Is the seal of confession the same in the Eastern Churches?

[DL82]

I remember reading that some of the Syriac oriental Churches practice exclusion from communion for a fixed period after confessing certain sins.

I know in the Latin Church, a priest cannot give someone a penance that involves revealing their sin - so if someone was told to fast and not receive communion for six months that would not be acceptable, because then everyone would know they had committed a grave sin.

Does this happen in the Eastern Catholic Churches? If not, is this a difference from their Orthodox cousins?

 

[AlexPetrosPio]

I know in the Latin Church, a priest cannot give someone a penance that involves revealing their sin - so if someone was told to fast and not receive communion for six months that would not be acceptable, because then everyone would know they had committed a grave sin.

Not necessarily true. The action of fasting from the Eucharist does not logically imply that the person has committed a grave sin.

1. • Yes, a person is not allowed to receive Communion while in the state of mortal sin.
   • No, a person does not have to receive Communion when in the state of grace (except for once a year during Easter).
   If someone is fasting from Communion for a period of time, then it means a number of things:
   • The person is in the state of mortal sin and hasn’t gone to Confession yet.
   • The person has received a penance of fasting from Communion.
   • Though in a state of grace, the person is not in the right state of mind to receive (such as “going through the motions” is a good reason to reconsider).
   • etc.
   Seeing another person not receive Communion and coming to the conclusion that the person must have committed a grave sin is an assumption on the observer. The only way of actually knowing for sure whether the person is in a state of mortal sin, or if fasting from the Eucharist for a specific period of time as penance for such sin, is if that person admits the knowledge to the general public by his own free will. The act of not receiving empirically says nothing to the observer.

 

[mardukm]

I remember reading that some of the Syriac oriental Churches practice exclusion from communion for a fixed period after confessing certain sins.

I know in the Latin Church, a priest cannot give someone a penance that involves revealing their sin - so if someone was told to fast and not receive communion for six months that would not be acceptable, because then everyone would know they had committed a grave sin.

The seal of confession concerns not revealing the content of the confessed sin. If someone knows you committed a grave sin by your penance, that is not breaking the seal of confession because the sin that was committed has not been revealed.

Anyway, who here will deny that they have not gravely sinned. I sure won’t. Lord, have mercy on me, a great sinner!

Blessings,
Marduk

 

[Aramis]

It’s important to remember that there are non-sin reasons to refrain from communing…

• not having met the Eucharistic Fast
• not being of proper mindset
• having received already that day

 

[Tradycja]

To answer the original question, yes, the seal of confession is the same in Eastern Catholic Churches as it is in the Roman Church.

 

[Reuben_J]

The seal of confession concerns not revealing the content of the confessed sin. If someone knows you committed a grave sin by your penance, that is not breaking the seal of confession because the sin that was committed has not been revealed.

Anyway, who here will deny that they have not gravely sinned. I sure won’t. Lord, have mercy on me, a great sinner!

Blessings,
Marduk

Hi. How could someone know you have committed a grave sin by your penance? No one should know your sin by your penance. The only way for anyone to know that is when the content of the confession is revealed by the parties involved, that is, the priest hearing the confession and the penitent himself.

The principle is no one can know what is being confessed. People can know or see that the penitent have committed some crime(s) publicly but that does not mean those crimes may be the one he confesses.

We cannot assume what he confesses; it is between him and the priest (and God). For us to assume would be judgmental for it is a thing none of us should know.

By the same token, for a person who does not go for the Holy Communion would not mean anything either. It is entirely up to the person concerned whether to partake in the Holy Communion or not. There is a guideline for that, that is he should be in a state of grace, but even then he does not have to communion if he decides not, for reason best known to himself. On the other hand, there are people who communion in a state of grave sin, which is of course wrong for him to do so. The thing is, we on the outside would not know what is inside the person’s heart.

edit: we can reveal discretely the reason why we do not communion like saying, “I have just eaten before the mass” or “I missed confession yesterday”.

God bless.

 

[Zekariya]

Being seen walking out of the place where one received confession reveals that one has sinned. Knowledge that one has sinned is not a big deal, just don’t reveal what that sin was.