I don’t even know if I was absolved by a priest

  • Thread starter Thread starter michael-kaw
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

michael-kaw

Guest
Basically I was waiting for a confession (in Italy)and some a man came in wearing a white t shirt holding a cardboard box and asked what I was doing and I said I was waiting for the confession and he said he would absolve, I never asked if he was actually a preist but I did the confession and was absolved and did my penance. Am I getting worried over nothing or should I go to confession again before receiving communion
 
Last edited:
Also it didn’t even happen in the confessional, it was in the church
 
michael-kaw said:
Also it didn’t even happen in the confessional, it was in the church
Click to expand...
That makes no difference. Many churches have done away with their confessionals. The priest hears confessions sitting at his desk in his office.

In your OP you seem to be askIng whether the man in the T-shirt was a priest or not. How can you expect commenters here to know the answer to that question? I suppose he probably was, but if you’re looking for certain knowledge, rather than just a guess, you’re not going to find it here on a comments thread.

And what was in the cardboard box? Did you ever find out?
 
Last edited:
😂😂😂
No, what I meant was like…well… he didn’t exactly look like a priest and wasn’t dressed like one and nope, I never found out what was in the box, he put it down
 
michael-kaw said:
what I meant was like…well… he didn’t exactly look like a priest and wasn’t dressed like one
Click to expand...
Again, as the other poster said, no one here on this forum can answer your question. We do not have the knowledge necessary. Priests can wear T-shirts, and carry cardboard boxes. We have no way to know whether this man was a priest.
 
Did he put on a purple stole around his shoulders? Did he hear your sins?

If so, I would accept it as a valid Confession, maybe mentioning those sins in my next confession when I said " for these and all the sins of my past life, esp (what was mentioned in this confession), I am most heartily sorry."

The fact that he heard your confession in the main part of the church is all right–we had a priest do that for a while as they tried to set up a more sound-proof confessional.
 
Last edited:
There have been cases in history where people have impersonated priests.

But it probably didn’t have here, in Italy.

Italy has severe criminal sanctions for impersonating a priest- they even pinched American comedian “father Guido Sarducci” on that charge for his priest schtick when he was posing in Rome. If they are that serious about someone obviously playing halloween dress up, I think they would be heavy handed against someone actually pretending to perform sacraments.
 
I would guess that a man carrying boxes inside a church is probably working for the church. It isn’t likely that a church employee or volunteer would impersonate the priest.

All of the priests I know wear a white tshirt or under shirt under their cleric. It is entirely possible a priest who wasn’t wanting to mess up his clerics or was getting overheated would just go down to the tshirt while lugging boxes.

Also If I don’t know the name of a priest I am confessing to, I ask it. I pray for my priests afterward.

if you weren’t in mortal sin don’t worry at all. if you were, go to confession next time you are able and tell the priest about the incident for your own peace of mind.
 
Last edited:
I think that it is pretty safe to assume that if he showed up in church, heard your confession, and gave you absolution, he is a priest.

You could always go to that parish’s website and see if they have a picture of their pastor. But why not just trust? If he had planned to impersonate a priest, wouldn’t he have worn a “costume” for the occasion?
 
Honestly, I don’t know why in the world you decided to confess your sins to a person you were not sure was a priest. This doesn’t make any sense.
Go to confession again. This time, make sure you enter the confessional and it really is a priest.
Please just wise up, or grow up.
 
Limoncello4021 said:
Go to confession again. This time, make sure you enter the confessional and it really is a priest.
Please just wise up, or grow up.
Click to expand...
Given Scrupulosity is at play, that could be bad for him unless directed to do so by his regular confessor.
 
From the article quoting the CCC: 1450 “Penance requires . . . the sinner to endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction.”

So the disposition of the penitent, or how he is disposed, means his attitude.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top