Fr. Corapi and seal of confession

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Fr. Coprapi calls it his “re-conversion”. In fact wwe are called to re-conversion everyday.

His Dad was BURIED on September 11, he died several days before.
 
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decn2b:
When a sinner recounts the story in public the priest is still bound by the seal. The seal is eternal and NOTHING can lift it not even permission from the sinner.
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That’s not quite correct. As I said before - and its not a matter of permission from the sinner - if a penitent has publicly made known what he said in confession, then no one who has heard him do so is bound by any seal. That’s what I think, anyway.
 
ANywho I feel guilty for starting this thread. Like I said Fr. Corapi is such an awesome priest to me it is a boo boo on his part and in no way changes how I feel for the man. He is likely the most powerful Catholic speaker I have ever heard. I could just imagine what it would be like to see him in person. WOW.

I opened this thread for the challenge of discussion on the seal of confession. I should have opened the thread talking about how awesome Fr. Corapi’s message is.
 
Andreas Hofer:
I’m no expert, but here are what I find to be the relevant canons:

**Can. 983 **§1. The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.

§2. The interpreter, if there is one, and all others who in any way have knowledge of sins from confession are also obliged to observe secrecy…
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Now i’m no canon lawyer either, but … to clarify what is meant by the term “Seal of Confession”, this is from the Catholic Encyclopedia and indicates that the seal refers to the sins confessed in confession.
…SEAL OF CONFESSION
Regarding the sins revealed to him in sacramental confession, the priest is bound to inviolable secrecy. From this obligation he cannot be excused … The only possible release from the obligation of secrecy is the permission to speak of the sins given freely and formally by the penitent himself…
source (scroll way down to “Seal of Confession”)
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Fr. Corapi didn’t mention the sins his father confessed. Also, he said he had his father’s permission to share the time since his last confession, so I don’t think this “betrays” the penitent in any way, which is what is forbidden by the Canon…
 
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decn2b:
This has recently been discussed within the abuse cases in our church. The priest can NEVER reveal anything said from a confession. NEVER EVER EVER even if the sinner tells the whole world the priest cannot speak a word of it to anyone. Until someone tells me different I am sticking with this point.
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So if I mentioned my wife’s name in the confessional, the priest can never refer to her by name, even if I have introduced them either before or afterward.

Is that really what you are claiming here??
 
not going to confession for 50 years is.

correct me if I am wrong but isnt attending confession one of the precepts of the church? Isn’t it supposed to be at least one time per year? Your wifes name has nothing to do with the precepts of the church. telling a priest that you have not been to confession for 50 years is telling him one (and in this case the first sin confessed) sin.

Also your priest should already know your wifes name and if he doesn’t have someone else introduce her to him so he can call her by name. <-----just kidding 😃 😃 😛
 
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decn2b:
… The priest can NEVER reveal anything said from a confession. NEVER EVER EVER even if the sinner tells the whole world the priest cannot speak a word of it to anyone. Until someone tells me different I am sticking with this point…
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The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests you may be wrong about that.

To quote it again (I’m bolding the part that applies to this discussion):
…SEAL OF CONFESSION
Regarding the sins revealed to him in sacramental confession, the priest is bound to inviolable secrecy. From this obligation he cannot be excused … The only possible release from the obligation of secrecy is the permission to speak of the sins given freely and formally by the penitent himself…
source (scroll way down to “Seal of Confession”)
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urban-hermit:
The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests you may be wrong about that.

To quote it again (I’m bolding the part that applies to this discussion):
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Of course, unless the penitent publicly declared they were releasing the priest from the seal of Confession how would anyone know if it was true or not?
 
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tdandh26:
Father Corapi’s father died on September the 11, yes the same september 11 as the attacks. So, he isnt betraying his fathers confession as his father is dead and Im sure his father would be proud to be used in the lectures of father Corapi especially if it causes even one person to repent after even a lesser time away from the Church.
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Agreed.
 
his funeral was sept 11 I have no idea when he died.

Now how is that for being nit-pickey 😛
 
I maybe going off the topic a bit but I am curious about something. Does anyone know what Fr. Corapi charges to speak at a parish. I was told that he request a fee of 10K. Does anyone know if this amount sounds right?
 
Maureen Fiore:
I maybe going off the topic a bit but I am curious about something. Does anyone know what Fr. Corapi charges to speak at a parish. I was told that he request a fee of 10K. Does anyone know if this amount sounds right?
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Contact him through his website:
www.fathercorapi.com
 
Until his last year 2007. He is going to retire from the speaking tour and write books. I am planning on taking a group of men to Illinois for one of his weekends next year.
 
Maureen Fiore:
I maybe going off the topic a bit but I am curious about something. Does anyone know what Fr. Corapi charges to speak at a parish. I was told that he request a fee of 10K. Does anyone know if this amount sounds right?
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I’m sorry, no that doesn’t sound right. From what I heard he does not charge anything at all - he simply sells his books and tapes after his talks to support his ministry.

To confirm this, here is the way to find out (from his website):

… Father is available to preach retreats, missions, and conferences:
 
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thistle:
Of course, unless the penitent publicly declared they were releasing the priest from the seal of Confession how would anyone know if it was true or not?
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Interesting question. Just to keep everybody on track, the text i quoted does not say the release has to be “publicly declared” - only freely and formally given. But to answer your question, normally one could contact the person to ask them directly. But in this case, Father Corapi’s father is deceased. So if you doubt it, you would have to contact the witnesses and survivors of the man.

Is there any real reason to doubt it?
 
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urban-hermit:
Interesting question. Just to keep everybody on track, the text i quoted does not say the release has to be “publicly declared” - only freely and formally given. But to answer your question, normally one could contact the person to ask them directly. But in this case, Father Corapi’s father is deceased. So if you doubt it, you would have to contact the witnesses and survivors of the man.

Is there any real reason to doubt it?
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My comment was a general one. With respect to Father Corapi I hold him in the highest regard. He is my favourite speaker to listen to and I would never doubt anything he does or says.
 
I should think that the easiest way to answer this question would be to ask Fr. Corapi himself. A link to contact him was given a few posts above.
 
  1. Unless you want to have a regretful gut feeling, don’t start a thread questioning the practices of someone of whom you think the world of.
2)A deacon freind who knows canon law…told me that if the sinner publicly told his sin then the the confessor is no longer bound to the seal of that particular sin because the seal pertaining to that particluar sin no longer exists. And one can obtain permission or given permission to reveal a sin by the sinner. Especially in the case of Fr. Corapi becuase it is used for evangelization puposes.

I seriously failed to use good judgement when starting this thread. I hope that I have done no damage to anyone including Fr. Corapi. I personally feel that Fr. Corapi is/will be a saint.

But myself…well I just hope that I am not remembered as the person who pointed out a splinter in someones eye when I have a plank in my own. I don’t find comfort in the fact that I can be remembered myself as someone who questioned a saints conduct in a public forum.

I hope everyone accepts my apology

Decn2b
 
decn2b said:
1) Unless you want to have a regretful gut feeling, don’t start a thread questioning the practices of someone of whom you think the world of.

2)A deacon freind who knows canon law…told me that if the sinner publicly told his sin then the the confessor is no longer bound to the seal of that particular sin because the seal pertaining to that particluar sin no longer exists. And one can obtain permission or given permission to reveal a sin by the sinner. Especially in the case of Fr. Corapi becuase it is used for evangelization puposes.

I seriously failed to use good judgement when starting this thread. I hope that I have done no damage to anyone including Fr. Corapi. I personally feel that Fr. Corapi is/will be a saint.

But myself…well I just hope that I am not remembered as the person who pointed out a splinter in someones eye when I have a plank in my own. I don’t find comfort in the fact that I can be remembered myself as someone who questioned a saints conduct in a public forum.

I hope everyone accepts my apology

Decn2b
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I think you are being way too hard on yourself. The way I see it, you observed/heard something someone did and questioned it based on sound logic. That is what these forums are for. You did it in a respectful way.

I admire Father Corapi tremendously also, but if he or anyone else does something we don’t understand, I see nothing wrong with asking the question in a way such as you did. Chances are if you have a question, someone else does too. And, just think - - if a non-Catholic or nervous Catechumen or Candidate heard the talk you did and had the same question, worrying that maybe his/her confession could be talked about in public, we need to be able to answer it correctly. I personally have learned from your thread and am glad you asked the question.
 
The question posed by the thread having now been asked, answered and clarified is therefore resolved. The thread is therefore closed. Thanks to all who contributed.
 
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