Disturbing confession

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trimont

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This morning I attended Mass in the town I’m visiting. They happen to have a mission going on this week and this morning’s celebrant offered to hear confessions after Mass. I took advantage of this opportunity and was told by the priest (Franciscan friar) that the Church no longer considers the issue of receiving the Eucharist in an unworthy manner (even where serious sin is present?!) a matter to concern ourselves with. He said that Mass itself is considered a sacrament of Reconcilation and that we don’t need to be running to the sacrament of Confession every time we do something wrong…that sin cannot co-exist in us when Jesus is present via the Eucharist… that we ask for God’s forgiveness many times throughout Mass…blah, blah, blah…

Needless to say, I’ll be finding a different parish for tomorrow’s Mass. Anybody out there that can shed some light on this disturbing message, please respond.
 
This is disturbing and you are wise to run to another parish. What a horrible thing this priest has told his congregation - to lead them astray.

Are you comfortable reporting this to the Bishop?
 
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jrabs:
This is disturbing and you are wise to run to another parish. What a horrible thing this priest has told his congregation - to lead them astray.

Are you comfortable reporting this to the Bishop?
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I fully agree, though if he’s Franciscan he’s taken only a vow to obey his order. St Francis is surely grieved…
 
This priest seems to have a strange understanding of the Chuch’s teaching. The reception of the Eucharist in an unworthy state (although, he may have been saying none of us are worthy) is sunful if, by “unworthy state” one means “mortal sin.”

The Mass is not “a sacrament of reconciliation.” The reception of the Eucharist will forgive venial sins, but not mortal. The penitential rite of the Mass has been defined by the Church very specifically as not having the power to forgive sins.

As a result, unless the priest thought you were being overly scrupulous, I don’t understand why he told you what he did.

Deacon Ed
 
I feel your sorrow. At my parish we had an in house re-treat where a Capuchin priest came in and gave a 3 hour reflection on prayer. I wanted to leave after the first ten minutes. He kept saying “the old days” & " the Church used to teach".

The kicker for me was when someone in the audience brought up the Sacred Heart devotion and how much it helped and meant to him in his prayer life . This sparked my interest as I have been really drawn to this devotion and trying to learn and actually put a real effort into getting this into my life. This priest responded and almost laughing said " Yeah, the old First Fridays. Remember when they used to say that this would save you from Hell? And all kinds of graces were attached to it. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to go back to those days. The days where you had to go to confession…" This broke my heart and I have been thinking of writing to his Superior and to our Parish Priest and let him know what I thought of this “guest”.

I wish I would have been brave enough to stand up and say something… I was the youngest there and kept thinking how out of “place” I would have felt. I was also hoping someone else was going to stand up. Now I can only pray for this priest and for myself that I may have more courage and stand up for our Holy Mother Church!

Solanus Casey pray for Us!
 
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trimont:
This morning I attended Mass in the town I’m visiting. They happen to have a mission going on this week and this morning’s celebrant offered to hear confessions after Mass. I took advantage of this opportunity and was told by the priest (Franciscan friar) that the Church no longer considers the issue of receiving the Eucharist in an unworthy manner (even where serious sin is present?!) a matter to concern ourselves with. He said that Mass itself is considered a sacrament of Reconcilation and that we don’t need to be running to the sacrament of Confession every time we do something wrong…that sin cannot co-exist in us when Jesus is present via the Eucharist… that we ask for God’s forgiveness many times throughout Mass…blah, blah, blah…

Needless to say, I’ll be finding a different parish for tomorrow’s Mass. Anybody out there that can shed some light on this disturbing message, please respond.
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If he considers Reconciliation no longer necessary. Why would he even offer to hear Confessions and then AFTER Mass? Before Mass would make more sense. Make sure that you notify his Province and Superior.
 
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solanus:
I feel your sorrow. At my parish we had an in house re-treat where a Capuchin priest came in and gave a 3 hour reflection on prayer. I wanted to leave after the first ten minutes. He kept saying “the old days” & " the Church used to teach".

The kicker for me was when someone in the audience brought up the Sacred Heart devotion and how much it helped and meant to him in his prayer life . This sparked my interest as I have been really drawn to this devotion and trying to learn and actually put a real effort into getting this into my life. This priest responded and almost laughing said " Yeah, the old First Fridays. Remember when they used to say that this would save you from Hell? And all kinds of graces were attached to it. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to go back to those days. The days where you had to go to confession…" This broke my heart and I have been thinking of writing to his Superior and to our Parish Priest and let him know what I thought of this “guest”.

I wish I would have been brave enough to stand up and say something… I was the youngest there and kept thinking how out of “place” I would have felt. I was also hoping someone else was going to stand up. Now I can only pray for this priest and for myself that I may have more courage and stand up for our Holy Mother Church!

Solanus Casey pray for Us!
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He might be a priest, but he ain’t Catholic.
 
I have written about this very problem on other threads so I don’t want to become monotonous, but this is not an isolated problem. This view of the sacrament of Confession is fairly widespread. I have heard complaints from Catholics all over the country. I myself was taught in RCIA:

It is almost impossible to commit a mortal sin.

Only go to confession if you “feel a need.”

Forgiveness comes from the Act of Contrition at Mass and from receiving the Eucharist.

The candidates in my RCIA class were not even taught how to go to Confession.

There is a movement abroad to drastically change the Catholic Church to something entirely different. Those who would deny this are fooling themselves.
 
I wouldn’t worry about telling his superior. Where do you think he drew these ideas from?

The new orthodoxy is that everything before 1963 was rigid, judgemental, encouraged scrupulosity, and was a ‘religion of fear’. Oh yes, and the priest gabbled an incomprehensible language with his back to the congregation, who sat and twiddled their thumbs (or their rosaries) to pass the time.

The problem is, of course, that there is a certain amount of truth in this description, just as one could survey the modern church and condemn it (as traditionalists do - as I do myself at times) as completely touchy-feely, morally ambivalent, worldly, careless and irreverent.

However, there is a major difference between then and now. Pre-VII, priests and others were well aware of the problems, and sought to address them: that’s what the Liturgical Movement, for instance, was mainly about; and one only has to skim through books written at that period to realise just how many were devoted to ensuring that Catholics understood what was happening at Mass, and participated fully with their minds and hearts. The priests who - like your Franciscan - tell us all about the Bad Old Days seem to be completely blind to the death-by-a-thousand-cuts disintegration of the Church in the West, and assume that all is for the best in the best of all possible churches. That’s the major reason why I think that the pre-Vatican-II mistakes were less serious than the post-V-II ones: that contemporary clergy so often seem to ignore reality.

Sue
 
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solanus:
The kicker for me was when someone in the audience brought up the Sacred Heart devotion and how much it helped and meant to him in his prayer life . This sparked my interest as I have been really drawn to this devotion and trying to learn and actually put a real effort into getting this into my life. This priest responded and almost laughing said " Yeah, the old First Fridays. Remember when they used to say that this would save you from Hell? And all kinds of graces were attached to it. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to go back to those days. The days where you had to go to confession…" This broke my heart and I have been thinking of writing to his Superior and to our Parish Priest and let him know what I thought of this “guest”.

I wish I would have been brave enough to stand up and say something… I was the youngest there and kept thinking how out of “place” I would have felt. I was also hoping someone else was going to stand up. Now I can only pray for this priest and for myself that I may have more courage and stand up for our Holy Mother Church!

Solanus Casey pray for Us!
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God Bless you!
Our church will be saved by the young! Take heart and know that you will be able to speak up when Our Lord needs it most!
 
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jrabs:
Are you comfortable reporting this to the Bishop?
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The priest who heard my confession this morning is also visiting the parish - he’s the missionary and I’m a visitor. I guess I could inquire in the local parish office which parish/diocese he’s from and then obtain the bishop’s name and the address. I’ve never had to do this sort of thing before, but it was so disturbing and I feel an obligation to do whatever I can to stop this harmful nonsense.
 
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Teresita:
I wouldn’t worry about telling his superior. Where do you think he drew these ideas from?

The new orthodoxy is that everything before 1963 was rigid, judgemental, encouraged scrupulosity, and was a ‘religion of fear’. Oh yes, and the priest gabbled an incomprehensible language with his back to the congregation, who sat and twiddled their thumbs (or their rosaries) to pass the time.

The problem is, of course, that there is a certain amount of truth in this description, just as one could survey the modern church and condemn it (as traditionalists do - as I do myself at times) as completely touchy-feely, morally ambivalent, worldly, careless and irreverent.

However, there is a major difference between then and now. Pre-VII, priests and others were well aware of the problems, and sought to address them: that’s what the Liturgical Movement, for instance, was mainly about; and one only has to skim through books written at that period to realise just how many were devoted to ensuring that Catholics understood what was happening at Mass, and participated fully with their minds and hearts. The priests who - like your Franciscan - tell us all about the Bad Old Days seem to be completely blind to the death-by-a-thousand-cuts disintegration of the Church in the West, and assume that all is for the best in the best of all possible churches. That’s the major reason why I think that the pre-Vatican-II mistakes were less serious than the post-V-II ones: that contemporary clergy so often seem to ignore reality.

Sue
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A very thoughtful post. Every time I hear someone bash the church prior to 1962 I think that person is only boring me with the drama of their upbringing. Everything about the Church was bad and today it is all better. It says more about the basher than it does about the holy Church led by God.
 
See post #4. It’s written by Deacon Ed and he is absolutely correct.

Look in your CCC and turn to # 1443 through 1456.

I cannot understand why a Franciscan would say the things you have attributed to him. He had at least eight years of study and formation what was he doing with tha time. I am a mere layman and I know better.
 
Hmmm…are the Franciscans moving away from Catholicism as the Jesuits are? The ones here in Orlando are very liberal. IMO very dangerous as there is many New Age elements where they are.
 
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EddieArent:
Hmmm…are the Franciscans moving away from Catholicism as the Jesuits are? The ones here in Orlando are very liberal. IMO very dangerous as there is many New Age elements where they are.
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This one isn’t!
 
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Exporter:
Look in your CCC and turn to # 1443 through 1456.
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Does anybody know of an online source to look this up in the CCC? My catechism is at home and I’m out of town… Thanks
 
A total fabrication, don’t follow these blind shepherds !!!

By receiving unworthly, we could eternally damn ourselves.
 
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solanus:
The kicker for me was when someone in the audience brought up the Sacred Heart devotion and how much it helped and meant to him in his prayer life . This sparked my interest as I have been really drawn to this devotion and trying to learn and actually put a real effort into getting this into my life. This priest responded and almost laughing said " Yeah, the old First Fridays. Remember when they used to say that this would save you from Hell? And all kinds of graces were attached to it. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to go back to those days. The days where you had to go to confession…"
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Someone mentions a devotion which has really helped them to grow spiritually, has brought them strength and comfort, and which has improved their relationship to God through prayer, and this priest mocks it. :nope:

I wonder if anyone has explained the implications of Matthew 18:6 to him recently?
 
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