Is my uncle doomed (a priest told him his mortal sin was unforgiven)

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Inthse

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My uncle was refused absolution by a priest. Since then he has sinned freely, and when I admonished him he said he had no hope left because the priest he confessed to ‘bound him to his sins’. Is there still hope for him
 
??? Is this a serious question?
If so then please tell us more about it
 
Yes, there is hope. I am not sure of the priest’s reason, but it may be that your uncle was not contrite, or did not have contrition. The Catechism describes contrition as follows:
Among the penitent’s acts, contrition occupies first place. Contrition is sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.
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So there is hope. Is your uncle sorry for his sins? Does he intend to avoid sin? Is there a reason he cannot avoid the sin?

Your uncle should not give up! He should see the priest again and find out how to be reconciled, that is, how to have a right relationship with God.
 
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The priest refused your uncle absolution for a reason. Most likely your uncle did not adequately express repentance or his commitment to changing his ways, both of which should be part of one’s act of contrition. If your uncle really wants absolution he can get it, but he must be genuinely repentant. If as you say he has been sinning freely since he was refused absolution, then clearly the priest was right in his assessment that your uncle was (and is) not repentant.

But there’s no such thing as a priest “binding one to one’s sins”. One is bound to them by one’s own hardness of heart, not by a priest’s refusal to give absolution. As for hope for your uncle, it depends on him, and on God’s Grace.
 
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May I suggest that there is such a thing? If the uncle is lacking contrition, he should not shop around for another priest, but rather should see the same priest to be counseled again.
 
Beryllos said:
May I suggest that there is such a thing? If the uncle is lacking contrition, he should not shop around for another priest, but rather should see the same priest to be counseled again.
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I didn’t say there is no such as withholding absolution. Of course there is. I clearly said there is no such thing as a priest “binding you to your sins.”
 
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Thank you for clarifying that. I had assumed that the phrase “bound him to his sins” meant simply that he was refused absolution. The wording is unusual, and we cannot be sure that the priest described it in those words.
 
We have a brief description of a situation that is given to us third-hand, and we assume the priest was in the wrong?
 
Sometimes people cannot connect with a priest. Some priests are better at counseling people than others. None of us know the man’s sins or his heart. Another priest may be able to help him in a way that the first could not.

Are you suggesting that the man is in fact doomed? No one knows that, and there is always hope.
 
Your uncle needs to talk to the priest about this. And if what you are saying is true (about being “bound”). he should seek out a different priest. As you don’t have first hand knowledge of all the circumstances, this isn’t the place to discuss it. It’s open to too many interpretations and guessing.
 
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The only mortal sin that cannot be forgiven is the sin against the Holy Spirit. ( where one is in such despair they firmly believe they cannot be forgiven, their sins are so great). Jesus died a horrific death so that all sin could be forgiven. What else could He do for our sins that He had not already endured. Tell him to see your priest, but he must be sorry for his sin.

Unless he is living with a woman out of the sacrament of marriage. And will be committing adultery every night. That makes sense
Or, if he is an abortion doctor and refuses to stop.
These are the only instances I can think of where a priest could not absolve if the sinner will not stop this sin.

Am I making sense? Or did I confuse more?
 
Inthse said:
My uncle was refused absolution by a priest. Since then he has sinned freely, and when I admonished him he said he had no hope left because the priest he confessed to ‘bound him to his sins’. Is there still hope for him
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angel12 said:
There’s no such thing. Your uncle needs to see another priest.
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I’m guessing that these were the uncle’s words, not the priest’s. Jesus said, “those you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and those you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” It’s possible that the uncle, when absolution “loosing” was not given to him, may have afterwards referred to himself as “bound” to his sins, without the priest ever saying similar words.
 
I am not suggesting the man is doomed. I am suggesting there is a major misunderstanding on someone’s part. A priest telling a penitent that he is “binding him to is sins” is just not at all likely. What is more likely, but I really hate to speculate, is the priest tell the man “he is bound to his sins”. In other words the priest is not taking any action but determined in the confessional that the man is not truly penitent, ie he does not intend to quit some sin, and used words to that effect that were misunderstood.
But you are correct, sometimes people just do not understand a given priest or “do not connect” so seeing another priest might make sense. I read too much into your previous post, assuming you were suggesting there was a problem with the original priest. For that, I apologize.
 
Well he’s going to be doomed if he doesn’t stop what he’s doing.
Since you admonished him, he could have been caught off guard and embarrassed. It seems like he put the blame on the priest, which may not even be the truth. I would take his comment with a grain of salt since his lifestyle continued on the same.

Hopefully he finds the grace to regret breaking his relationship with God and has a good confession, and makes a firm resolve to continue in grace. The grace I wish us all.
 
You know the image of the Divine Mercy? Every day put him into the Divine Mercy rays in prayer and ask God to shake him up and bring him home.
 
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