Confession to heretical priest

[Spirithound]

It does with Confession. Because a priest would need faculties. If a priest is excommunicated, then he cannot have faculties unless the Church through law would supply it as an act of mercy towards the penitent. This only happens in cases of necessity such as danger of death.

Even if the excommunication is latae sententiae?

 

[Spirithound]

Forgive me for my lack of technical terms, but isn’t there two types of heresy?

1. The kind where you know what you are doing (Formal Heresy?)
2. The kind where you don’t (Material Heresy?)

Yes, but it is my understanding that if you don’t know what you’re doing, then there cannot be a punishment.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Even if the excommunication is latae sententiae?

You mean that priest can hear the confessions of a dying man? Yes.

 

[ConstantineTG]

By your logic, a celibate priest who is otherwise “normal” couldn’t be considered “heterosexual” either. So what would he be? Your example exhibits a flawed understanding of human nature. We are sexual beings apart from how we act - or don’t act - on that sexuality.

Actually I am spot on. No one is born homosexual, even though they keep insisting on it. No one becomes homosexual until they act on it. Everyone by nature is heterosexual, because that is how our species naturally reproduce.

 

[Spirithound]

You mean that priest can hear the confessions of a dying man? Yes.

No, I mean an excommunication latae sententiae, meaning the excommunication is incurred automatically on committing the offense. Heresy is something that other people might not notice, and so would be unaware of, or not competent to know his guilt, and so would not know not to go to confession to him.

 

[ConstantineTG]

No, I mean an excommunication latae sententiae, meaning the excommunication is incurred automatically on committing the offense. Heresy is something that other people might not notice, and so would be unaware of, or not competent to know his guilt, and so would not know not to go to confession to him.

I can’t find it in Canon Law. An expert would have to answer that. My earlier guess is that the Church would supply the faculties for the benefit of the penitent.

 

[GKCT]

Constantine

Homosexual means being attracted to a member of the same sex. Heterosexual means being attracted or orientated to one of the opposite sex. Check your Webster’s.

If I am a heterosexual, that does not necessarily mean I am engaging in sex. It just means that I am oriented toward the opposite sex of what I am.

 

[puzzleannie]

My pastor seems to believe that homosexuality is morally permissible, to name one of several areas which he seems to be in heresy.

This being so, is it wrong for me to go to confession to him?

seems to believe, and preaches and counsels in the confessional are two different things. If he is doing the latter, no he is not a reliable confessor on any topic since his moral judgment is entirely skewed. If he is actively teaching against the Church from the pulpit and in other contexts he should be reported to the bishop. If he is a material heretic, the bishop and pope apply that label, not the laity.

 

[CB_Catholic]

Why have we gotten so comfortable anymore with labeling priests as heretics without solid evidence, and without any statement from the Church? This is not the first post I’ve seen on these forums to do so, from different posters. I am not singling out the OP here, this is a problem on certain forums.

Heresy is a serious charge to accuse a person of. Before the Church declares a person to be a heretic, they do some serious investigation, they just don’t bandy the term around lightly, and on suspicion and call someone a “heretical priest” because they think they may be guitly of it, or from chance remarks that may be misinterpreted. Especially from the laity, who has no authority to declare a person a heretic.

The TRADITIONAL thing to do is have respect for the clergy, first of all as human beings made in the image and likeness of God, and secondly out of respect for their calling and their commitment to serve God. Charity is always to prevail. In my day, some nun would have smacked me up side of the head were I to call a priest a heretic. Our priests have enough to deal with without having to deal with the lack of respect that is shown frequently on these forums, often because the poster thinks they are too liberal, or doesn’t like the way they do things, or various other reasons that are often unfounded. They are constantly being criticized. People go around making lists of “liturgical abuses”"-real or imagined- that they see priests doing and post them on the forums. It is really getting tiresome. Is this what Christ would have us do? Is this what going to Mass is about? And is this what CAF has become?

And even if a person is found, by the Church, to be guilty of heresy, the response should not be to trash him, the response should be one, again, of charity. The Church wants these people to repent of their ways and be brought back into the fold. They want prayers for them and are willing to extend mercy. They dialogue with such persons, they do all they can to bring them back. They don’t just attach a label to them.

I don’t know. It’s pretty discouraging. I am not used to looking for faults in the clergy. I was brought up in an era where we respected them, even if we didn’t care for what they did or said. We didn’t go around labeling them this or that. Now 80% of what I read about our priests is complaints. It may be time to move on.

 

[MilesVitae]

Heresy is a serious charge to accuse a person of. Before the Church declares a person to be a heretic, they do some serious investigation, they just don’t bandy the term around lightly, and on suspicion and call someone a “heretical priest” because they think they may be guitly of it, or from chance remarks that may be misinterpreted. Especially from the laity, who has no authority to declare a person a heretic.

If a priest preaches from the pulpit that, say, Christ was not bodily risen from the dead, or that the Virgin Mary was not perpetually a virgin, he is preaching heresy. If he believes what he is preaching - which he presumably does - is he not a heretic, whether materially or formally?

 

[Spirithound]

If a priest preaches from the pulpit that, say, Christ was not bodily risen from the dead, or that the Virgin Mary was not perpetually a virgin, he is preaching heresy. If he believes what he is preaching - which he presumably does - is he not a heretic, whether materially or formally?

It would appear so, but you as a layman are not the judge. Report it to your bishop.

 

[CB_Catholic]

If a priest preaches from the pulpit that, say, Christ was not bodily risen from the dead, or that the Virgin Mary was not perpetually a virgin, he is preaching heresy. If he believes what he is preaching - which he presumably does - is he not a heretic, whether materially or formally?

Yes, we can recognize heretical statements made by a priest, no, we, as laymen cannot define the person as a heretic. That is up to the Church. The Church determines whether the person is obstinately persisting in denying a defined truth, or is in error or has faulty understanding of something. That is not up to us.

It is a moot point in this discussion anyway, because OP isn’t even sure of what the priest believes or thinks. He has admitted that. Yet the title of this thread states “heretical priest”. This is not the first time this has happened. It is wrong to put labels on people without foundation, and besides showing lack of respect for the person, it shows lack of respect for the priesthood, and it is becoming more and more common on some of these forums. It needs to stop. It’s a bad witness and a bad example.

 

[thistle]

He has never said it explicitly, although I am very sure he does, from other things he has said. He has also said Christ did not know who he was until later in His life, and holds to a liberal notion of conscience (the Church teaches what it teaches, but you have to follow your own conscience).

You should refrain from making unfounded accusations against anyone and especially against a priest. Your personal opinion about someone is irrelevant.