Vatican officials this week revealed the inner workings of the Apostolic Penitentiary, a "tribunal of conscience" that has been shrouded in mystery for more than eight centuries. As the Vatican's highest court, the tribunal deals with confessions considered so grave only the Pope himself has the authority to absolve them.
Defiling the Eucharist, which Catholics believe is the body and blood of Christ, is among several sins that can be forgiven only at the highest level, officials said.
Yet confessions of crimes the general public may consider even more serious, including genocide and serial murder, can be dealt with by local priests or bishops.
Established in 1179 by Pope Alexander III, the tribunal has never divulged details of the cases it examines. This week's two-day conference in the heart of Rome, which gave reporters an unprecedented peek behind the tribunal's secretive curtain, was an effort by Vatican officials to help boost waning confession numbers.
In recent years, fewer Catholics have been receiving the sacrament, which allows congregants to obtain forgiveness after admitting their sins to a priest and accepting penance, often in the form of prayer.
According to Cardinal James Francis Stafford, who heads the Apostolic Penitentiary, the symposium was also designed to increase public awareness of the tribunal's work over the past 830 years.
"Today we talk a lot about God's forgiveness, which is a motive for joy and happiness. But I am a bit worried about the lack of awareness of the connection between this joy and the forgiveness of sins," Cardinal Stafford said.
Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, the tribunal's second most senior official, added even though the penitentiary is ancient, "it's very little known, specifically because by its nature it deals with secret things."
Defiling the Eucharist is one of five sins that can be dealt with only through the tribunal. Cardinal Stafford says there has been a rise in incidents of people receiving the host and spitting it out or otherwise desecrating it, sometimes in Satanic rituals.
Other sins that would land a repentant Catholic before the tribunal include attempting to assassinate the Pope and, as a priest, breaking the seal of confession by revealing who has sought penance and why.
In addition, the Vatican's highest court would handle priests who have offered absolution to their own sexual partners and men who directly participate in an abortion, such as by funding it, and later seek to become priests or deacons.
"That is an irregularity and it means he should not receive the ordination without a dispensation from the Pope," Cardinal Stafford said.
In the event any of these five sins is committed, a detailed account of the case would be sent to the tribunal for further study, both to ensure the true repentance of the sinner and to determine "an appropriate, proportionate penance," said Bishop Girotti.
All of the sins would bring automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church, which could only be lifted if the Pope decided to grant absolution.
The "very serious sin" of clerical sexual abuse is not within the tribunal's jurisdiction, Cardinal Stafford said, but is rather handled by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a Vatican office that investigates and punishes crimes considered anathema to the Church's doctrine.
Other responsibilities of the Apostolic Penitentiary include choosing and co-ordinating the work of priests who hear confessions in Rome's major basilicas, promoting appreciation of the sacrament of confession and offering an annual course for priests and seminarians on administering the sacrament.
A study by Italy's Sacred Heart University found that 47% of Italians either never go to confession or last did so a long time ago.
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