ABSOLUTION, in the Canon Law, is a juridical act,
whereby the priest declares the sins of such as are peni-
tent remitted.—The Romanists hold absolution a part
of the sacrament of penance; the council of Trent,
sess. xiv. cap. iii. and that of Florence, in the decree
ad Armenos, declare the form or essence of the sacrament
to lie in the words of absolution, I absolve thee of thy
sins. The formula of absolution, in the Romish church,
is absolute: in the Greek church, it is deprecatory;
and in the churches of the reformed, declarative.