Absolution. The statement and the enactment of the forgiveness of sins, and of release from them. It is a sacrament in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox (Gk., metanoia, exomologesis) Churches, with absolution being pronounced by a priest or bishop. In Russian Orthodoxy, the form of absolution is in the form of a prayer (precatory), ‘May our Lord and God Jesus Christ forgive you’, followed by the statement (indicative), ‘I, n., through the power given to me by him, forgive you and absolve you.…’ In the Catholic tradition, the indicative form became standard from the time of the Council of Trent onward. When the rite of penance was revised after Vatican II, a precatory form was added.

Absolution ★★ 1981 (R)

Two English boys trapped in a Catholic boarding school conspire to drive a tyrannical priest over the edge of sanity. As a result, bad things (including murder) occur. Burton is interesting in sadistic character study. Not released in the U.S. until 1988 following Burton's death, maybe due to something written in the will. 105m/C VHS, DVD . GB Richard Burton, Dominic Guard, Dai Bradley, Andrew Keir, Billy Connolly, Willoughby Gray, Preston Lockwood, James Ottaway, Brook Williams, Jon Plowman, Robin Soans, Trevor Martin; D: Anthony Page; W: Anthony Shaffer; C: John Coquillon; M: Stanley Myers.

ab·so·lu·tion / ˌabsəˈloōshən/ • n. formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment. ∎  an ecclesiastical declaration of forgiveness of sins.

absolution Formal rite carried out by a Christian priest in which repentant sinners are forgiven the sins they have confessed. The rite is based on the authority given by Christ to his apostles to forgive sins. See also confession; penance

absolution XII. — (O)F. — L. absolūtiō, -ōn-, f. absolūt-, pp. stem of absolvere free, acquit (whence absolve XV), f. AB- + solvere SOLVE, rendering Gr. apolúein.