dominicus soto, a very famous canonist and theologian, confessor to charles v, present at the first meetings of the council of trent under paul iii, propounds a question about a man who had lost a paper on which he had written down his sins. it happened that this paper fell into the hands of an ecclesiastical judge, who wished to put in information against the writer on the strength of this document. now this judge was justly punished by his superior, because confession is so sacred that even that which is destined to constitute the confession should be wrapped in eternal silence. in accordance with this precedent, the following judgment, reported in the 'traite des confesseurs', was given by roderic acugno. a catalonian, native of barcelona, who was condemned to death for homicide and owned his guilt, refused to confess when the hour of punishment arrived. however strongly pressed, he resisted, and so violently, giving no reason, that all were persuaded that his mind was unhinged by the fear of death. saint-thomas of villeneuve, archbishop of valencia, heard of his obstinacy. valencia was the place where his sentence was given. the worthy prelate was so charitable as to try to persuade the criminal to make his confession, so as not to lose his soul as well as his body. great was his surprise, when he asked the reason of the refusal, to hear the doomed man declare that he hated confessors, because he had been condemned through the treachery of his own priest, who was the only person who knew about the murder. in confession he had admitted his crime and said where the body was buried, and all about it; his confessor had revealed it all, and he could not deny it, and so he had been condemned. he had only just learned, what he did not know at the time he confessed, that his confessor was the brother of the man he had killed, and that the desire for vengeance had prompted the bad priest to betray his confession. saint-thomas, hearing this, thought that this incident was of more importance than the trial, which concerned the life of only one person, whereas the honour of religion was at stake, with consequences infinitely more important. he felt he must verify this statement, and summoned the confessor. when he had admitted the breach of faith, the judges were obliged to revoke their sentence and pardon the criminal, much to the gratification of the public mind. the confessor was adjudged a very severe penance, which saint-thomas modified because of his prompt avowal of his fault, and still more because he had given an opportunity for the public exhibition of that reverence which judges themselves are bound to pay to confessions.