Confession Question

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Margaret_G

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I posted this question to the apologetics and I am awaiting for a reply. I was wondering if this has ever happened to anyone during confession.

Has anyone ever been in the confessional when the Priests cell phone which is visibly in place, actually rings during confession? It even gets better, he picks up the phone to see who it is, he then puts the phone down without shutting it off. There was no apology or anything. Then it still gets better, he forgets to give me my penance. I then approach him the next time I see him and remind him that he forgot to give me my penance, and he was annoyed by it saying that he did give it to me that I must have forgotten it. I reminded him that his phone rang and maybe that was why he forgot it and he still insisted that I must have forgotten it.SO he tells me real quick off the top of his head my penance. I don’t know how many times I have in the Church Bulletin to turn off all cell phones while in the Church. There are 3 Priests in our Parish so there to me is absolutely no excuse to have a cell phone on in a confessional.
Now I am known in the Church, he will know that this was me if I speak to the Pastor. What would you do?

BTW, there was a guy in front of me who had not been to a confession for many years, what if this happened to him? :rolleyes:
 
It doesn’t sound all that bad to me. The priest may have been “on call” for someone seriously ill, or some other dire situation. He checked the phone and did not answer it. Momentarily distracted, he forgot your penance. Later, he gave you a penance and became annoyed when you argued with him. Sounds like a human being to me. Let it go.

Betsy
 
The priest clearly should not have left his cell phone on while hearing confessions. He may have left it on by mistake, but he should have shut it off.
 
Betsy,

Where did it say that I argued with him? I spoke very nicely to him. Isn’t Confession a sacrament? Would a Priest look at a cell phone while in the Middle of Mass, or the middle of a wedding, or the middle of a Baptism, or in the middle of Holy orders, or how about during an Annointing? There were other Priesst in the area visibly present. What could be so important as to interrupt a confession?
 
I think that a more prudent practice on behalf of the priest would have been to have the phone on vibrate and then check it after you left the confessional. We cannot surmise what the reason was that the phone had been on and it could have been about a grave situation in which he was on call for. I never have my phone in church, but I have been in an important meeting before and had to have my phone on vibrate. If someone is speaking to me directly, I will not look to check who is calling, but at the next possible moment, I will check the missed call.

Was the priest in grave error? I don’t think so. Perhaps his judgement was a bit off, but we have no way of knowing if he was preoccupied with a grave situation. He’s human, that’s the way I see it. Your confession was still valid, though it wasn’t the best experience you deserved.

Peace to you,

Kelly
 
Kelly,

My thoughts exactly, it should have been on vibrate. I will add something else to this. A few weeks ago in a homily this same Priest said that going to confession every week or even every 2 weeks is unhealthy. So I was getting the feeling that Confession isn’t his biggest priority. When the phone rang and he immediatley checked it, I felt like the phone was more important than my salvation.

I am aware that this was a valid confession, but it was an odd confession.
 
Margaret_G said:
Where did it say that I argued with him?
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I was referring to the exchange you had with him about whether he or you had forgotten the penance.

Priests have to deal with huge, weighty matters that others are often unaware of. Or perhaps a member of his family is seriously ill and near death. Or maybe he just got the phone and doesn’t know how to work all the features.

We do him no favor by shaking our heads and clucking about how terrible it was for him to have his phone ring in the confessional. It is our duty in charity to assume the best about everyone, and especially about our spiritual father. Please let it go. He just forgave your sins, didn’t he?

Betsy
 
I’ve had my own phone go off while the priest was giving me a penance. :o Sometimes people just forget that kind of thing, you know? Priests are busy.
 
The phone was sitting out in plain view, it was no accident that it was on. He could have said sorry to me and shut it off. He should have just ignored the phone and continued with the confession. I don’t get it, why is this kind of thing acceptable to most people here? Where was the reverence towards the sacrament? Am I missing something? I did pray for him right afterwards, and I will continue to pray for him. It’s not about me forgiving him because I hold no ill will towards him. I am bothered that the sacrament was not held to a higher standard than it was. This same Priest another time in a confession I wanted to ask him a question and before he answered me he wanted to know if there were alot of people waiting before he would answer my question.

Once another Priest in my Parish was giving his homily his cell phone went off. He was so embarassed and could not apologize enough to those present. That is the difference.
 
Margaret G,

It sounds like you’ve had some bad experiences with several different priests. Sorry you’ve had to go through that. Confession is very important, and what you describe sounds inappropriate.
 
dylanschrader said:
Margaret G,

It sounds like you’ve had some bad experiences with several different priests. Sorry you’ve had to go through that. Confession is very important, and what you describe sounds inappropriate.
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Actually, everything except for one thing was from the same Priest. Thats why I had my question. Thank you.
 
MargaretG
I could agree with you more.
Yes there may have been circumstances surrounding the reasons he HAD his phone with him in the first place and them some more as to why he answered his phone, but to me it is a sign of disrespect towards the confessor.
I find it hard to believe how soem people can excuse the fact that cell phones should even be allowed in church and especially during mass in the first place. Emergencies??? How where these handled BEFORE cell phones etc. Yes there’re here now but still. I know that at our masses - even before mass startes, we are requested to switch our cell phones off and there is a note to such at our door. We adhere to these rules when we’re visiting in certain areas of hospitals etc but why not mass and sacraments and I agree with you 100% - where is the reverence towards these sacraments? That’s the problem with today… no reverence!
 
Shani said:
MargaretG
I could agree with you more.
Yes there may have been circumstances surrounding the reasons he HAD his phone with him in the first place and them some more as to why he answered his phone, but to me it is a sign of disrespect towards the confessor.
I find it hard to believe how soem people can excuse the fact that cell phones should even be allowed in church and especially during mass in the first place. Emergencies??? How where these handled BEFORE cell phones etc. Yes there’re here now but still. I know that at our masses - even before mass startes, we are requested to switch our cell phones off and there is a note to such at our door. We adhere to these rules when we’re visiting in certain areas of hospitals etc but why not mass and sacraments and I agree with you 100% - where is the reverence towards these sacraments? That’s the problem with today… no reverence!
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Actually the priest hearing the confession is the confessor, I think you mean it was disrespectful to the penitent 🙂

As for cellphones - of course there was a time when we didn’t have them, and what happened was that a lot of urgent messages and calls were not received in a timely fashion. I should know - my parents and sister are doctors and cellphones have made all the difference in the world to them and their patients.

Of course there’s no guarantee with this priest that it was in fact an urgent call, neither do we know that he knew how to turn the cellphone off or on vibrate and that he was deliberately being rude in this particular instance.

Here’s a thought - if you want to know why a person does something then ask them instead of uselessly and uncharitably speculating behind their back. If the priest tells you to mind your own business then gently remind him that it was actually your confession and important to you if not to him.
 
LilyM said:
Here’s a thought - if you want to know why a person does something then ask them instead of uselessly and uncharitably speculating behind their back.
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:clapping: :clapping: :clapping:
 
In your OP, you asked “What would you do?” Why do you have to do anything? If you don’t like this priest, go to another one.

You are fortunate to have more than one priest in your parish, and you don’t seem to like the one you posted about, so why not make an appt to confess to the one you do like. End of problem.
 
Cell phones are a menace, whether in the possession of the priest or the penitent!

Yes, I know the emergency argument; but if a priest should not answer his cell phone during Mass, neither should he during confessions. For safety’s sake it should be back in the rectory. It’s too much like having a microphone in the confessional. The same applies to the penitent: the cell phone should be in the car.
 
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