Confession Question

[in_saecula]

Hello. I am trying to persuade a once lapsed but now once more practicing Catholic friend to go to Confession, after he told me that while he was lapsed, he began to masturbate and watch pornography. He has also told me that when he started practicing again, he did not initially (although quickly did find out) know that he had sinned, and that he was sinning more by receiving the Most Blessed Sacrament. He has since continued to receive the Most Blessed Sacrament, despite his knowledge - beleiving that if he felt sorry, God would forgive him without Confession. I have persuaded him to confess both his impure sins and his sin of Desecration, but he keeps asking me if any Priest, in England, can absolve for receiving Holy Communion whilst in a state of Mortal Sin. Any help would be appreciated, as I really feel I need to help him - for both of our souls.

Many thanks,
In Christ,
in_saecula

 

[RocketRM]

Hi in_saecula,

Your friend can rest assured that if he confesses (with true repentance) his sins he can and will be fully absolved by any priest.

Any mortal sin can be absolved through confession if the penitent is truly contrite.

God Bless!

 

[DexUK]

Remember also that if he didn’t know he was sinning while he was sinning then the full conditions of mortal sin do not pertain to the acts.

 

[DexUK]

as for his question:

if any Priest, in England, can absolve for receiving Holy Communion whilst in a state of Mortal Sin

Any priest in good standing with his Diocese and with the permission of his Bishop may hear a confession and absolve any mortal sin.

An exception sometimes occurs regarding Abortion which requires a Bishop to absolve, but mostly Bishops delegate this responsibility to priests. The priest himself will know whether he is allowed to absolve Abortion or not.

There may be a few priests whose faculties for hearing confessions may not yet have been granted (or may have been removed for some reason) but they would not make themselves available to hear your friends confession in the first place.

He need not worry about it… anything he confesses with a contrite heart will be forgiven. Nobody need fear the confessional.

 

[chimo]

Hello. I am trying to persuade a once lapsed but now once more practicing Catholic friend to go to Confession, after he told me that while he was lapsed, he began to masturbate and watch pornography. He has also told me that when he started practicing again, he did not initially (although quickly did find out) know that he had sinned, and that he was sinning more by receiving the Most Blessed Sacrament. He has since continued to receive the Most Blessed Sacrament, despite his knowledge - beleiving that if he felt sorry, God would forgive him without Confession. I have persuaded him to confess both his impure sins and his sin of Desecration, but he keeps asking me if any Priest, in England, can absolve for receiving Holy Communion whilst in a state of Mortal Sin. Any help would be appreciated, as I really feel I need to help him - for both of our souls.

Many thanks,
In Christ,
in_saecula

The need for your person is much more than his need to go to Confession. He needs a friend. He needs a strong friend. Although I do not see masturbation as a mortal sin it has this judgment among many of our Catholic brothers and sisters. It is a major concern for those Catholics who are raised within their Church in responding to sexual issues such as masturbation and pornography. The problem with your friend as I see from your post is his lack of communicating his problem in the first place. If he indulges in these activities he may have more personal problems that needs to be addressed. The masturbation and pornography is pointing to his own lack of maturity that needs to be addressed. One way for any person to seek the help they need is to talk it out with someone. This is what I mean when I say he is in need of a friend. He may be going through with many deeper personal problems and he is using masturbation and pornography as an escape from what he really needs to do. Going to Confession will only make him not search these answers for in truth he will just to do the same thing over again. He needs to talk it out rather than confess. Once he does this then Confession will become real to him.

In truth there is a lot of factors that makes a person go to escape into activities that postpone your need to grow into a mature person. One of these factors is your own fear to face your own life. I find today there is a much more difficulty for a person to grow into a mature person than it was some generations ago. This lack of personal growth in every person is problematic as the person grows up to be an adult. This gap however can be brought closer in each person who has this problem when someone takes an interest in their lives to help them overcome their own fears about themselves. This can help them to see themselves as important persons. When they have this healthier aspect and appreciation of who they are then the Sacraments can become more real for them and important for them.

 

[in_saecula]

Thank you every one for your answers - he will be (and I am) very grateful.

On a different note, what then, is the job of the Apostolic Penitentiary, if any Priest can give absolution for Desecrating the Sacred Species?

Once again, many thanks.
In Christ,
in_saecula

 

[DexUK]

I believe that Desecration of the Eucharist refers to an explicitly public act of desecration - i.e. taking the Host and then either spitting it out again (wilfully) or, as has happened, receiving in the hand and not consuming it and instead doing something else with it later (a heartbreaking case of which a few years ago was a person nailing a consecrated host to something and distributing the photograph of it).

Receiving the host while not in a state of grace is, so far as I know, not in that league. If it was, I expect that the Apostolic Penitentiary would be overwhelmed with referrals from Confessors around the world…