Confession and Public Penance/Expiation

[J1Priest]

Hello,

Can a priest, today, give a public penance after Confession?
E.g., having to walk on your knees across from the sanctuary to the pew or the back of the church.

I’ve looked everywhere but I do not find any prohibitions (e.g., canon law doesn’t say anything about the matter, and Catholic Encyclopedia only talks about its practice in the early Church but nothing on today).

Can you also cite the source?

Thanks,
J1Priest

 

[Joannm]

Hello,

Can a priest, today, give a public penance after Confession?
E.g., having to walk on your knees across from the sanctuary to the pew or the back of the church.

I’ve looked everywhere but I do not find any prohibitions (e.g., canon law doesn’t say anything about the matter, and Catholic Encyclopedia only talks about its practice in the early Church but nothing on today).

Can you also cite the source?

Thanks,
J1Priest

I would think that if a preist did that he would have few people going to him for confession. Penance is not a punishment. There are better ways to make reparation for sin.

 

[LilyM]

I would think that if a preist did that he would have few people going to him for confession. Penance is not a punishment. There are better ways to make reparation for sin.

There’s also the potential for breach of the seal of the confessional in some circumstances - a public penance may betray the penitent in a way that violates canon law on the matter.

 

[J1Priest]

Well, let’s say that the setting is one in which people are used to seeing others doing penances, works of mercy, etc., so such penance wouldn’t be so distracting (perhaps only the first time).

But is the giving of such penance allowed, or prohibited, say by Canon Law, a Council, a document by the Pope or Bishops, etc.?

Thanks

 

[Joannm]

There’s also the potential for breach of the seal of the confessional in some circumstances - a public penance may betray the penitent in a way that violates canon law on the matter.

That would be true. In the ancient world those doing public penance were usually guilty of truly grave sins and everyone would know that. The Order of Penitants was harsh and eventually people stayed away from Penance until their death bed to avoid having to do such penances and facing the stigma of everyone knowing that they have committed grave sin.

 

[J1Priest]

But in terms of ecclesial norms?

(btw, it’s not to criticize the priest, but rather as a response of someone criticizing him)

 

[LilyM]

But in terms of ecclesial norms?

(btw, it’s not to criticize the priest, but rather as a response of someone criticizing him)

Is it permissible?

Well, if it can be ascertained with certainty that the seal of the confessional won’t be violated in any way, and if the penance is not one that would be impossible for the penitent to do (remembering that the elderly, for example, might not be up to going down on their knees in any situation), then there wouldn’t seem to be any legal reason the priest can’t.

Of course in pastoral terms it would be incredibly ill advised, which is an important consideration with confession as all the sacraments. As has been pointed out by joanm, people used to avoid confession until their deathbeds in the days when public penances were common, because they wanted to avoid them. Which is a large part of the reason the practice was discontinued in the first place.

We really don’t want to go back there - people avoid confession too much as it is, you don’t want to drive them further away with harsh penances. Was the priest being criticised for being too ‘soft’ or something? Nothing to stop someone who is conscious of sin from taking on voluntary penances themselves outside of confession if this is the case.

 

[m134e5]

Hello,

Can a priest, today, give a public penance after Confession?
E.g., having to walk on your knees across from the sanctuary to the pew or the back of the church.

I’ve looked everywhere but I do not find any prohibitions (e.g., canon law doesn’t say anything about the matter, and Catholic Encyclopedia only talks about its practice in the early Church but nothing on today).

Can you also cite the source?

Thanks,
J1Priest

I’m not sure there is any prohibition on it, but it seems a bit unusual. If the priest knows you, he might be giving you something unusual because he thinks it will help you overcome your sins and grow closer to God. If they don’t know you…well, every crowd has their strange ducks- including the clergy. For what it’s worth, If I were given that specific penance, I wouldn’t do it- but I’d listen to what he said.

 

[AHapka]

I think we need to look at the difference of a penance being performed in public as opposed to why the person received the penance being public. Small bit of wording, but with a big difference.

My penance from this past Saturday was the priest gave me a prayer card (from a stack he had there) and told me to pray the card in Eucharistic Adoration. This is a penance that I pretty much have to perform in public. But yet it does not betray me.

A penance to visit a particular shrine wouuld also have to be done in public. But yet it would not betray the penitent.

Walking on your knees in the church would have to be done in public. But yet it would not betray the penitent.

The way I see it, a penitent would only be betrayed if forced to reveal their sins in any way by the nature of the penance. To me the fact that you perform your penance in public is irrelevant because the fact that you went to confession is usually public. Unless you went to see a priest outside of confessional time or there was no one else waiting when you went to confession, odds are that other people know you went to confession.

A penance that would betray the penitent would be turning yourself into the police and confessing the theft, for example. Or, go apologize to the man whom you gossiped about.

Now whether or not such a penance is prudent is a whole different story. I rarely like to question a priest and the actions he may take in the confessional since he can’t defend himself. Perhaps there is some true reason behind the penance. It would be abnormal, but not illicit.

 

[Joannm]

Walking on your knees in the church would have to be done in public. But yet it would not betray the penitent.

The way I see it, a penitent would only be betrayed if forced to reveal their sins in any way by the nature of the penance. To me the fact that you perform your penance in public is irrelevant because the fact that you went to confession is usually public. Unless you went to see a priest outside of confessional time or there was no one else waiting when you went to confession, odds are that other people know you went to confession.

A penance that would betray the penitent would be turning yourself into the police and confessing the theft, for example. Or, go apologize to the man whom you gossiped about.

Now whether or not such a penance is prudent is a whole different story. I rarely like to question a priest and the actions he may take in the confessional since he can’t defend himself. Perhaps there is some true reason behind the penance. It would be abnormal, but not illicit.

I don’t think the point is so much betraying the penitent, although that is part of it. But if a priest is in the habit of giving out such harsh penances, people would avoid confession out of fear of those penances. As I said in another post, penance is not a punishment.

 

[J1Priest]

yeah, well,
The setting where this is taking place is not like a regular parish where it is even rare to see people go to Confession or to Adoration (ok, I’m exagerating a bit).

Plus, just as it has been said below, any penance is public unless there is no one there. And yeah, it wouldn’t reveal what sin they committed or anything.

Just that in some conversation someone mentioend this, and they did not mention the name of the priest (though I know who the priest is, and I’m very, very fond of him), but said that the giving of penance was against the rules - or something to that effect, I have bad memory.

So if it is against some rule, then I would like to advice him ASAP, both to avoid trouble, and because I’m fond of him.
If not, then I wonder if I should advice the person who was bringing up these “charges” (lack of better word).

I’m not sure there is any prohibition on it, but it seems a bit unusual. If the priest knows you, he might be giving you something unusual because he thinks it will help you overcome your sins and grow closer to God. If they don’t know you…well, every crowd has their strange ducks- including the clergy. For what it’s worth, If I were given that specific penance, I wouldn’t do it- but I’d listen to what he said.

Yes, in this case the priest knows the persons, and it’s not like he’s giving it time after time, nor even like every week. Just now and then you see this.

I think we need to look at the difference of a penance being performed in public as opposed to why the person received the penance being public. Small bit of wording, but with a big difference.

Walking on your knees in the church would have to be done in public. But yet it would not betray the penitent.

The way I see it, a penitent would only be betrayed if forced to reveal their sins in any way by the nature of the penance. To me the fact that you perform your penance in public is irrelevant because the fact that you went to confession is usually public.

Now whether or not such a penance is prudent is a whole different story. I rarely like to question a priest and the actions he may take in the confessional since he can’t defend himself. Perhaps there is some true reason behind the penance. It would be abnormal, but not illicit.

I agree.
And in terms of prudence, yeah, it’s basically between God and him, though some would say is very imprudent (and again, it was said that it was against the norms and that “it shows poor formation”), others would say “Ok… I’ll go to this other priest instead,” while others will just say “that’s between God, the priest, and the penitent.”

I don’t think the point is so much betraying the penitent, although that is part of it. But if a priest is in the habit of giving out such harsh penances, people would avoid confession out of fear of those penances. As I said in another post, penance is not a punishment.

True.
In my view, and knowing the priest, he obviously means no harm, nor scandal, nor anything. He loves the Church, Christ and His Mother, more than his very own life, and wouldn’t do anything (at least consciously) against the Church.
So in this particular case and church, there would be little or no danger of people going to Confession any less… they might just go to a different priest.
Also, it is randomly occurring, not persistent at all.

Well, thanks for all of your insights so far!
Pax Christi