Limits on what a priest can say in confession?

[uglygal]

I went to confession and I had a very very disturbing experience. Some things said to me by the priest I can’t repeat because it was so foul.

Are there any boundaries on what a priest can say in the confessional?

Are there any avenues for complaint?

thanks

 

[kage_ar]

Priests are human, they can have a bad day and they can make mistakes.

If this is an associate Pastor, you could call and make an appointment to speak with the Senior Pastor.

You can contact the Diocese and request an appointment to speak with someone.

Someone at this foundation may be able to assist you st-joseph-foundation.org/

Another suggestion is to call the Apologists line at Catholic Answers and ask to speak to the Chaplain.

 

[LilyM]

I went to confession and I had a very very disturbing experience. Some things said to me by the priest I can’t repeat because it was so foul.

Are there any boundaries on what a priest can say in the confessional?

Are there any avenues for complaint?

thanks

Certainly any use of foul language is utterly wrong and out of bounds.

Explicit language (as opposed to foul language) may, in some circumstances, be warranted depending on the nature of the sin about which you are being advised. If a priest is advising you on sexual sin, for example, he may sometimes need to get specific.

I think the best thing to do first is to bring up the issue again with the priest himself before going anywhere else, if you haven’t already spoken to him about it since that confession.

He may indeed have simply have been having an extremely bad day (perhaps he had some very distressing news that you don’t know about which affected him or something? Perhaps he was unwell at the time?) In which case he deserves an opportunity to apologise in private.

Bear in mind, if you do take things elsewhere, that the priest is bound by the seal of the confessional even if you’re not. This means he actually CAN’T reveal or discuss what was said in that confession to anybody else for any reason. He can’t even speak about it to YOU again unless you give him permission to do so or bring up the matter yourself.

So it will be impossible to verify that he actually said what you say he said. This places serious limits on what can be done by any outside party, although general advice and warnings can probably be given to him since it does appear he was way out of line.

 

[Claire_from_DE]

This is an extremely disturbing post. Speaking to the Catholic Answers chaplain may be the best advice. In order to pursue this, uglygal would have to reveal, at least in a general way, what was confessed and, specifically, what the priest said. Even if there was a misunderstanding, the priest couldn’t explain. Yet, if the priest is at fault, she and others can be harmed. I’d like to know what really should be done in this case.

 

[bpbasilphx]

I went to confession and I had a very very disturbing experience. Some things said to me by the priest I can’t repeat because it was so foul.

And just how long ago was this? You recently said y ou REJECTED Jesus and the Catholic Church.

 

[puzzleannie]

This Even if there was a misunderstanding, the priest couldn’t explain. Yet, if the priest is at fault, she and others can be harmed. I’d like to know what really should be done in this case.

the first avenue is to make an appointment with the priest outside confession and ask for an explanation. if that is not satisfactory speak to his pastor. If he is the pastor, contact the vicar general of the diocese, or the priest in charge of clergy. every diocese has an ombudsman to handle quickly and properly all claims of abuse or misconduct by priests, and it will be on the diocesan website, or a call to the chancery will get you an immediate contact with that person. If that person happens to be your priest, call the bishop’s office directly, and say you have a complaint about a priest and you will get a quick hearing. If it is something that cannot be resolved at the diocesan level, there is a link above to the St Joseph Foundation, which assists Catholics who are being denied their canon law rights.

if the priest offended because he told the truth to the penitent about their sin, there is no abuse involved.

remember, the priest cannot discuss your confession at all, with anyone, at any time. only you can bring this up, giving all details, outside confession.

 

[Tietjen]

I went to confession and I had a very very disturbing experience. Some things said to me by the priest I can’t repeat because it was so foul.

Are there any boundaries on what a priest can say in the confessional?

Are there any avenues for complaint?

thanks

With all due respect to both uglygal and the readers of her posts… don’t be taken in by this stuff. Uglygal has been coming here for a long time now and making outrageous claims. Usually, it concerns Christ being evil or some such nonsense, but she certainly has no limits when it comes to bearing false witness against the Church. We should all pray for her, but don’t be taken it too far by her posts as their only purpose is to gain attention for herself (even negative attention is better than none at all).

 

[puzzleannie]

regardless of posting habits of OP, others asked question on how to proceed in such a case, so some answers may be helpful to them, and help to counteract inflammatory remarks OP has made here and elsewhere

 

[Jean_Anthony]

This thread is closed. Thank you all.