In its manuals for priestly confessors, the church enumerates the sins we must all confess, listing these in order of seriousness from the least {venial} to the most serious {mortal}, to those so grave as to entail formal excommunication from the Communion of Saints and, therefore, requiring special dispensation, such as a writ of forgiveness issued by a bishop or pope.
( Thomas Cahill )
[ Heretics and Heroes: How ]
www.QuoteSweet.com