Vatican (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the importance of sacramental confession at a March 16 meeting of participants in a conference organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary.The sacrament of reconciliation shows “the inexhaustible spring of divine love,” the Holy Father said. “Only from this spiritual spring is it possible to draw the interior energy indispensable for defeating evil and sin in the ceaseless struggle that marks our earthly pilgrimage towards the heavenly homeland." Priests should prepare themselves carefully to administer the sacrament, the Pope said. He urged priests to encourage more people to make regular use of confession, and to recognize their duty “to make known the merciful love of God” to penitent sinners.]Proper appreciation of the sacrament of penance is especially important in our time, the Pope observed, because contemporary culture “wishes for self-sufficiency” and applauds the mistaken belief that people can prosper without calling upon God’s mercy. The result, he said, is evident in the emptiness and loneliness felt by so many people today.