusion. Applied literally, the verse produces three consequences that no one—not even the objector—accepts.
We would have to stop calling our own father “Dad”
If “call no man your father on earth” applied in the strict sense, a Christian could no longer call the man who begot him “father” or “dad.” Yet the same Jesus commands us to honor father and mother: “Honor your father and your mother” (Mt 15:4), and he reproaches the Pharisees precisely for evading this duty[6]. One cannot honor one’s father while being forbidden to call him father. The literal reading collides with Christ himself.
We would also have to ban “master” and “doctor”
Verse 8 forbids “Rabbi” and verse 10 “Teacher.” A literal reading would therefore also have to ban “schoolmaster,” “doctor,” “professor,” and “instructor.” No Protestant church applies it this way: “masters,” “doctors,” and “teachers” are still used. The objection is therefore applied selectively: verse 9 is retained against Catholics, while verses 8 and 10 are ignored in one’s own practice.
The Bible itself would contradict itself
This is the most decisive consequence. If Matthew 23:9 prohibited every form of human spiritual fatherhood, then inspired Scripture would contradict itself, because it constantly calls men “fathers”—even in the writings of the Apostles after the Resurrection. A Catholic principle of interpretation applies here: Scripture does not contradict itself; if one verse seems to contradict a hundred others, our reading of the isolated verse is mistaken. Let us therefore examine those other passages.
Spiritual fatherhood is found throughout Scripture
Far from forbidding men to be called “fathers,” the Bible does so continually, in both Testaments and even on the lips of Christ.
In the Old Testament
The Old Testament gives the title “father” to men exercising protective authority, without diminishing the fatherhood of God:
- Joseph, viceroy of Egypt: “God has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house” (Gen 45:8)[7].
- Elijah, called “father” by Elisha at the moment of his assumption: “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” (2 Kgs 2:12)[8]—and the king of Israel calls Elisha “my father” (2 Kgs 6:21).
- Job, image of the righteous man: “I was a father to the needy” (Job 29:16)[9].
- The Levite priest welcomed by Micah, to whom he says: “Be to me a father and a priest” (Judg 17:10)[10].
Here the word “father” designates one who begets, protects, nourishes, or guides—a paternal function recognized by God, not an usurpation of his glory.
The patriarchs, “our fathers”
Throughout the Bible Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are called “our fathers.” This usage passes unchanged into the New Testament, in the speech of the first Christians. The deacon Stephen, the first martyr, begins his defense before the Sanhedrin with these words:
“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham…” — Acts of the Apostles 7:2 (paraphrase)[11]
Stephen calls the members of the Sanhedrin “fathers” and the patriarch “our father Abraham”—exactly what Matthew 23:9 would prohibit if read literally. Saint Paul does the same before the crowd in Jerusalem: “Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you” (Acts 22:1)[12]. The Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, never understood Christ’s saying as a ban on the word “father.”
Saint Paul, father of those he begets in faith
Saint Paul goes furthest: he not only calls others “fathers,” but explicitly calls himself the father of his converts:
“I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” — First Epistle to the Corinthians 4:14-15 (paraphrase)[13]
The contrast is striking: one may have a thousand guides (passing instructors), but only one father—the one who begot you into the life of faith. Paul claims this title not out of pride but because it describes a reality: through his preaching and sufferings, he gave Christ to those souls. Elsewhere he repeatedly uses the same language:
| Reference | What Paul says | Fatherhood expressed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Cor 4:15 | “I became your father in Christ” | Father of the Corinthians |
| 1 Thess 2:11 | “Like a father with his children” | Father of the Thessalonians |
| Gal 4:19 | “My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth” | Begetting through suffering |
| Phlm 10 | “Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment” | Father of Onesimus |
| 1 Tim 1:2 | “To Timothy, my true child in the faith” | Father of Timothy |
| Titus 1:4 | “To Titus, my true child” | Father of Titus |
If the Apostle to the Gentiles—the very man who fought religious pride most vigorously—unhesitatingly calls himself a “father,” then Matthew 23:9 plainly does not forbid it.
Saint Peter and Saint John
The other two great apostolic voices use the same language. Saint Peter calls Mark “my son”: “She who is at Babylon… sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son” (1 Pet 5:13)[14], which presupposes spiritual fatherhood. And Saint John, in his first epistle, addresses believers according to their spiritual age:
“I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.” — First Epistle of Saint John 2:13-14 (paraphrase)[15]
Three Apostles, three spontaneous uses of the language of fatherhood. In calling priests “Father,” the Church simply continues apostolic usage.
How the Fathers and the Church understood the verse
The objection assumes that the Church misread or later betrayed Christ’s words. History says otherwise: the Fathers explained the verse in antiquity, and the use of “father” is as old as the Church.
Saint John Chrysostom
Commenting precisely on Matthew 23, Saint John Chrysostom (4th century) disarms the objection: Christ, he explains in substance, does not forbid pronouncing the word “father,” but asks us to know who must be called Father in the highest sense — God alone, who is the cause of masters as of fathers[16].
The distinction is exactly that of Catholic theology: God is Father by essence; men are fathers only by participation, as reflections. Calling a man “father” takes nothing from God, provided one knows the source of all fatherhood.
Saint Jerome and the patristic reading
Commenting on the same passage, Saint Jerome likewise explains that the prohibition concerns the claim to be father or master “by nature” — which belongs to God alone — not the legitimate title of those who are so by participation[17]. This reading is constant among the Fathers: none of them ever drew from Matthew 23 a prohibition against calling a bishop, abbot, or elder “father.”
“Abba,” “papa,” and “pope”: the Church’s earliest usage
Paternal forms of address are, in fact, among the oldest in Christianity. They developed in several stages:
- 1st century‘Abba,’ the cry of the Spirit
Saint Paul recalls that the Spirit makes the Christian cry, “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). The Aramaic word of filial intimacy enters Christian vocabulary.
- 3rd-4th centuriesThe ‘abbas’ of the desert
The Desert Fathers of Egypt are called “Abba” by their disciples. From this word comes “abbot” (abbas), the father of a monastery.
- 4th-11th centuries‘Papa,’ a title for bishops
Bishops are called “papa” (papas): attested as early as the 4th century, the usage remains shared until at least the 7th century. In the West, the title is progressively reserved to the Bishop of Rome, up to the exclusivity prescribed by Gregory VII’s Dictatus papae (1075, dictum XI: Quod hoc unicum est nomen in mundo).
- Middle Ages‘Father’ for monks and friars
Monks, then the friars preacher (Dominicans) and friars minor (Franciscans), are commonly called “Father” because of their spiritual office.
- Modern period‘Father’ extended to the clergy
The custom of calling every priest “Father” spreads widely.
The very title “pope,” the highest in the Church, is simply a form of the word “father”[18]. The word “patriarch” literally means “ruling father.” Reproaching Catholics for the word “father” therefore means reproaching the Church for language received from Scripture and the Apostles, not a late invention.
Why the priest truly is a “father”
The deeper question remains: why is this title fitting for a priest? Not as a polite convention, but because in the order of grace he does what a father does in the order of nature: beget, nourish, restore, accompany.
He begets to divine life
As Paul “begets” the Corinthians through the Gospel, the priest begets souls to the life of God through Baptism, which causes them to be born anew “of water and the Spirit” (Jn 3:5). The Council of Trent teaches that justification takes place “through the bath of regeneration” (Session VI, ch. 4) and defines the canons on baptism (Session VII); in penance, the priest reconciles as minister and judge of absolution, with the power to bind and loose (Session XIV, ch. 5-6)[19]. One who gives life is, by definition, a father.
He nourishes, restores, and accompanies
Spiritual fatherhood does not stop at birth. The priest nourishes his children through the Eucharist and the Word; he restores them in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where he exercises in Christ’s name the power to forgive sins (see Why confess to a priest?); and he accompanies them through spiritual direction and trials. The Catechism describes the priest, in penance, as “the sign and instrument of God’s merciful love toward the sinner” (CCC § 1465)[20]; the following paragraph specifies that the confessor “is not the master, but the servant of God’s forgiveness” and must unite himself “to the intention and charity of Christ” (§ 1466). The holy Curé of Ars, patron saint of priests, summed up this fatherhood by his life: biographical tradition reports that he spent long hours in the confessional to help his parishioners be born anew[21].
All fatherhood comes from the Father
Here Matthew 23 regains its full positive meaning. Far from denying God’s fatherhood, the priest’s fatherhood depends entirely upon it. Saint Paul says:
“I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” — Epistle to the Ephesians 3:14-15 (paraphrase)[22]
There is only one source of fatherhood: God the Father. Every human fatherhood—that of a family’s father and that of a priest—is only a ray of this unique fatherhood. Calling a priest “Father” therefore does not set him in rivalry with God; it recognizes that through this man, the heavenly Father begets, nourishes, and forgives. Far from obscuring divine fatherhood, the title points toward it. The Catechism states the same doctrine: divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood (CCC § 2214)[23].
Common objections
“But the text is clear: Jesus says ‘no man’!”
The words “no man” change nothing: Jesus also says that one must “hate” one’s parents (Lk 14:26) and call “no one” master or teacher (Mt 23:8, 10). If “no one” were literal, every teacher would have to be banished. The verse’s apparent clarity dissolves as soon as the whole chapter and the rest of the New Testament are read, where the Apostles themselves call men “fathers.”
“It is clericalism”
The title “Father” does not raise the priest above the faithful; it places a duty upon him. A father serves his children; he is not their master. That is precisely the point of Matthew 23’s conclusion: “The greatest among you shall be your servant” (Mt 23:11). True clericalism would be a priest demanding honors without bearing the burden—exactly what Jesus condemns. When rightly lived, the word is a reminder of duty, not a privilege.
“The Reformers were right to reject titles”
Protestant practice itself varies: many communities retain “pastor” (Latin pastor, shepherd), “reverend,” “doctor,” and even, in some Anglican or Lutheran parishes of “High Church” sensibility, the title “father.” The question is therefore not whether every title should be abolished, but whether spiritual fatherhood is biblical. It is: Saint Paul says so. For the broader logic of reading one verse against all the rest of Scripture, see Why don’t Catholics follow sola Scriptura?.
What this changes for the faithful
Understanding why we say “Father” transforms the word itself. It is not ecclesiastical politeness, but recognition of a gift. Behind the priest who baptizes, absolves, and nourishes, the faithful are invited to see God’s fatherhood at work. The word also reminds the priest of his vocation: to be a father means giving oneself, spending oneself, and keeping watch—never dominating. And it reminds everyone that the Church is not an administration but a family, where people are born anew, nourished, corrected, and loved. Far from contradicting the Gospel, calling a priest “Father” continues the language of Saint Paul, Saint Peter, and Saint John: “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
For further reading
- Why confess to a priest? — the priest who restores in Christ’s name exercises his fatherhood in the sacrament of forgiveness.
- Why don’t Catholics follow sola Scriptura? — why an isolated verse cannot overturn the Church’s reading of the whole of Scripture.
- What is a sacrament? — the signs through which the priest begets and nourishes people to divine life.
- What is sanctifying grace? — the life of God transmitted through spiritual fatherhood.
- Why don’t priests marry in the Latin Church? — how celibacy frees the priest for universal fatherhood.
Notes and References
Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son: location (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) and dating (circa 1668) corroborated in session on the painting’s Wikimedia Commons file (Google Art Project), citing the Hermitage Digital Collection (“circa 1668”), RKDimages (no. 40809, 1660s) and the Web Gallery of Art (“circa 1669”); Commons category: Hermitage collection, inception circa 1668. Rembrandt (1606-1669) having died in 1669, the work is in the public domain (file classed “out_of_copyright”).
1Gospel according to Saint Matthew 23:32, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (“Fill up the measure of your fathers,” aelf.org/bible/Mt/23, consulted on October 4, 2026).
2Gospel according to Saint Matthew 23:8-10, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/Mt/23, consulted on October 4, 2026). The passage rejects “Rabbi,” “Father,” and “Teacher/Guide” together within a discourse against the pride of the scribes and Pharisees.
3Gospel according to Saint Matthew 23:5-7, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/Mt/23, consulted on October 4, 2026). The Pharisees “do all their deeds to be seen by others” and love “being called ‘Rabbi.’” The chapter’s target is the love of honors.
4Gospel according to Saint Matthew 23:11-12, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/Mt/23, consulted on October 4, 2026). “The greatest among you shall be your servant… whoever exalts himself will be humbled.” The conclusion supplies the key to the passage: humility against vanity.
5Gospel according to Saint Matthew 15:3-6, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/Mt/15, consulted on October 4, 2026). Jesus recalls the commandment “Honor your father and your mother” and reproaches the Pharisees for nullifying it through their tradition of corban. This proves that he cannot forbid calling one’s father “father.”
6Genesis 45:8, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/Gn/45, consulted on October 4, 2026). Joseph says to his brothers: “God has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house.” A paternal title is given to a man by God’s will.
7Second Book of Kings 2:12 (and 6:21), Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/2R/2 and /2R/6, consulted on October 4, 2026). Elisha, seeing Elijah taken up: “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” Cf. also 2 Kgs 6:21, where the king calls Elisha “my father.”
8Book of Job 29:16, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/Jb/29, consulted on October 4, 2026). “I was a father to the needy.” The righteous man exercises a recognized social fatherhood.
9Book of Judges 17:10, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/Jg/17, consulted on October 4, 2026). Micah says to the young Levite: “Be to me a father and a priest.” Fatherhood and priesthood are explicitly associated in the Old Testament.
10Acts of the Apostles 7:2, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/Ac/7, consulted on October 4, 2026). Stephen before the Sanhedrin: “Brothers and fathers, hear me… God appeared to our father Abraham.” A Christian filled with the Spirit calls men “fathers.”
11Acts of the Apostles 22:1, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/Ac/22, consulted on October 4, 2026). Paul to the crowd in Jerusalem: “Brothers and fathers, hear me…” The same apostolic usage of “fathers.”
12First Epistle to the Corinthians 4:14-15, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/1Co/4, consulted on October 4, 2026). “You do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” The key text for apostolic spiritual fatherhood.
13First Epistle of Saint Peter 5:13, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/1P/5, consulted on October 4, 2026). “Mark, my son.” Peter’s spiritual fatherhood toward Mark.
14First Epistle of Saint John 2:13-14, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/1Jn/2, consulted on October 4, 2026) and the Vulgate (“Scribo vobis, patres…,” Vulgata Clementina). The liturgical AELF reads “parents” here, but the Latin indeed says patres (“fathers”), which the article follows. John addresses the faithful according to their spiritual age, calling some “fathers.”
15Saint John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Homily 72 (circa 390), PG 58. The body above gives a paraphrase in substance — no French edition nor the Greek of PG 58 having been collated, the article no longer quotes but paraphrases. Substance verified from the English version (P. Schaff (ed.), NPNF, 1st series, vol. 10): “not that they should not call, but they may know whom they ought to call Father, in the highest sense. For like as the master is not a master principally; so neither is the father. For He is cause of all, both of the masters, and of the fathers” (newadvent.org/fathers/200172.htm, English text verified for this correction).
16Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book IV, on Mt 23:8-10 (circa 398). Summary: the prohibition targets the claim to be father or master “by nature,” proper to God alone, not the legitimate title. Substance confirmed by Saint Thomas Aquinas’s Catena Aurea on Mt 23:9, which quotes this passage of Jerome: “It is one thing to be father or master by nature, another by sufferance” — being father by nature, reserved to God, and being so by concession, which leaves the legitimate title. Cf. also the English translation (Fathers of the Church, vol. 117).
17Catholic Encyclopedia (Robert Appleton Company, 1911), article “Pope,” newadvent.org/cathen/12260a.htm (verified for this correction). The word “pope” comes from Greek papas, “father”; first the title of several bishops in East as in West (Pope Siricius, Ennodius of Pavia; still Saint Gall to Desiderius of Cahors in the 7th century), it is progressively reserved in the West to the Bishop of Rome, up to the exclusivity prescribed by Gregory VII (Dictatus papae, dictum XI, 1075). Latin text of dictum XI verified on the register (la.wikisource, “Dictatus Papae”): Quod hoc unicum est nomen in mundo (“that this name is unique in the world”); Engl. trans. E. F. Henderson (Fordham Sourcebook): “That this is the only name in the world”.
18Council of Trent: Session VI, Decree on Justification (January 13, 1547), ch. 4 (justification as passage to the state of grace, with the vocabulary of the “bath of regeneration,” Titus 3:5); Session VII, Decree on the Sacraments (March 3, 1547), canons on baptism; Session XIV, Doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance (November 25, 1551), ch. 5 (De confessione) and ch. 6 (De ministro hujus sacramenti et Absolutione): the priest is therein minister and judge of absolution, exercised after the manner of a judicial act. Sessions, dates and chapters cross-checked in session against the acts (P. Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, vol. II, CCEL, Latin-English text: “Sessio Septima… held March 3, 1547… Decree on the Sacraments”; “Sessio Decimaquarta… celebrata die XXV. Nov. 1551… Caput V. De Confessione… Caput VI. De ministro hujus sacramenti et Absolutione”). The verb “regenerate” is thus proper to baptism, not to the whole priestly action: in penance, Trent speaks of binding and loosing, remitting and retaining (Jn 20:23).
19Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§ 1465-1466 (French text verified on vatican.va for this correction). § 1465: “In celebrating the sacrament of Penance, the priest fulfills the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him on his return, of the just Judge […]. In short, the priest is the sign and instrument of God’s merciful love toward the sinner.” § 1466: “The confessor is not the master, but the servant of God’s forgiveness. The minister of this sacrament must unite himself to the intention and charity of Christ […].” The formula “a father’s charity and tenderness” figures in neither paragraph: it was a paraphrase wrongly presented in quotation marks, now removed.
20Saint John Mary Vianney (the Curé of Ars), cf. A. Monnin, Le Curé d’Ars. Vie de M. Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, 1861 (contemporary biography of the saint). No exact page of Monnin having been located in session, the fact is kept as biographical tradition not localized to the exact page, not as a sourced quotation: tradition reports that the saint spent long hours in the confessional, an image of the spiritual fatherhood that makes souls be born anew. CCC § 1589, once cited here, does not speak of the Curé of Ars — it quotes Saint Gregory of Nazianzus — and has been removed (French text verified on vatican.va for this correction).
21Epistle to the Ephesians 3:14-15, Jerusalem Bible (Éditions du Cerf) — paraphrase in English: the wording was not collated word for word against an identified copy in session; the meaning follows the approved French text, itself checked against the AELF liturgical translation (aelf.org/bible/Ep/3, consulted on October 4, 2026). “The Father, from whom every fatherhood, in heaven and on earth, takes its name.” Every human fatherhood derives from God’s fatherhood.
22Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2214 (French text verified on vatican.va for this correction): “Divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood (cf. Eph 3:14); it is this that grounds the honor due to parents. Respect of children, whether minors or adults, for their father and mother (cf. Prov 1:8; Tob 4:3-4) is nourished by the natural affection born of the bond that unites them. It is required by the divine precept (cf. Ex 20:12).”
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