Could nuns hear confessions?

[Jack007]

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.

Correct

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.

is a young guy praying to an eternity old god cool?

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.

[edited]

 

[AnnArbor]

[edited]

I would imagine all kinds of places. In many many hospitals, Catholic included, chaplains are not priests. I’m not saying you shouldn’t get a priest if you ask for one --but nor should the actual hospital chaplain be accused of trying to be “above her station” when she correctly identifies herself as the hospital chaplain.

 

[modofac]

DCNBILL already quoted canon law to you. The common Catholic understanding is also the law of the Church.

 

[SuperLuigi]

That last line is pretty offensive.

I don’t think he meant any harm.

 

[bmonk]

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.

However, when a sick patient specifically asks for a priest, the non-priest chaplain should at least ask whether he wants a priest or a chaplain–and make the needed arrangements if it is a request for the sacraments only a priest can offer. To insist that she is the chaplain, and therefore is sufficient for all purposes, is not good enough.

 

[mlz]

absolutely not…it isn’t in the teachings of the Church from what I’ve read…?! That is not their vocation.
mlz

 

[Paleocon]

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 hear confession.

 

[KendraDZ1902]

What’s the point of telling someone your sins if they can’t absolve you? I wouldn’t really calling it “hearing confessions” it seems like it is more of listening to someone’s sins. I wouldn’t want to tell Suzie my sins just to turn around and have to go to confession.

This is kind of confusing.

 

[twf]

As (name removed by moderator) points out, it is the practice in the East, at least in certain monastic contexts, for nuns to confess their sins to their mother Abbess. The Mother Abbess is solely responsible for the spiritual life of her charges and thus offers counselling / penance as required. A priest then offers the prayer of absolution, but, if I understand the practice correctly, the priest need not hear the sins, simply offer the absolution.
There is, however, no such tradition in the Latin West and it would be foreign to our spirituality to introduce it.

 

[Paleocon]

Source?

 

[Seraphim73]

St Symeon the New Theologian argued vociferously for the practice of confessing to lay monastic spiritual fathers. The idea isn’t nearly as alien to Catholicism as some think. Of course I’d be willing to bet most of you have never heard of him before.

 

[OraLabora]

As (name removed by moderator) points out, it is the practice in the East, at least in certain monastic contexts, for nuns to confess their sins to their mother Abbess. The Mother Abbess is solely responsible for the spiritual life of her charges and thus offers counselling / penance as required. A priest then offers the prayer of absolution, but, if I understand the practice correctly, the priest need not hear the sins, simply offer the absolution.
There is, however, no such tradition in the Latin West and it would be foreign to our spirituality to introduce it.

Actually there is. In Western monasticism, the Rule of Saint Benedict states that secret sins of the soul are to be opened up to one’s abbot. Although the Rule was written for men, women soon formed communities of their own, St. Benedict’s twin sister Scholastica widely regarded as the founder. Since they use the same rule, it would make sense that nuns also “confess” sins of the soul to their abbess. Here’s the relevant passage from the Rule:

When anyone is engaged in any sort of work,
whether in the kitchen, in the cellar, in a shop,
in the bakery, in the garden, while working at some craft,
or in any other place,
and he commits some fault,
or breaks something, or loses something,
or transgresses in any other way whatsoever,
if he does not come immediately
before the Abbot and the community
of his own accord
to make satisfaction and confess his fault,
then when it becomes known through another,
let him be subjected to a more severe correction.

But if the sin-sickness of the soul is a hidden one,
let him reveal it only to the Abbot or to a spiritual father,
who knows how to cure his own and others’ wounds
without exposing them and making them public.

For the lighter faults noted above, monasteries regularly have a “chapter of faults” where monks and nuns confess openly to others their mistakes, transgressions, omissions, etc. And for things weighing on the soul, to the abbot or abbess.

Of course this is quite apart from sacramental confession. On the one hand it’s more about taking ownership and responsibility for the minor day-to-day transgressions, and for the sins of the soul or conscience, for spiritual direction to help with inner conversion, which is the whole point of monasticism, which is a promise of stability, obedience and conversion.

I should moreover point out that in the early days of Benedictine monasticism, in men’s monasteries, the abbot was actually often not, in fact some say rarely, a priest. Nowadays he almost always is. So the practice of “confessing” to a layman has a precedent going back 1500 years!

 

[Erich]

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 But that’s not how God operates.

I can’t even begin to imagine that certain things a young guy might confess would be in any way cool – or easy on the nerves – to confess to a “sweet middle aged nun.”

 

[scapularkid8]

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.

Exactly… :whacky:

 

[EasterJoy]

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.

It has nothing to do with her “station.” If the chaplain of a hospital were a religious brother or an ordained Anglican or a rabbi of any gender and had been asked by a Catholic patient if the patient could have a priest come to their room, of course the chaplain ought to arrange it or explain why a priest wasn’t immediately available. A hospital chaplain had better know enough about the Catholic faith to know that there are things that no one but a priest can offer to a sick Catholic. Surely a religious sister ought to know that, and not take it personally! The Catholic patient should not have to draw a picture for her.

 

[EasterJoy]

Only priests can hear confession.

You can confess your sins to anyone you like, and let anyone hear them that you like. You can confess them to a talk show host on national TV, if you want. Only a priest can offer absolution, though.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation isn’t primarily an avenue for chatting about your moral failures, although some confessors are very good listeners. Some people might find women in their acquaintance to be very good listeners and very wise counsellors, and of course they might want to tell them all about their struggles with sin, and they might get good help and encouragement. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a different animal than that, though. There is overlap, like between a psychologist and a psychiatrist, but the two things are different in very concrete and important ways.

 

[oldgraymare2]

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

,

Hi Rob,

I don’t think that I have ever seen this happen in any parish that I have been in for confession, where the line is held up for fifteen minutes because a woman is using it for counseling purposes. Usually that confession line in church moves pretty quickly.

I would imagine that anyone that is going to spend some time in confession–after a period of absence perhaps–is going to make an appointment and is going to end up seeing a priest in person.

 

[Jack007]

Hi Rob,

I don’t think that I have ever seen this happen in any parish that I have been in for confession, where the line is held up for fifteen minutes because a woman is using it for counseling purposes. Usually that confession line in church moves pretty quickly.

I would imagine that anyone that is going to spend some time in confession–after a period of absence perhaps–is going to make an appointment and is going to end up seeing a priest in person.

you have seen!?!?!?

 

[otjm]

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

To answer your question literally, sisters have been “hearing” the confession of sins at least since the first sister entered a school as a teacher.

And none of them could dispense absolution, although they could forgive.

And undoubtedly issue penances.

But they will never become an alter Christus, so they will never “hear” confessions in the common understanding.

Eastern rites and Benedictines semi excepted.

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

As (name removed by moderator) points out, it is the practice in the East, at least in certain monastic contexts, for nuns to confess their sins to their mother Abbess. The Mother Abbess is solely responsible for the spiritual life of her charges and thus offers counselling / penance as required. A priest then offers the prayer of absolution, but, if I understand the practice correctly, the priest need not hear the sins, simply offer the absolution.
There is, however, no such tradition in the Latin West and it would be foreign to our spirituality to introduce it.

Under Latin Rite canon law, such a practice is strictly forbidden. Only priests are allowed to probe into matters of conscience…in the closed forum.