Confession

[maggiec]

Pug:

Have you tried going behind the screen (so the priest can’t see you) for confession? Maybe it would feel more comfortable.

Do you live somewhere remote without access to a priest, that they give general absolution twice a year and don’t hear the confessions at that time? It is not supposed to be given, unless absolutely necessary.

If you went to my parish you would find that the only confessional is the cry room, no screen and everyone outside the cry room can see you. Makes it a little hard to “get into” having a really good, heart felt confession.
I wish it was different.
maggiec

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

maggiec:

If you went to my parish you would find that the only confessional is the cry room, no screen and everyone outside the cry room can see you. Makes it a little hard to “get into” having a really good, heart felt confession.
I wish it was different.
maggiec

The “Cry Room” is not an acceptable place for the Sacrament of Reconciliation according to Canon Law. Write your {Pastor and copy your Bishop.

 

[maggiec]

Br. Rich SFO:

The “Cry Room” is not an acceptable place for the Sacrament of Reconciliation according to Canon Law. Write your {Pastor and copy your Bishop.

Thanks, Bro RIch. I didn’t think that this was suppose to be the only option. My husband and I are going to a parish in another city (we live in a small town) for a pennintial service. We haven’t gone to confession since last Easter because of this situation.
maggiec

 

[mercygate]

Br. Rich SFO:

The “Cry Room” is not an acceptable place for the Sacrament of Reconciliation according to Canon Law. Write your {Pastor and copy your Bishop.

Sex scandals: priest alone with women or children or anybody = cry room for confession.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

mercygate:

Sex scandals: priest alone with women or children or anybody = cry room for confession.

In my opinion. The old Confessional is the best protection from abuse. A solid wall with a small opening and screen between the priest and the penitent. The only doors open out into the public space where others may be.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

dear albert,

i have not read this entire thread, so this may be a repeat. i know that people have ragged on the fact that no priest should ever offer general absolution. first be sure that is the case. general absolution is a specific thing, different from communal penance etc. if he really offers general absolution, he’ll pay later. but have you considered what he is stealing from you?

sacramental confession is not just me telling my sins to the priest. if i am repentent and ask God for forgiveness, personally, he does not ignore me. but that prayer doesn’t approach the reality of the sacrament of reconciliation. it is like calling your father on the phone but refusing to come to his house. at his house there are great things that cannot be enjoyed on the phone.

in the rite of penance, we are cleansed to the purity of our baptism. would you baptize yourself and call that right? would you pour out water and say that all that saw the pouring are baptized? i don’t care how much anyone may degrade this sacrament, they are liars. unless it is done to you, you have nothing. there is more happening in the sacrament than “feeling” forgiven. if it only involved the mind of the penitent feeling that they asked for forgiveness, would Jesus have shed his Blood on the cross? it involves the humility on being brave enough to confess to the human representative of the Lord. it involves the assignment of a penance that is from another, even if you think that the penance is slight. lastly, it involves trust that the Son of God has maintained his redemptive power in the world outside of our imagination. the priest does not only impart forgiveness, he imparts grace. why? because he can. and because, by being there with you, he can also enliven your ability to receive that grace.

if you would like to increase your understanding of this sacrament consider this joke:

two men robbed a bank, and becasue they feared being caught, vowed to never speak again afterward. many years later, one of the men, who was down and out, saw the other man on the street. the other guy looked great, had nice clothes and a nice car. the poor looking guy said to the other one, “hey, how’s it going? remember me?”

the other guy said, “yeah, how come you’re looking so bad? we got so much money from the job, you shouldn’t be so grubby looking.”

the poor man said, “i am Catholic and after the job, i felt so guilty, that i went to confession. the priest told me that i was forgiven, but as my penance, he said i had to give the money back. so i did.”

the other guy looked at him and said, “well i’m a protestant and i felt guilty too. so i just prayed to the Holy Spirit and he didn’t mention anything about giving the money back.”

if we go with your idea that our salvation has something to do with how we “feel”, then we need to spend our time on explaining the death of Jesus and forget about complaining about whether we like confession or not. because, if you are right, we cannot avoid the question of “how could a loving Father require that of a Son, if it takes so little to be redeemed?”

i, for one, hope i don’t arrive as i am. i want to arrive how God created me to be.

john

 

[Pug]

maggiec:

If you went to my parish you would find that the only confessional is the cry room, no screen and everyone outside the cry room can see you. Makes it a little hard to “get into” having a really good, heart felt confession.
I wish it was different.
maggiec

Oh, Maggiec, I’m sorry. If for some reason the bishop or priest is making this happen in the cry room, at least they can provide a, well, I don’t know what it is called, but it is like a small mobile wall with a kneeler on one side and a grille with a small curtain right where your face is when you kneel. The priest sits on one side in a chair, and you come up and kneel on the other side. This can be set up in any room as it is portable. This (or something) should be provided so that the penitent can choose not to be visible to the priest.

There must be a just reason for them to have it not be in a confessional. It is supposed to be in one normally. Here is a snip for you to read from the canon law about it.

Can. 964 §1. The proper place to hear sacramental confessions is a church or oratory.

§2. The conference of bishops is to establish norms regarding the confessional; it is to take care, however, that there are always confessionals with a fixed grate between the penitent and the confessor in an open place so that the faithful who wish to can use them freely.

§3. Confessions are not to be heard outside a confessional without a just cause.

I agree, to be comfortable, you may have to go elsewhere.

 

[rayne89]

I do not believe that Baptism has anything to do with salvation.
REQUIRED
Catechism of the Catholic Church:

**VI. THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM ****1257 **The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.59 He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.60 Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.61 The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.”

I do not pray to the Virgin Mary or the Saints.
Not required

I do not believe that the Pope is infallible.
In matters of faith and morals when speaking ex cathedra-REQUIRED
CCC
**889 **In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a “supernatural sense of faith” the People of God, under the guidance of the Church’s living Magisterium, “unfailingly adheres to this faith.”

**891 **“The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. . . . The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter’s successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium,” above all in an Ecumenical Council. When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine “for belief as being divinely revealed,” and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions “must be adhered to with the obedience of faith.” This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself.

I do not believe in Purgatory.
REQUIRED
CCC
**1031 **The Church gives the name *Purgatory *to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.I do not believe that the Mass is a sacrifice.
REQUIRED
CCC
**1330 **The *memorial *of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection.

The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church’s offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, “sacrifice of praise,” spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used, since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant. The Holy and Divine Liturgy, because the Church’s whole liturgy finds its center and most intense expression in the celebration of this sacrament; in the same sense we also call its celebration the Sacred Mysteries. We speak of the Most Blessed Sacrament because it is the Sacrament of sacraments. The Eucharistic species reserved in the tabernacle are designated by this same name.

(continued)

 

[rayne89]

I do not believe in transubstantiation.
REQUIRED
CCC
**1376 **The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.”
I do not believe that the Catholic Church is the only True Church.
REQUIRED
CCC
**868 **The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples. She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is “missionary of her very nature”

**2105 **The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. This is “the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ.” By constantly evangelizing men, the Church works toward enabling them “to infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality and mores, laws and structures of the communities in which [they] live.” The social duty of Christians is to respect and awaken in each man the love of the true and the good. It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion which subsists in the Catholic and apostolic Church. Christians are called to be the light of the world. Thus, the Church shows forth the kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies.

I do not believe in individual confession.
CCC
**1497 **Individual and integral confession of grave sins followed by absolution remains the only ordinary means of reconciliation with God and with the Church.

I only believe in going to Communal Reconciliation Services where general absolution is given and I will never go to individual confession again.
**1483 **In case of grave necessity recourse may be had to a communal celebration of reconciliation with general confession and general absolution. Grave necessity of this sort can arise when there is imminent danger of death without sufficient time for the priest or priests to hear each penitent’s confession. Grave necessity can also exist when, given the number of penitents, there are not enough confessors to hear individual confessions properly in a reasonable time, so that the penitents through no fault of their own would be deprived of sacramental grace or Holy Communion for a long time. In this case, for the absolution to be valid the faithful must have the intention of individually confessing their grave sins in the time required. The diocesan bishop is the judge of whether or not the conditions required for general absolution exist. A large gathering of the faithful on the occasion of major feasts or pilgrimages does not constitute a case of grave necessity.

I do not believe that the has anything to do with salvation. I do believe that the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is only to bring about healing.
REQUIRED
CCC
**1532 **The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects:

• the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church;
• the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;
• the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;
• the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul;
• the preparation for passing over to eternal life.

• I still believe that there are 7 Sacraments but that the Sacraments have nothing to do with salvation*.
  REQUIRED
  CCC
  **1129 **The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation. “Sacramental grace” is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior.

 

[rayne89]

I still consider myself to be a faithful Catholic because I attend Mass every weekend and I am on the membership roll of the local Catholic Church.

**CCC

**92 **“The whole body of the faithful. . . cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals.”

**2037 **The law of God entrusted to the Church is taught to the faithful as the way of life and truth. The faithful therefore have the *right *to be instructed in the divine saving precepts that purify judgment and, with grace, heal wounded human reason. They have the *duty *of observing the constitutions and decrees conveyed by the legitimate authority of the Church. Even if they concern disciplinary matters, these determinations call for docility in charity.

What you consider yourself or what you believe does not change the facts. You are in dissent on major beliefs of the Catholic church.
Main Entry: 2faithful
Function: noun
1 plural in construction a : church members in full communion and good standing – used with the b : the body of believers in Islam – used with the
2 plural faithful or faithfuls : one who is faithful; especially : a loyal follower, member, or fan <party faithful**s>

It doesn’t matter how many other dissenters you know. Or what this priest or that priest says the teachings are clear, they are in the Catechism for all Catholics (and non-Catholics) to find easily. Picking and choosong what you like and don’t like doesn’t make you Catholic, it makes you Protestant.
Where your name is on a membership roll has absolutely nothing to do with whether you are faithful or not.

 

[Albert_Kopsho]

rayne89,

Being on the membership roll of the local Catholic Church means that I am legally Catholic and not legally Protestant. I am remaining Catholic because I would not feel comfortable attending a church that does not have a liturgical worship service and I go to Saturday Vigil Mass so that I can do other things on Sunday like going to lunch and shopping.

Albert

 

[William_Bradley]

Albert should be thanked for his claimed stubborn refusal to be in full communion with the Church. For if the claim that he did not refuse to be fully Catholic were not presented; we could not get to read the exhaustively researched and wonderfully formatted answer that Raye put together. Please remember Albert and those cafeteria Catholics in your prayers. It certainly invites one to make use of the Divine Mercy Chaplet after our individual confessions.

 

[Albert_Kopsho]

When I get married and have children they are going to be sent to Catholic parochial school because I think that it is very important for children to have a Catholic school education and naturally the children will have to go to individual confession and I am not going say anything against individual confession to the children.

Albert

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Millions of Catholics in the United States only go to Communal Reconciliation Services with General Absolution instead of individual confession.

I’d like to see a source for this statement, thank you.

And even if your claim was correct (which is highly doubtful), it would not then make your contention that individual confession is not NECESSARY truth either.

Millions of Catholics reportedly (see, I don’t this for a fact myself) use artificial birth control, something which is against Catholic teaching.

That does not, then, negate the Catholic teaching. Because “millions” may do it, doesn’t make it *right. * And it never, never will.

Albert, do yourself a favor and get yourself to individual confession before Easter. While you’re at it, talk to your priest about your relationship with that 17 year old you want to marry so that you’ll still be having those little Catholic kids to “teach” when you’re 60.

I’m sure that some of our posters would be happy to give you the name of an excellent, faithful, loving priest near you, if you’d ask. Because we’re not out to “get” you, truly. As God said through Isaiah, He does not desire any person to die, but to turn to Him and live.

God bless. Open your heart and your mind to Him.

 

[Lucania]

Albert Kopsho:

puzzleannie,

Yes I do not believe in some Catholic doctrines. I do not believe that Baptism has anything to do with salvation. I still consider it ok to Baptize infants because I consider Infant Baptism to be just a dedication of infants to Jesus and an initiation ceremony into the church.

I do not pray to the Virgin Mary or the Saints. I do not believe that the Pope is infallible. I do not believe in Purgatory. I do not believe that the Mass is a sacrifice. I do not believe in transubstantiation. I consider the Holy Eucharist to be just like the Lutherans do and that is I believe in consubstantiation.

I do not believe that the Catholic Church is the only True Church. I consider the Protestant Churches to also be True Churches with the exception of the cults of Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Science and other cults that deny the Holy Trinity and the Deity of Christ. I still believe that Saint Peter was the first Pope. I have a combination of Catholic and Protestant beliefs.

I do not believe in individual confession. I only believe in going to Communal Reconciliation Services where general absolution is given and I will never go to individual confession again.

I do not believe that the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick has anything to do with salvation. I do believe that the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is only to bring about healing. I still believe that there are 7 Sacraments but that the Sacraments have nothing to do with salvation. I still believe in First Holy Communion. I still believe in the Sacrament of Penance but in the form of Communal Reconciliation Service with general absolution. I still believe that the Sacrament of Confirmation is the impartation of the Holy Spirit. I still believe that Marriage is a Sacrament. I still believe in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. There is only one way to obtain salvation and that is by receiving Christ as personal savior.

I still consider myself to be a faithful Catholic because I attend Mass every weekend and I am on the membership roll of the local Catholic Church. I still observe that lenten regulations of fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and no meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent. The penance that I do for Lent is attend Mass on Friday mornings during Lent.

Albert

It sounds llike your beliefs are more in tuned with the Episcopal or Lutheran Churches. I have never heard of going to Mass referred to as a penance. Perhaps you meant that you were attending Mass on Fridays during Lent as a way to improve your spiritual life? You must believe in Transubstantiation to be a Catholic. When the Priest consecrates the Host, Jesus is present Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity and if a consecrated Host is not consumed at Mass and reserved in the Tabernacle, IT IS STILL THE BODY, BLOOD, SOUL & DIVINITY OF JESUS OUR LORD! That does not “Go Away” when Mass is over.

 

[rcn]

Since the moderators are not doing their job of late - they never respond to “bad post” reports or PM’s, the only way we can kill threads like this is NOT TO RESPOND TO THEM.

Mr. Kopsho aka M. P. Mazar has infested EWTN with his rants, and now he’s trying to get a rise out of us here. Please don’t indulge him.

Thank you.

 

[springbreeze]

Dear friends

All of you who have replied in this thread…your charity and patience is admirable…but, you can lead a horse to water, you cannot make it drink.

God Bless you all and much love and peace to you and those you love

Teresa

---

Dear friend

It is not a matter of what you feel comfortable with, the narrow path is one that is uncomfortable, hard and filled with suffering and sacrifice, if we follow Christ Jesus it always leads us to His Cross.

What you have to decide is if you take seriously what Jesus teaches and if you do then seriously resolve to follow Him in His teachings. These good people here have given you the truth. The truth cannot be altered just because you find it too hard. The truth is not always NICE, NICE is not being Catholic, being true to the TRUTH of Christ Jesus is being Catholic.

God Bless you always and much love and peace to you

Teresa