Confession Online?

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BrooklynBoy200

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When you go to confession, does it have to be face-to-face? Can you like email a priest confessing your sins? It’s just a thought i had and i know it seems kind of stupid.
 
confession must be in person, not necessarily face-to-face, you can stay behind the screen in the confessional. no internet confessions and you can’t phone it in. this is canon law.
 
I’m sure a lot more people would confess if it were possible to do it remotely like this. Unfortunately not.
 
I’ve seen a lot of confessions on these forums. Now if only the moderators could give absolution! But no–it must be by a priest and in person.
 
Although it is tempting to think that confession in such a way would be easier, ironically I think people would find they still feel alone with their sins and actually less comforted than being with a priest. As much as we may not realize it, the presence of the priest relieves our burden and comforts us. He faces our sin with us and frees us from their burdens by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is a reason why it is called a scarament. (Sacrament means visible sign of God’s love). We thank God for this wonderful sacrament that frees and heals us in so many ways that we may not even realize.
 
JimG said:
I’ve seen a lot of confessions on these forums. Now if only the moderators could give absolution! .
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You may want to rethink that proposition if you consider the “penance” phase…😃
 
Even canon law issues aside, I don’t think it would be valid. I don’t know the theological reasons why not, but my gut tells me that 😛
 
Well, the main theological reason would be simple - Christ never did adminster any sacrament at a distance. Even when pardoning the thief on the Cross he did so in person. The sacraments are a personal face-to-face transaction.
 
Face-to-face (or through a screen) is fine; I just wish some parishes would get over their only-on-Saturday-afternoon fixation. Makes it sort of impossible for those of us who are never free on Saturday afternoons. I’d like to see more “before Mass”, for example.

**Crazy Internet Junkies Society
**Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
Pace e Bene 🙂
 
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CarolAnnSFO:
Face-to-face (or through a screen) is fine; I just wish some parishes would get over their only-on-Saturday-afternoon fixation. Makes it sort of impossible for those of us who are never free on Saturday afternoons. I’d like to see more “before Mass”, for example.
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:amen:

It’s really odd around here to see the almost exactly even split between parishes with daily or near-daily confession and those with strictly half-an-hour on Saturday afternoon if that.

I suppose the attitude is that because it’s available somewhere nearby it needn’t be available everywhere (which is incredibly sad).
 
CarolAnnSFO said:
Face-to-face (or through a screen) is fine; I just wish some parishes would get over their only-on-Saturday-afternoon fixation. Makes it sort of impossible for those of us who are never free on Saturday afternoons. I’d like to see more “before Mass”, for example.

**Crazy Internet Junkies Society
**Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
Pace e Bene 🙂
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My parish is like that, however, we are told time and again that if Saturday is no good for us, we can make an appointment with the priest for confession. I have done this several times. You may see if your parish offers that.
 
ChristIsTheWay said:
My parish is like that, however, we are told time and again that if Saturday is no good for us, we can make an appointment with the priest for confession. I have done this several times. You may see if your parish offers that.
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Is the confession still anonymous? (I prefer “through the screen”). Have you had problems with the priest being available? I don’t know the size of your parish, but mine is a large urban parish twinned with another parish – I think the priests are already stretched to the limit.

**Crazy Internet Junkies Society
**Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
Pace e Bene 🙂
 
BrooklynBoy200 said:
When you go to confession, does it have to be face-to-face? Can you like email a priest confessing your sins? It’s just a thought i had and i know it seems kind of stupid.
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No sir, it must be in the physical presence of a priest.
Think of how you would apologize to any loved one…it would be in person out of the most sincere sorrow.
God bless!
 
CarolAnnSFO said:
Is the confession still anonymous? (I prefer “through the screen”).

Yes, I can meet him at the confessional or at his office, depending on my preferences at the time.

Have you had problems with the priest being available?

I’ve never had problems. He can usually be available whenever you need him. The longest wait I had was a few days.

I don’t know the size of your parish, but mine is a large urban parish twinned with another parish – I think the priests are already stretched to the limit.

There are 1,000 members of my parish. Our sole priest is clustered with another parish of about 500. I’d say we’re good sized for a small town but probably nothing like your urban parish. I still recommend giving one of your priests a call and see what can be arranged.
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On line? Drive-inconfessions have not been approved yet (Toot and tell or go to hell).😃
 
You mean I can’t confess through an email? It seems I will have a lot of explaining to the father do to…😦

Just kidding. I am involved in a Why Catholic group and we were just talking about this, with everything that can be found and done on the internet one of the people mentioned he wouldnt be suprised to see confession on line. He of course was joking, but I have sometimes wondered the same thing.
 
While technology is advancing at an ever rapid pace, I’m not holding my breath on Confession by E-Mail. Ain’t gonna happen any time soon. One oft stated reason for the rather short Confession Hours is the decrease in the number of people going to Confession on a given Saturday. Remember when the lines where long? My parish offers Confession on Saturdays from 3:30-4:30 PM. Other times are by appointment. You can phone the Church Office or Rectory for the appointment, but you can’t phone in your Confession.
 
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