A priest you don't trust

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Kepha15

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Is there anything wrong (sacramentally) with going to confession to a priest you don’t trust/agree with?

There are several priests in my area that I could confess to, but I don’t because of trust issues. For instance, one priest is all but openly homosexual, and condones it, and another believes that some of Christ’s miracles were nothing but stories told to prove a good message.

In a pinch, if I had to confess to one of these men, would it still be a valid confession, even if I knew that these were not men of God?
 
I believe it is still valid; however, it is better to find another good confessor. Pray for it, you will find one! and don’t forget to pray for those priests whom you do not trust.
 
The big brains will give better answers… but, as far as I know, the Sacrement does not require a sinless Priest. Priests do sin (we are told that JPII went to confession often), that sin does not remove the Holy Orders - even in sin, they are ordained.

Priests are not infallible, the advice they give you may not be correct - but the grace of the Sacrement is there.
 
Kepha15 said:
Is there anything wrong (sacramentally) with going to confession to a priest you don’t trust/agree with?

There are several priests in my area that I could confess to, but I don’t because of trust issues. For instance, one priest is all but openly homosexual, and condones it, and another believes that some of Christ’s miracles were nothing but stories told to prove a good message.

In a pinch, if I had to confess to one of these men, would it still be a valid confession, even if I knew that these were not men of God?
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I don’t think the priests personal state of sin will negate the sacrament that is being offered.

Also, his state of sin at that moment may not be what you think it is…Are you 100% positive…

He will be responsible for confessing his sins to another priest if he is in a state of serious sin…

Unless the priest has had his faculties to function as a priest removed by his bishop, I can see no reason why the faithful would be given an invalid sacrament…

Remember, the power is from God, not the priest…The priest is the conduit through which these graces flow…

If this power was in any way negated through a priests sinfulness I would assume all priests would have to go to confession before administering a sacrament…Not the case as we know it…

An example for you, if your waterhose in your yard gets muddy and dirty on the outside, does this restict the ability of it to still allow water to flow through it ???

The priest may be dirty from his sin, but that does not affect what we receive as it relates to the graces from God through the sacraments…
 
kage_ar said:
The big brains will give better answers… but, as far as I know, the Sacrement does not require a sinless Priest. Priests do sin (we are told that JPII went to confession often), that sin does not remove the Holy Orders - even in sin, they are ordained.

Priests are not infallible, the advice they give you may not be correct - but the grace of the Sacrement is there.
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A priest is supposed to be in a state of grace when hearing confessions. That being said, I don’t know of any way that you could verify that he is or not. As far as I can see it comes down to trust.
 
Kepha15 said:
In a pinch, if I had to confess to one of these men, would it still be a valid confession, even if I knew that these were not men of God?
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As long as they are validly ordained priests, and they are using the words of absolution, then it would be a valid sacrament and your sins would be absolved.

One of the beauty of the Sacraments is that the personal holiness (or lack thereof) of the priest does not invalidate it. While it would always be preferable to go to a good, orthodox priest, God’s grace is also present in the sacraments of these other priests who may disagree with the church on this or that issue.

I was at a talk given by Scott Hahn a few months ago, and he related how he asked a similar question to Monsignor (now Bishop) Bruskewitz when he was coming into the Church. Bishop Bruskewitz used the example of a doctor. He said you can have a doctor who is overweight, smokes and in poor health, and that in no way invalidates his work as a doctor. His treatments and prescriptions will still help you get better, because it’s the medicine that’s doing the actual work. Confession works similar, in that it’s God ultimately doing the forgiving. The medicine works despite the poor health and habits of the doctor, and the sacrament works despite the poor spiritual health and habits of the priest.

Hope that helps.
 
Does intention of the Priest affect the Sacrament of Penance like it does the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?
 
Here’s where my concern would be (not to hijack the thread)–what if you confess a sin (say, masturbation, for example) and the priest refuses to absolve you because he doesn’t believe it’s a sin?

My sister had a disturbing encounter like this a couple years ago (in all honesty, I do not know what her sin was, but she KNEW it was a sin and she went to THREE different priests in two parishes before she found one that would absolve her!)

I think that’s what the trust issue might boil down to. The priest’s personal sanctity might not invalidate the sacrament, (assuming, as I mentioned above, you even receive absolution) but can you imagine the damage this can do to those whose consciences are not well-formed or to converts who are still learning?

We really need to pray for our priests!
 
bluerose said:
Here’s where my concern would be (not to hijack the thread)–what if you confess a sin (say, masturbation, for example) and the priest refuses to absolve you because he doesn’t believe it’s a sin?

My sister had a disturbing encounter like this a couple years ago (in all honesty, I do not know what her sin was, but she KNEW it was a sin and she went to THREE different priests in two parishes before she found one that would absolve her!)
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To be sure this is a difficult situation.

Normally, fortunately, people usually confess more than the one sin and even if the confession consists of only one venial sin, for example, there is still valid matter for absolution and the priest should provide said absolution.

And regardless of the priest’s personal views, they should be sufficiently aware of and obedient to Church teaching that they would absolve anyway.
 
bluerose said:
Here’s where my concern would be (not to hijack the thread)–what if you confess a sin (say, masturbation, for example) and the priest refuses to absolve you because he doesn’t believe it’s a sin?

My sister had a disturbing encounter like this a couple years ago (in all honesty, I do not know what her sin was, but she KNEW it was a sin and she went to THREE different priests in two parishes before she found one that would absolve her!)
I think that’s what the trust issue might boil down to. The priest’s personal sanctity might not invalidate the sacrament, (assuming, as I mentioned above, you even receive absolution) but can you imagine the damage this can do to those whose consciences are not well-formed or to converts who are still learning?

We really need to pray for our priests!
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:eek:
Pray, pray, pray----for our priests.
 
Kepha15 said:
Is there anything wrong (sacramentally) with going to confession to a priest you don’t trust/agree with?
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The Sacrament is valid. It is not invalid because your distrust and agreement/dissagreement with the priest has nothing to do with it.
Kepha15 said:
There are several priests in my area that I could confess to, but I don’t because of trust issues. For instance, one priest is all but openly homosexual, and condones it, and another believes that some of Christ’s miracles were nothing but stories told to prove a good message. In a pinch, if I had to confess to one of these men, would it still be a valid confession, even if I knew that these were not men of God?
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The Sacrament would indeed be valid as long as the priest you go to is validly ordained and intends on doing what the Church does- by administering the Sacrament and granting absolution. They are all still men of God in a ministry that God has placed them or allowed them to be in…no matter what they have done or are doing. We should pray very much for them, especially the ones you have mentioned in this post.

However on a personal issue I would seek another confessor, one who is not “openly homosexual and condoning it” or who holds to the Modernist Heresy as you have stated above.

Ken
 
I believe the Sacrament is valid as long as you recieve absolution. If the Priest is in mortal sin this doens’t change the effects of the Sacrament for the confesor. However, I believe this to be a major sacrilage for the priest. I would however go to a good orthodox priest. There is nothing worse than an unorthodox priest leading Catholics to hell in the confessional.
 
kage_ar said:
The big brains will give better answers… but, as far as I know, the Sacrement does not require a sinless Priest. Priests do sin (we are told that JPII went to confession often), that sin does not remove the Holy Orders - even in sin, they are ordained.

Priests are not infallible, the advice they give you may not be correct - but the grace of the Sacrement is there.
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I think you mean impeccable.
 
St. Agustine spent quite some time and effort to rid the Church of the heresy of Donatism; a heresy that denied the validity of sacraments ministered by an unworthy priest. One might get poor advice but the sacrament is valid and efficacious if the priest intends to do what the church intends. Otherwise one would always be in a quandry as to whether or not they had received a sacrament.
 
Semper_Fi said:
I think you mean impeccable.
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Impeccable means unable to sin; infallible usually refers to the person’s teaching. Even a pope is not infallible unless he speaks “ex cathedra.” So as far as a priest by himself is concerned, he is neither infallible nor impeccable. We all need to pray and study Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church regularly in order to help us discern with the mind of the Church, in the light of the Holy Spirit.
 
palmas85 said:
A priest is supposed to be in a state of grace when hearing confessions. That being said, I don’t know of any way that you could verify that he is or not. As far as I can see it comes down to trust.
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All of us are supposed to be in a State of Grace when we do anything 😛

But the personal sancity of the priest has no bearing what so ever on the validity of the Sacrament.

The belief that the personal sin of the minister may determine the validity of the Sacrament is the Donatist heresy and has been condemned by several Councils.

A person who confesses and recives absolution from a priest in mortal sin has their sins forgiven as surely as if the Pope himself did the absolution. The advice given on how to avoid this sin in the future would probably be sub-par though 😛

The Formal Minister of any Sacrament is Christ Himself, who has no sin. All others just stand in His place.
 
No-one answered my question, ill restate it:

If a priest has faulty intention (doesent intend to grant absolution or do what the Church teaches of the sacrament) but says the correct words of absolution - Is that valid?

Does the intention of the priest affect the Sacrament of Penance in the same way it does the Consecration in the Mass?
 
I don’t trust my priest. I will only go to him for confession if it is a last resort as in I was just too lazy to go somewhere else.
 
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