Lent Penitential Service: Need Advice

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tepeyac
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tepeyac

Guest
Hello,

I’ve just joined this forum and I would appreciate any help forum members can give me. Tonight at my parish’s lenten mission the pastor gave a short description of a penitential service being held later this week.

He asked us to write our sins on a slip of paper to bring to this service. At the service we would line up and one by one each person would hand the piece of paper to the priest and say he was sorry. The priest would then say absolution over the individual. The priest said we would eventually burn these slips of paper but I didn’t quite catch when or how we would do this.

Our pastor also said that if someone felt he was somehow unable to receive forgiveness then that person could as for a blessing instead.

a. Am I right in feeling this is an abuse?
b. If it is can someone cite the relevant laws or documents or tell me where to find them online?
c. Could someone give advise on how to approach this topic with my pastor or the parish staff?
d. If I’m right but am ignored, can someone give advice on what to do next?

I would really appreciate any help you can give me.
Thank you.
 
it is not an abuse as long as the priest makes clear that it is not the sacrament of penance and reconciliation and does not communally absolve everyone present. If it is what you call it, a penitential service, that is a valid prayer method as long as the papers with the sins are burned immediately, but it is not confession. It sounds as if he is doing this because there are no other priests available for everyone to confess individually. If it is an extended opportunity for examination of conscience, preparatory to actually confessing your sins at the first available opportunity, it is a prayer service, but not the sacrament.
 
It was stated that the Priest would give absolution—this sounds like more than a penetential service.
 
I know this is explicitly forbidden, as I just read it in an official Church document very recently. For the life of me, I can’t remember where! This practice is not uncommon, and the priest at my daughters’ school is fond of it, which is why I took note when I saw it discussed recently. (I realize this is no help at all, but just to say, keep looking.) Your instincts are correct. Meanwhile, I’ll try to find the reference I’m thinking of.

olegraymere
 
Mat 6:5

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mat 6:6

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Hope this helps.
 
Hello,

Thanks for the advice so far! Well, I got the impression that this would be a kind of confession but I will ask tonight just to be sure. I’ve been to a reconciliation service before where individual confessions were preceded by a Liturgy of the Word and homily, but in that case there was an army of priests to give regular confessions afterwards. This sounded different. The priest even distinguished between people asking for forgiveness and those asking for a blessing. I’ll ask about it tonight. Thanks for any additional help.
 
Well, I asked the priest tonight and he said that yes, it would be confession but it would be a written confession. Those were his exact words. We would say that we are sorry as we hand the written pieces of paper to him and he would pronounce absolution. He said there would be too many people for individual confessions since he is doing it alone.

What should I do? I don’t think “written confessions” are permitted but it’s happening pretty soon on thursday night. If he goes ahead with it should I pursue it further? Thanks for any advice.
 
there are 3 rites for reconciliation, individual confession and absolution, communal penance and reconciliation services with a Liturgy of the Word, examination of conscience and individual confession and absolution following, possibly closed with a prayer. the third is general absolution and is valid only in emergency conditions such as war or natural disaster. There is no provision for written confession in any of the three rites. In fact that practice leaves itself open to the very grave abuse of allowing someone else to read what is written. the only exception would be a person who could not speak for whatever reason, and even in that case the paper should be destroyed immediately.
 
In accord with the law and practice of the Church, the faithful must orally confess their sins (auricular confession) , except in cases of true physical or moral impossibility (e.g., extreme illness or physical condition inhibiting speech, speech impediment, etc.). This disposition would exclude communal celebrations of the sacrament in which penitents are invited to present a written list of sins to the priest confessor. It should be noted that such innovations also risk compromising the inviolable seal of sacramental confession… (emphasis mine)

Circular letter to the bishops concerning the integrity of the sacrament of penance, March 2000

Whew! I knew I had seen this recently, but it took some digging to find it again. (via the Vatican website, also Women for Faith and Family) I might add that in googling, it is evident that this is a very widespread practice, but it is contrary to the norms of the Church.
 
OGM,

I am glad you found that. I saw it a few weeks ago but couldn’t find it today.

Tepeyac,

There is also Canon 964 that says that Individual Confession should be held in the Confessional. The service you are describing doesn’t seem to meet that either.

Since the service is tonight, I doubt he will change his mind even with you showing him the documentation. You should mention it to him, though. If he is concientious, he will let the assembled know that this does not take the place of a regular confession and that they should still attend one of the regularly scheduled confession times (your church has those, right?). If he does that and indicates that he will make changes for next year (or whenever the next time is) then I would let it go. If he continues to let people believe that this is “ok” or if he says he’s going to keep doing it this way, I would send a polite note to the Bishop.

The fact that you have gone to other Penance services with the approved format of communal service followed by individual oral Confession, would indicate that this is a problem with this Priest not a wide-spread abuse. He may just need a friendly reminder from his Bishop.

Good luck.
 
Thanks everyone,

Thanks OGM for the references. I can’t see how you can get around that.I will try to search for these documents online and print them out if I have time between work and tonight’s mission. If not, I will mention it anyways and see how it goes. I hope he (my pastor) takes this well. I get the impression he might not necessarily apreciate this. Thanks puzzleannie and kmktexas for all the advice.
Wish me luck!
 
Just a word of advice (from one who’s been there)

Before you whip out any documents—ask about the service. Ask why there will be no individual heard confessions (even though he has already answered this one) Mention your concerns, and say that you thought there were official norms for the sacrament, and this seems to be at odds with the Seal of Confession.

I think he has already decided what he intends to do, and has put the priority of number over valid or licit form(not sure which applies)

My question is would the penitents be absolved from their sins?
 
SuZ,

I don’t think so. The sacrament needs form, matter and intent for validity. In this case, form is completely missing. There is no allowance for written sins (except for the disabled). If this was a standard Type C general absolution, you might have a “probably” valid absolution based on the fact that the attendees didn’t know they weren’t supposed to do that.

But this sounds to me like Consecrating tortilla chips. It doesn’t matter if no one receiving knows that it’s invalid matter, it still doesn’t transubstantiate.

Maybe one of our clergy will chime in here. 🙂
 
Hello.

Oh SuZ, I wish I had read your post in time! I found OGM’s letter on the Vatican site and managed to print it out before work, but when I tried to check in between work and mass I couldn’t log onto the forum (d’oh!). So I winged it. Here’s how it went more or less….

I waited after Mass until I had a chance to speak to the priest. I already asked about yesterday so I could make sure I understood correctly. I told him I was worried about the reconciliation service because it was my understanding that written confessions are not allowed. He asked why and I told him I read about it on the internet. 🙂

He reassure me that it was okay and asked something like where did I read this or why would I think this so I pulled out the Vatican letter I had printed out and showed him. He said something like ‘you can read anything’ or ‘anybody can write anything on the internet’ and I told him ‘but this is an official document’. He seemed to dismiss it at first. On the paper I pointed out the passage, underlined, that OGM posted above on the thread. He read it and I read it aloud with him. I pointed to the words ‘exclude communal celebrations of the sacrament in which penitents are invited to present a written list of sins’ and read ‘exclude‘ aloud once or twice. He brought up mutes for some reason and asked how would they ever be able to confess and I said that those were extreme cases but otherwise this wasn’t allowed after all look this is an official letter signed by a cardinal.

He said something like what cardinal, anybody can sign something and say it was from a cardinal. So I flipped the pages and pointed Cardinal Medina’s name. I kept pointing to the Vatican URL at the bottom of the printouts several times and told him I could give him the web address. I pointed to the URL on the pages several time and I repeated that this was official, that it was from the Vatican. He now seemed to take it more seriously but then said he had already spoken or written (he seemed to have said both) with the bishop and said everything was okay, that he had permission to do this from the bishop. I couldn’t tell if he was referring to the auxiliary bishop in charge of our region or the archbishop. Since things started going back and forth at that point and he insisted he had permission from the bishop, I let it go.

He said I could always go on Saturday (when we have regular confessions at our parish) but I said I’d show up tomorrow anyway. I don’t mean to participate in the ceremony, just so that I can see what happens and attend Mass afterwards.

On the way home I wished I had left him a copy of the letter too but it all happened pretty quickly. I was nervous, and I didn’t want to get into a debate either.

I suppose I’ll have to write a letter to the bishop now, huh?

I think SuZ is right and decided what his priorites are all along. I bet he was surprised I brought this up let alone showed him a document. Thank goodness for you guys and the internet!

He’s the only priest in our parish right now so it will be impossible to avoid him.

Sigh I really don’t like this. I don’t like confrontation. I don’t like feeling the need to “correct” my priest, or maybe having to “snitch” on him. I don’t want to be known as “ the guy who tried to tell Father what to do”.

I’ll keep you posted and would appreciate any further thoughts and advice that anyone can give me.

Thank you very much.
 
Chances are that he might have gotten premission from the bishop but it still doesn’t make it right or valid. Do write him a letter expressing your concerns and quote the documentation in the letter. As for those who attended, their sins were not forgiven but the next time that they participate in valid confession they will be forgiven of those because they think that they are alrealy forgiven of those…not coupable anymore…
 
T,
Don’t beat yourself up—I think you did a good job, letting this Priest know that you are concerned, and with good reason.

NOw, what, if anything should you do now? Why don’t you ask the Apologists on this forum? That may be a good place to start.

Do you want to follow through and ask the Priest about the permission from the Bishop? Or ask the Bishop’s office (either by phone or in writing)? You could just call as ask a question about the service, and ask if the Bishop is aware and has given permission. (I would speak to the Priest again first)

There is a Q & A section on the Bishop’s site, but that takes a long while, if it ever gets answered.

How is this Priest about other matters? Any liturgical abuses? (Wine consecrated in flagons and poured after consecration, EMHC’s receiving with the Priest, or other norms mentioned in RS violated—)

You are in a very difficult position, as is your Priest. He is only doing this because of the Priest shortage. Pray very hard to the Holy Spirit, before you do anything.
LK21:14But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict
Click to expand...
 
Tyler Smedley:
Chances are that he might have gotten premission from the bishop but it still doesn’t make it right or valid. Do write him a letter expressing your concerns and quote the documentation in the letter. As for those who attended, their sins were not forgiven but the next time that they participate in valid confession they will be forgiven of those because they think that they are alrealy forgiven of those…not coupable anymore…
Click to expand...
Our bishop Kicanas 2 years ago? maybe 1 1/2 had several parishes calling or notifying the parishioners that they would need to come back for INDIVIDUAL confession and absolution once Bishop got wind that there were “general absolutions” granted at communal penance services here in Tucson.

Christ’s peace,
D in AZ
 
Hello,
I went to the mission tonight and it was interesting. He asked people to line up and approach him one by one. He was going to stand at a distance from the line and they were not to hand him the slips of paper. They would quickly tell him their sins and then he would give the person absolution using the simple formula. So I guess I made a difference despite what he said yesterday! 🙂 I completely expected him to go through with it too. He asked people to burn their slips of pater in a candle after receiving absolution anyway. I don’t know if this matters or not.

I also had questions about the rest of the night. The rest of the week the missionhas been a mass with a very long sermon. Tonight it started with the reconciliation service (Prayer, Gospel, Confiteor, Individual Confessions) followed by the (long) mission talk. The priest said this took the place of the penitential rite of the mass. After the misson tallk he gave the opening prayer of todays mass followed by todays readings, no homily, and continued as if was a regular mass (prayer of the faithful, liturgy of the Eucahrist, etc). However at the end and before the closing prayer he did the rite of sprinkling with holy water (asperges?). Isn’t that supposed to be at the beginning, in place of of the penitential rite?

I have to give him credit though, for going ahead and hearing the confessions of over 50 people. Maybe even 60 or more.

SuZ, you asked how he is in other matters. He hardly wears a chasuble, just alb and stole for mass most of the time. I’ve seen him combine the two offertory prayers into a single one for both bread and wine (e.g. elevating both elements and saying "Blessed are you God…for this bread and wine…etc) at least several times such as the Sundays of Advent. I’ve seen him change or add to other prayers too, often adding to the “Behold the Lamb of God…” for instance. EMHC’s are already in the sanctuary at that point but to be honest I’m not sure what are the rules for that. I think there have been other things too. A lot of it had already been bothering me before this confession issue came up.

So I’m unsure what to do next. Should I write to the Bishop anyway letting him now what the priest originally intended to do? Should I let it go now and be quiet since at least the priest didn’t have written confessions? Is the the form of tonights mass something to bring up? Should I bring up any of the other stuff?

Thanks for all your help!
 
T,

Wonderful!!! Perhaps this Priest is just overworked and discouraged. I would pray, watch and wait for a while.

Try to get involved, and compliment him on whatever you can. Something about the Chasuble when he wears one, or the inspiration of the Eucharistic Prayer wheh he says it in full.

I’m not sure how serious an abuse is combining the offertory–Are the words of Consecration exact? This is an absolute must.

He does seem at least a little open, so try to get a relationship going where he sees you as a help, not a spy waiting to catch him.

God bless you----good job!!
 
40.png
Tepeyac:
Well, I asked the priest tonight and he said that yes, it would be confession but it would be a written confession. Those were his exact words. We would say that we are sorry as we hand the written pieces of paper to him and he would pronounce absolution. He said there would be too many people for individual confessions since he is doing it alone.

What should I do? I don’t think “written confessions” are permitted but it’s happening pretty soon on thursday night. If he goes ahead with it should I pursue it further? Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...
If you want to attend this lenten service as a form of Penance and not Confession, attend but be mindful that it is not Reconciliation nor does this prayer service impart the Church’s absolution. If it were me, I would call the Parish and make an appointment to see the Priest to discuss this situation. Let him know that you are aware that this format requires that you go to confession again to confess these very sins that are written on a piece of paper but you are sensitive to his situation with the Priest shortage. Ask him if it would be helpful if you would call the Chancery to complain about the lack of assistance for such activities. Certainly, if our Priests would learn to team up in certain situations, one could have enough Priests to hold a Pentitential Service with individual Confessions.

In Connecticut, Priests from schools and other Parishes have assisted Parish Priests to make sure that there are enough Priests to allow for the full sacramental grace of Confession.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top