Hypothetical situation: Confession

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WesleyF

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Consider this hypothetical situation.

There are two mountains separated by a valley. The distance between the two is about 500 feet. There is a man on one mountain and a priest on the other. The man is being attacked by anacondas and he sees the priest on the other mountain.

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Before dying, the man wants to make a confession. So he shouts out his sins to the priest and after that the priest shouts out the words of absolution.

Assuming true repentance on the part of the man, is this a valid confession? If so, what if the man had the priest’s cell phone number and called him over the cell phone instead of shouting. Would that be a valid confession? If yes, what if he had a laptop and logged in to Skype and the priest did the same and heard his confession and gave absolution. Would that be valid too? If yes, what if he couldn’t see the priest on the other mountain, but nevertheless tried to connect using skype? Would that be a valid confession?
 
Although, not ideal I think shouting the confession would be more preferable than attempting to use a cell phone or skype. I believe the Vatican has ruled that confessions over a phone or some other type of media aren’t considered valid.

ChadS
 
WesleyF said:
Consider this hypothetical situation.

There are two mountains separated by a valley. The distance between the two is about 500 feet. There is a man on one mountain and a priest on the other. The man is being attacked by anacondas and he sees the priest on the other mountain.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cGtA1l4Sa1s/TFr7p2H-RDI/AAAAAAAAAC8/tgBs03zfKpY/s1600/Confession.jpg

Before dying, the man wants to make a confession. So he shouts out his sins to the priest and after that the priest shouts out the words of absolution.

Assuming true repentance on the part of the man, is this a valid confession? If so, what if the man had the priest’s cell phone number and called him over the cell phone instead of shouting. Would that be a valid confession? If yes, what if he had a laptop and logged in to Skype and the priest did the same and heard his confession and gave absolution. Would that be valid too? If yes, what if he couldn’t see the priest on the other mountain, but nevertheless tried to connect using skype? Would that be a valid confession?
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The mere fact that the man had true contrition and desired confession is enough and makes the entire story moot.

As Chad already said - phones and electronic remote devices are out of the question.
 
This is not a new thing; although at first glance one might consider the telephone / internet to pose a new problem - this is not the case.

In the same way as in the past a person could not convey their confessions in writing or through a messanger; we cannot do so through telephones or the internet. There has been no change of circumstances in the last two thousand years on the matter; the transferance of confessions through media has not substantially changed; but has instead only become more physically efficient (fast).

In your example; the person is clearly not going through a third party (person or object) and thus his confession is valid. A person going through a third party; be it a telephone; a messanger; post etc. is not confessing in person; and thus not confessing.

👍
 
Suppose the man used a loudspeaker and the priest used a loud speaker. Would that be an invalid confession then?
 
The anacondas will eat you for coming up with such a wild hypothetical.
But they will be forgiven.
 
WesleyF said:
Suppose the man used a loudspeaker and the priest used a loud speaker. Would that be an invalid confession then?
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I’m not an expert, but I think it would probably be valid. It’s not really different than if both the priest and the penitent wore hearing aids.

As far as I understand it, you can validly confess your sins via phone, internet, etc. But you can’t validly receive absolution and the Sacrament of Reconcillitation via technology.
 
The general idea is that during Confession the penitent has a personal, one-on-one encounter with Christ, and vice versa (the priest, of course, represents Christ). In order to truly be a personal encounter, it is fitting for those involved in the sacrament to be in the presence with one another, as opposed to using some sort of medium, such as a phone, letter, etc. To put this another way, if an encounter is going to be personal, then those involved should be there in person.

In light of all this, the penitent and the priest would probably need to do their best with shouting, as opposed to relying on a cell phone. I’m sure the Holy Spirit would not get too picky over exactly how much distance constitutes a true personal encounter, especially in an emergency situation.

The sort of situation described in the OP is not as strange as it may first sound, as it is well documented that anacondas prefer the taste of Christians over heathens (it’s that “Joy, joy, joy, joy, down in the heart” that provides the extra savory appeal). Therefore, in the event that a Catholic finds himself in the situation described in the OP, I recommend not only going with the shouted confession, but doing so quickly. After all, it is also well documented that it is easier to shout before an anaconda wraps you up and crushes you like an aluminum can.
 
There are two anacondas, one coming at him from behind and one from his front yet, 4 directions to run. I say he run to his left or right to avoid dying and then run up the other hill to go to confession before the anacondas realize they have been dooped and have to use their cell phones to call for backup.:rolleyes:
 
Corki said:
As far as I understand it, you can validly confess your sins via phone, internet, etc. But you can’t validly receive absolution and the Sacrament of Reconcillitation via technology.
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I think you are mistaken on this. No part of the confession can be carried out using technology, the concern isn’t that the absolution would be invalid, but that entire particular confession would be invalid.

ChadS
 
ChadS said:
I think you are mistaken on this. No part of the confession can be carried out using technology, the concern isn’t that the absolution would be invalid, but that entire particular confession would be invalid.

ChadS
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Well, maybe someone with some canon law training can ring in on this. I was thinking of the unrelated case where a non-Catholic goes to Confession. He doesn’t receive the Sacrament and can’t receive absolution but still can make a Confession. As the person in the hypothetical is about to die (anacondas), the Confession and contrition are the driving elements, right?

But, truthfully, I was still giggling over the great cartoon and may not have been thinking straight. 😃
 
EricFilmer said:
The general idea is that during Confession the penitent has a personal, one-on-one encounter with Christ, and vice versa (the priest, of course, represents Christ). In order to truly be a personal encounter, it is fitting for those involved in the sacrament to be in the presence with one another, as opposed to using some sort of medium, such as a phone, letter, etc. To put this another way, if an encounter is going to be personal, then those involved should be there in person.

In light of all this, the penitent and the priest would probably need to do their best with shouting, as opposed to relying on a cell phone. I’m sure the Holy Spirit would not get too picky over exactly how much distance constitutes a true personal encounter, especially in an emergency situation.
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This makes sense.
 
The Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has ruled that any Confession done over the phone, email, skype, anything of the sort is invalid. Confession must be personal, so a megaphone would be OK, because really a hearing aid is just a little megaphone in a person’s ear. But it is also important to know that while the Confession in the above hypothetical is valid, if a Priest weren’t available and anyone where in danger of death they could make an Act of Contrition and it would count as a sacramental Confession. In this case though if the person lives he must then go and confess those sins that he had before he said the Act of Contrition.
 
Father Damien, I understand, confessed his sins by shouting them out to a priest on a ship while he stood on shore.
 
I’m finding this discussion somewhat fascinating. The issue of whether or not technology can be used to communicate during confessions makes me wonder what would happen with a person who is deaf/mute and cannot communicate orally. Are there provisions for hearing confessions from persons with that disability?
 
gcnuss said:
I’m finding this discussion somewhat fascinating. The issue of whether or not technology can be used to communicate during confessions makes me wonder what would happen with a person who is deaf/mute and cannot communicate orally. Are there provisions for hearing confessions from persons with that disability?
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I can’t remember where I read this but I think that if a “translator” whether it be from one language to another or somebody that can do sign language assists with a confession then they are bound by the seal of confession just as much as a priest is bound not to repeat what he hears in the confessional.

If there were only some sort of electronic method available between priest and penitent then that would be fine as long as the confession was taking place as traditionally understood, i.e. either in a confessional or some other private place. The idea behind the Vatican forbidding confessions to be done over the phone or internet isn’t to frustrate the handicapped but to make sure the sanctity and integrity of the sacrament remains at all times.

ChadS
 
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