commit such sins occultly and confess them secretly to
a priest, may be retained in the exercise of their respective orders,
with the assurance of God's merciful forgiveness, provided they be
careful to expiate their sins by fasts and alms, vigils and holy
deeds." The same is expressed (Extra, De Qual. Ordinand.): "If the
aforesaid crimes are not proved by a judicial process, or in some
other way made notorious, those who are guilty of them must not be
hindered, after they have done penance, from exercising the orders
they have received, or from receiving further orders, except in cases
of homicide."

Reply Obj. 1: The same is to be said of the recovery of virginity as
of the recovery of innocence which belongs to man's secondary dignity
in the sight of God.

Reply Obj. 2: In these words Jerome does not say that it is
impossible, but that it is difficult, for man to recover his former
dignity after having sinned, because this is allowed to none but
those who repent perfectly, as stated above. To those canonical
statutes, which seem to forbid this, Augustine replies in his letter
to Boniface (Ep. clxxxv): "If the law of the Church forbids anyone,
after doing penance for a crime, to become a cleric, or to return to
his clerical duties, or to retain them the intention was not to
deprive him of the hope of pardon, but to preserve the rigor of
discipline; else we should have to deny the keys given to the Church,
of which it was said: 'Whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven.'" And further on he adds: "For holy David did
penance for his deadly crimes, and yet he retained his dignity; and
Blessed Peter by shedding most bitter tears did indeed repent him of
having denied his Lord, and yet he remained an apostle. Nevertheless
we must not deem the care of later teachers excessive, who without
endangering a man's salvation, exacted more from his humility,
having, in my opinion, found by experience, that some assumed a
pretended repentance through hankering after honors and power."

Reply Obj. 3: This statute is to be understood as applying to those
who do public penance, for these cannot be promoted to a higher
order. For Peter, after his denial, was made shepherd of Christ's
sheep, as appears from John 21:21, where Chrysostom comments as
follows: "After his denial and repentance Peter gives proof of
greater confidence in Christ: for whereas, at the supper, he durst
not ask Him, but deputed John to ask in