Despite what many psychologists say, a guilt trip can be good, Pope Benedict told Brazilian bishops over the weekend.

Benedict argued that the core of today’s spiritual crisis comes from the fact that people have lost the sense of forgiveness, what he called the “grace of forgiveness,” or the sacrament of confession.

The Pope criticized currents in psychology which tend to try to do away with guilt, pointing out that sometimes guilt is real: that people make mistakes, and commit sins, and should be ready to own up to them and ask forgiveness.

People can be told they’re not at fault, Pope Benedict said, but often “know in their hearts that it’s not true, that sin exists and they themselves are sinners.”

God works as a kind of divine sculptor “who removes the accumulation of dust and debris covering the image of God inscribed within us,” the Pope said. “We need forgiveness, which is the core of all true reform.”