Could nuns hear confessions?

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I have been wondering since so many women would like to have someone like them hearing confessions, and being priest for women is out of the qauestion i think would be very benefical since they know what is it like to be a woman, why does not the Pope give some nuns the posibility of hearing confessions? i think that would be great for women. I know Christ gave that to His diciples, but can’t they share that with some others? in this case certain Nuns
 
Only Priests can give absolution. The Church does not have the power to ordain women. Therefore woman can never be Priests therefore they can not give absolution in confession. There is nothing the Pope can change about this.
 
A sister or brother religious is ontologically the same as a layman or laywoman. Only priests (bishops are also priests) have been enabled to continue the mission of the apostles, forgiving and retaining sins.

I disagree with the logic that Confession is less beneficial for women since they don’t have the complimentary gender that a man would who is confessing to a priest. Is it more readily natural? Probably; I wouldn’t doubt it. Just as I don’t doubt that there are more women in the world with devotions to Mary than there are men, but just because something is more readily intuitive doesn’t mean that it’s automatically better. I’m becomingly increasingly convinced in my devotions to Mary that I am perhaps privy to a unique intimacy with her as my mother that a female does not have, precisely because Mary is a woman, and she reflects that other half of man. It started out clunky and awkward and unmanly, but now it’s as though I can just feel her love for me melting through the picture and reaching out for me. I am absolutely positive that my time with her is changing me and expanding me.

God created mankind as an intentionally incomplete creature, with one half missing. Gaining communion with this other half can be challenging, but it is also extremely rewarding. There are many holy women throughout the centuries that developed an intense fondness towards Confession, and would gladly speak to their priest over just another fellow nun or laywoman. The comfort of speaking to the same gender is, at the same time, a limitation you are placing on yourself.
 
TK421 said:
A sister or brother religious is ontologically the same as a layman or laywoman. Only priests (bishops are also priests) have been enabled to continue the mission of the apostles, forgiving and retaining sins.

I disagree with the logic that Confession is less beneficial for women since they don’t have the complimentary gender that a man would who is confessing to a priest. Is it more readily natural? Probably; I wouldn’t doubt it. Just as I don’t doubt that there are more women in the world with devotions to Mary than there are men, but just because something is more readily intuitive doesn’t mean that it’s automatically better. I’m becomingly increasingly convinced in my devotions to Mary that I am perhaps privy to a unique intimacy with her as my mother that a female does not have, precisely because Mary is a woman, and she reflects that other half of man. It started out clunky and awkward and unmanly, but now it’s as though I can just feel her love for me melting through the picture and reaching out for me. I am absolutely positive that my time with her is changing me and expanding me.

God created mankind as an intentionally incomplete creature, with one half missing. Gaining communion with this other half can be challenging, but it is also extremely rewarding. There are many holy women throughout the centuries that developed an intense fondness towards Confession, and would gladly speak to their priest over just another fellow nun or laywoman. The comfort of speaking to the same gender is, at the same time, a limitation you are placing on yourself.
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Beautifully stated! 👍
 
Oh, and as far as the embarrassment factor is concerned, trust me, being a young guy and confessing some things to an old guy is not cool. I think just telling them to a sweet middle aged nun and then getting out of Dodge would have been a lot easier for my nerves :eek: But that’s not how God operates.
 
TheDoctor said:
Only Priests can give absolution. The Church does not have the power to ordain women. Therefore woman can never be Priests therefore they can not give absolution in confession. There is nothing the Pope can change about this.
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Agreed! 👍
 
I remember being in hospital last year for my normal two and a half month stay and since my heart had failed and both lungs had collapsed, I thought I could qualify for the last rites including confession. It was a Catholic hospital and so I asked for the Chaplin.
A nun appeared stating that she was the Chaplin. I wasn’t at all well and I get a bit short tempered when I can’t breathe, so I politely asked if she could arrange for a priest. Her response was " I am the Chaplin of this hospital!"
I politely asked her if she could administer the last rites including confession. She said no and I must admit to my eternal shame, that I raised my voice slightly (only the wards on that floor could have heard) and said “Get me a … priest.” I never saw her again but a priest arrived that day.
I tell the story only because I feel that some nun’s can get above their station. I know I was wrong to lose my cool, but the heart doctor had told me he thought I was cactus (his words) and you get a bit scared.
The wise post said it all when it said the Church cannot make women priests and only priests have the power of the sacrament of Reconciliation.
End of story.
 
If our Lord did not grant the power of absolution to the most perfect human that ever walked this earth - the very mother He created for the divine purpose of giving her flesh to Him, there is nothing left to be said.

Those who have a problem with the male priesthood don’t have a problem with the Church - they have a problem with Christ.
 
If Confession…then why not all of the other sacraments? This is where your question leads. This has happened in the protestant churches & we see the resultant muddle & falling-away.
[edited]
 
👍
TheDoctor said:
Only Priests can give absolution. The Church does not have the power to ordain women. Therefore woman can never be Priests therefore they can not give absolution in confession. There is nothing the Pope can change about this.
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👍
 
Men tend to be predominantly fact-oriented, and women, predominantly relationship-oriented. (Before you eat me alive, please note the qualifiers “tend to be” and “predominantly.” I know there are exceptions.) While the latter orientation may sound more comforting to have in the confessional, there is the danger that it would become just that, giving comfort, rather than treating matters indifferently and objectively. Men can be insensitive, but the precise application of canon law and theology is what we need in the confessional, not someone who will avoid hurting our feelings.
 
On a different note, be aware that nuns and sisters–as well as those not in vows, religious brothers, and both regular and diocesan priests and deacons can all be a spiritual director. In all these cases, the abilities and training of the person in question as well as their compatibility with the one seeking direction are the primary considerations. This relationship has some of the qualities of a confessor-penitent relationship.

However, only a priest can be a confessor and offer the sacramental absolution in reconciliation.
 
Ad_Orientem said:
Men can be insensitive, but the precise application of canon law and theology is what we need in the confessional, not someone who will avoid hurting our feelings.
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The sacrament of Penance is primarily a judicial act. It is one which requires jurisdiction - without faculties an ordained priest can normally not hear confessions.

For some reason there is a tendency, primarily among women, to view it as just another form of counseling. A good heart-to-heart chat for about 15 minutes while the confession line continues to build is the best indication that someone has misunderstood what the purpose of the sacrament is.

There is a place for a spiritual counselor, and as I read it that spiritual counselor in some cases and for some reasons could be female

,
 
Petaro said:
I remember being in hospital last year for my normal two and a half month stay and since my heart had failed and both lungs had collapsed, I thought I could qualify for the last rites including confession. It was a Catholic hospital and so I asked for the Chaplin.
A nun appeared stating that she was the Chaplin. I wasn’t at all well and I get a bit short tempered when I can’t breathe, so I politely asked if she could arrange for a priest. Her response was " I am the Chaplin of this hospital!"
I politely asked her if she could administer the last rites including confession. She said no and I must admit to my eternal shame, that I raised my voice slightly (only the wards on that floor could have heard) and said “Get me a … priest.” I never saw her again but a priest arrived that day.
I tell the story only because I feel that some nun’s can get above their station. I know I was wrong to lose my cool, but the heart doctor had told me he thought I was cactus (his words) and you get a bit scared.
The wise post said it all when it said the Church cannot make women priests and only priests have the power of the sacrament of Reconciliation.
End of story.
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That sounds like a difficult and scary experience. However, to be fair to the sister, it isn’t really acting “above her station” for her to inform you that she is the chaplain, especially if what you requested was the chaplain rather than specifically the sacrament of the sick. There are other things a chaplain does besides Last Rites.
 
Cromwell4 said:
If Confession…then why not all of the other sacraments? This is where your question leads. This has happened in the protestant churches & we see the resultant muddle & falling-away.
Anyway would you really trust a woman to keep a secret? LOL.
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That last line is pretty offensive.
 
DMC12 said:
I have been wondering since so many women would like to have someone like them hearing confessions, and being priest for women is out of the qauestion i think would be very benefical since they know what is it like to be a woman, why does not the Pope give some nuns the posibility of hearing confessions? i think that would be great for women. I know Christ gave that to His diciples, but can’t they share that with some others? in this case certain Nuns
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Do women have trouble speaking with Jesus Christ?
 
AnnArbor said:
That sounds like a difficult and scary experience. However, to be fair to the sister, it isn’t really acting “above her station” for her to inform you that she is the chaplain, especially if what you requested was the chaplain rather than specifically the sacrament of the sick. There are other things a chaplain does besides Last Rites.
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It would seem, according to Canon Law, she was “acting above her station.”

Canon law defines a chaplain as “a priest to whom is entrusted in a stable manner the
pastoral care, at least in part, of some community or special group of Christ’s faithful,
to be exercised in accordance with universal and particular law” (Canon 564)
 
That sounds like a difficult and scary experience. However, to be fair to the sister, it isn’t really acting “above her station” for her to inform you that she is the chaplain, especially if what you requested was the chaplain rather than specifically the sacrament of the sick. There are other things a chaplain does besides Last Rites.
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Oh, Bull____.

A very sick Catholic in a Catholic hospital asks for the chaplain and gets a nun? What a bunch of ____. Where was he, Buffalo? San Bernadino?
 
I would rather go to the SSPX for confession before I would go to any layperson, man or woman, for confession. And I would leave any so-called “Church” that presented it as an option.
 
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