Effective Range of Absolution

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superamazingman

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I was just thinking, since in confession, the priest need not have contact with the penetent, or see them (think old confession boxes), but he can hear them and know they are contrite, and absolve them.

I also know there was a saint who confessed (shouting) to his bishop, and the two were on two ships, so there was a greater distance, maybe even 200-300ft.

That got me thinking: what is the “range” of absolution? My first hunch is that it is the distance the priest’s voice can carry without amplification (since seeing the penetent is not needed). However, we all know you can’t have confession over phone or anything.

any ideas?
 
Ooooh, nitty gritty question! I love it. Beware that you might get some admonitions about not asking theoretical questions; I always do for some reason.

Anyways, I’m not sure. I think it would be as you say, the distance would be limited by the range of the priest’s voice.
 
Would it be the same as the effective ranger of consecration? (I know thats not an answer but a circular definition still I would imagine it would be)

The words of absolution don’t have to be heard by the penitent merely pronounced by the priest. such as in the case of emergency general absolution such as in the case of a crashing plane or sinking boat. I would imagine line of sight and intention to absolve(and of course be forgiven!) would be factors as would physical proximity. I don’t know of a hard and fast rule though.
 
YoungTradCath said:
Ooooh, nitty gritty question! I love it. Beware that you might get some admonitions about not asking theoretical questions; I always do for some reason.

Anyways, I’m not sure. I think it would be as you say, the distance would be limited by the range of the priest’s voice.
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This is what I’d think too.
 
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