Confession Insufficient?

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Lucy2

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The Lenten schedule for our parish notes that on the 4th Sunday of Lent, at all Masses, the congregation will be given the opportunity to write our sins and failings (and there were several other new-agey euphemisms for sin) on small pieces of paper, which will be collected and then set alight in a brazier on the altar. We will see the smoke, the visible sign that our sins are removed!

It seems to me that many priests have lost their faith.

Where do practices such as this start, and how could a priest possibly think this is a good idea? Who are we appeasing here?
 
Send this to the bishop, with a cover letter explaining why you are puzzled and scandalized. do it now. sign your name.
 
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puzzleannie:
Send this to the bishop, with a cover letter explaining why you are puzzled and scandalized. do it now. sign your name.
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I agree wholeheartedly. This is error and heresy (maybe not formal heresy, but even still). The Sacrament of Confession cannot be replaced, nor can absolution be granted through impersonal confession.

And don’t stop with your bishop, if he fails to do anything. Take it up the hierarchy.
 
Our Parish does the same and this disturbed me also. I do believe that I read this is “accetable” in certain circumstances…For instance our parish has 3200 families and only one priest.

Anyone know what the situations are that allow for this.
 
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solanus:
Our Parish does the same and this disturbed me also. I do believe that I read this is “accetable” in certain circumstances…For instance our parish has 3200 families and only one priest.

Anyone know what the situations are that allow for this.
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Maybe we really need to begin to pray and fast for our clergy and for more vocations, huh?
 
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solanus:
Anyone know what the situations are that allow for this.
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There are situations which allow for what is called a General Absolution. A priest may grant forgiveness to a large group without the need for individual confession, but the circumstances must be grave, such as immediately prior to a battle or other situation where large numbers are likely to be killed. Large numbers of people who have the opportunity to schedule individual confession at a later date do not meet the criteria.

The Church does have norms for a penance service, but individual confession is still required for the forgiveness of mortal sins.
 
To clarify, a bit, or maybe this makes it even stranger-
our priest is quite traditional and he is also a holy man, I’m pretty sure. And he is on duty in the Confessional every Saturday afternoon for at least an hour before Mass. But there are extremely liberal forces agitating for his removal from the Parish, and this sort of thing seems to be in the nature of concession. The last really bizarre thing was an announcement in the bulletin a few weeks before Halloween, which fell on a Sunday in 2004, calling on the children to wear their Halloween costumes to Mass. The following week’s bulletin asked that they come dressed as their favorite saint.
 
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solanus:
Our Parish does the same and this disturbed me also. I do believe that I read this is “accetable” in certain circumstances…For instance our parish has 3200 families and only one priest.

Anyone know what the situations are that allow for this.
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uhhhh none!!

There are some circumstances that allow for general absolution (such as no way to hear individual confessions, impending death etc). Even so, you have to go to individual confession and receive absolution at the first available opportunity.

Most large parishes add nights to the regularly scheduled confession times or borrow priests. In our deanery we sometimes have the priests from several parishes go to one church for their penance service (WITH individual confession and absolution). On another night, they might be at another church doing the same thing. This way a group is always available for a large group.

If the parish cannot handle such a large group coming for Confession at one time, they shouldn’t schedule the penance service that way.

There are no provisions for writing sins on slips of paper to be collected (by who knows who) and burned. This is not Confession, it is not Sacramental.

In all Sacraments there has to be be valid matter, form AND intent. You might have valid intent here but no valid matter or form.
 
The Church does have norms for a penance service, but individual confession is still required for the forgiveness of mortal sins.
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Let me describe our “penance service”. Our Parish priest brings in a few visiting priests (last two years there have been two). Penance service begins with an opening prayer. Then two readings and the Gospel. Then father gives a homily and asks all present (always full - 700-800 people) to do an examination of conscience and write down our sins. We then get in one of three lines for the priests and bring them our pieces of paper. The priest throws them in the barrel and lays his hands on us and gives us absolution. After this they burn the pieces of paper and Father gives a penance to the whole congregation.

Does the above fall under the allowed practice since individual absolution is granted? We have a priest that is faithful (I think) to Church teaching. Preaches on the Eucharist, promotes adoration, spoken out against abortion many many times, so I find it hard to think that he would go against teaching here.
 
I don’t think so.

Take a look at this letter from the CDW which quotes Canon Law liberally.

adoremus.org/6-72K.Penance.html
For this reason the Code of Canon Law states clearly that "individual and integral **confession and absolution ** is the sole ordinary means by which a member of the faithful who is conscious of mortal sin is reconciled with God and with the Church. Physical or moral impossibility alone excuses from such confession
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So the confession and absolution must both be individual - not just the absolution.
In accord with the law and practice of the Church, the faithful must orally confess their sins (auricular confession)9, except in cases of true physical or moral impossibility (e.g., extreme illness or physical condition inhibiting speech, speech impediment, etc.) This disposition would exclude communal celebrations of the sacrament in which penitents are invited to present a written list of sins to the priest confessor. It should be noted that such innovations also risk compromising the inviolable seal of sacramental confession.
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This seems to prohibit writing the sins down except in extreme cases and specifically exlcudes the kind of service you are describing.
 
Thanks for the info Tex…

How sad and discouraging this is , very sad . I really want to believe our priest is leading us in accordance to Church Teaching. I see , read and here constantly of his fellow priests in our archdiocese who openly object and teach against Holy Mother Church. He has been our pastor for about ten years now and allows rallies to clear up anything said or done that these folks try and pass as True Teachings…What to do now? Report him? I think our Bishop would look at this and think of the other problem priests and consider this small potatoes. I know I have an obligation and I will right our parish priest a letter tonight and hope he sees the errors in his way.
 
Obviously this can’t actually replace the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or in any way cause sins to be resolved.

But . . . would it be acceptable as a sort of devotional practice (outside of Mass), symbolizing forgiveness without purporting to replace sacramental confession and absolution?
 
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solanus:
Our Parish does the same and this disturbed me also. I do believe that I read this is “accetable” in certain circumstances…For instance our parish has 3200 families and only one priest.

Anyone know what the situations are that allow for this.
Click to expand...
the solutions is what most one-priest parishes do, schedule communal penance services at each parish, all the priests from surrounding parishes assisting. begin with prayer, penitential psalms, examination of conscience, proceed with individual confessions and absolution, conclude with prayer. It is the second form of the revised rite. General absolution, the 3rd form, is allowed only in emergency conditions–natural disaster, wartime or other crisis.

If everyone was in the practice of confessing frequently at the regularly scheduled times, or by appointment, there would not be a queue of 3200 people needing confession the last week of Lent. faint hope.
 
Pieces of paper in a barrell? Burning them in a brazier? This is just too bizarre. And Lucy did mention that her priest is in the confessional every Saturday for an hour before Mass. So it seems that people do have an ample opportunity for confession. Perhaps the priest should announce at the beginning of Lent that procrastination is not sufficient reason to declare an emergency penance service. (Not that the services described constitute a true penance service.)
 
A woman that I use to work with (I don’t believe that she was Catholic) said that she was removed of her sins by swing around a live chicken over her head and then killing it. :eek:

Writing down sins on pieces of paper and then burning the paper doesn’t make a whole lot more sense to me.
 
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