Hard to find sacrament of reconciliation

[RosaryFan]

The lack of opportunities for confession is not due to a shortage of available priests. It is due to priests who feel that they have better things to do than to save souls from an eternity of suffering in Hell.

Australia is a big country, that’s true, but if you can make it to any of these locations:

fssp.net/houses.html

then your confession will be heard. Of course Father would prefer that you come at one of the scheduled times, but if you can’t do that, he’ll hear your confession anytime at all.

Maybe in some cases. But some parishes which service 2500+ families only have one priest. In the old days, our tiny parish (1000 families at the most) had 5 or 6 priests at a time. Big difference in the last 30 years.

 

[Ruth_Catherine]

Maybe in some cases. But some parishes which service 2500+ families only have one priest. In the old days, our tiny parish (1000 families at the most) had 5 or 6 priests at a time. Big difference in the last 30 years.

I remember times like that, also. I remember having at least 3 priests at the parish I attended as a child. It’s not that way anymore.

 

[Will_S]

Maybe in some cases. But some parishes which service 2500+ families only have one priest. In the old days, our tiny parish (1000 families at the most) had 5 or 6 priests at a time. Big difference in the last 30 years.

So what is that one priest doing with his time which is more important than saving souls from Hell? Watching TV? Playing golf? attending meetings? balancing the parish budget?

None of those take precedence over saving souls from Hell, so I stand by my previous assertion: a shortage of priests is not the problem.

 

[TrueLight]

In all fairness, people are not going to confession either. So should a priest sit in the confessional in the hope that people will come or should he be doing other priestly duties?

 

[RosaryFan]

So what is that one priest doing with his time which is more important than saving souls from Hell? Watching TV? Playing golf? attending meetings? balancing the parish budget?

None of those take precedence over saving souls from Hell, so I stand by my previous assertion: a shortage of priests is not the problem.

Really? One priest servicing a parish of 2500+ families and you think the shortage is not the problem?

Some of the duties this one priest may have besides hearing confession are daily Mass, Saturday vigil Mass, Sunday Mass (more than one), funerals, baptisms, weddings, wedding practice, visting the sick in the hospital with Communion or for annointing of the sick, saying Mass at the neighborhood nursing home, visiting the homebound on First Friday, novena services for the parish, Benediction after Eucharistic Adoration ends, pastoral council meetings, eat and sleep, and be on call 24/7 for emergencies. And don’t get me started on his duties during Lent!

Now, I certainly agree that nothing is more important than saving souls, but one, single, solitary person has to perform all those duties, nonetheless.

Maybe in SOME cases the priest may be taking the lazy route and sending people away because he’s tired or he’s had enough, but I would think that for the most part, a priest would not send people away unless he had a legitimate reason. But to say the priest shortage has nothing to do with it…?

Back in the 70s, you’d go to confession and there would be 4 or 5 priests available. All the confessionals were being utlized. No one was turned away.

So what if that one priest has to start Mass?

 

[Love_Divine]

In all fairness, people are not going to confession either. So should a priest sit in the confessional in the hope that people will come or should he be doing other priestly duties?

Yes, he should sit in that Confessional, but rather than hope people will come, he should use the time to pray that people come.

FWIW: Number of times I’ve heard a priest even mention Confession during his homily (excluding FSSP priests) ZERO

I grew up thinking that Confession was a one time deal that was required before First Communion. How many more people are in the same boat?

I know my priest isn’t exactly out there promoting Confession and talking about sin and our souls, Hell, etc. His attitude towards it is that we shouldn’t fear “the loss of heaven”, because if we do, that shows our faith is “immature” because we “obviously don’t know God, who loves us so very much.”.