I really don't know what is the canonican position on formal absolution
of the dead, but the Roman rite contains many prayers that the deceased
may be forgiven their sins. A frequently-used prayer runs:
" . . . Now that he (she) has passed from this life,
may he live on in your presence.
In your mercy and love,
forgive whatever sins he may have committed
through human weakness . . ."
There may be - though I've never given it much thought - a feeling that
while the dead are not beyond God's mercy and we may legitimately pray
for the forgiveness of their sins, the power of the Church Militant to
absolve extends only to the Church Militant, i.e. to that minority of
the members of the Church who are still on earth.
Oriens.
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