Not forgiven confession

[ralphinal]

I would think stealing might be grounds for withholding absolution. I can see a confessor instructing a penitent, to make things right to best of his ability before absoultion could be granted.

Meaning the penitent in question must return to the person/company he stole from to make amends, which could be the return of the item, restition, or just forgiveness from the person wronged.

But I don’t know enough to know if that is correct or not, but it would be consistent. If a guy stole his neighbor’s weed eater I don’t know how you get absoultion without going back to fix things. Along those lines, I don’t know if returning the weed eater annoymously, is the same as ringing his doorbell and coming clean. Someone marter than me would have to answer that.

My guess is a penitent would have to return to the confessional after making things right, to receive God’s mercy.

You are correct, not that I am any smarter than you. I just happen to know this one.

 

[Al_Masetti]

I can remember once a friend of the family being furious that the priest would not absolve him. The reason: incomplete examination of conscience. The penitent confessed to using the Lord’s name in vain. When asked to clarify the frequency (remember having to give number of times the offense was committed?), the penitent wouldn’t/couldn’t give a number. The priest asked him to prayerfully reflect on how serious the sin was and return when the penitent could answer as to frequency.

The priest was extremely reasonable.

If the person was unable to even approximate a number or give the priest some indication, then the priest might come to a reasonable conclusion that the person did not commit a mortal sin.

Or that the person was not serious.

Or that the person maybe had some other impediment.

Furthermore, the standard form for confession is simply stating the sin and some rough idea of the number. An exact number is not really needed.

An approximation could be “once a day” or “a hundred times a day” or “gees, father, every sentence; I can’t help myself”. Then the priest would have some idea of what he was dealing with in terms of the penitent’s frame of mind and “degree of sinfulness”.

Confessors want the penitent to be … well, penitent.

If the person says, “I have no idea” and is non-responsive even after some suggestions, gentle questions, and some nudging, then the priest has to question whether the person is serious.

So, he really wanted the person to go back and think about both the way he conducted his life as well as the format for confessing.

In my opinion.

 

[ralphinal]

The priest was extremely reasonable.

If the person was unable to even approximate a number or give the priest some indication, then the priest might come to a reasonable conclusion that the person did not commit a mortal sin.

Or that the person was not serious.

Or that the person maybe had some other impediment.

Furthermore, the standard form for confession is simply stating the sin and some rough idea of the number. An exact number is not really needed.

An approximation could be “once a day” or “a hundred times a day” or “gees, father, every sentence; I can’t help myself”. Then the priest would have some idea of what he was dealing with in terms of the penitent’s frame of mind and “degree of sinfulness”.

Confessors want the penitent to be … well, penitent.

If the person says, “I have no idea” and is non-responsive even after some suggestions, gentle questions, and some nudging, then the priest has to question whether the person is serious.

So, he really wanted the person to go back and think about both the way he conducted his life as well as the format for confessing.

In my opinion.

I agree as well.

 

[ralphinal]

I spoke to my priest about this last night. He mentioned some that I had forgotten. There are some sins that carry sanctions such as excommunication. One of these is Abortion. Typically, these sins can only be absolved and the sanction lifted by a bishop. They can be absolved by a priest, but the sanction remains, so most priests would not do that alone, as they cannot receive communion. In some diocese, the priests are granted the ability to do both (generally that is the case with abortion in America), but in most, they have to get the Bishop’s permission first.

So, if this is the case, the priest tells the penitent to retunr at a certain time after which they could get permission. In order to protect the seal, the priest contacts the bishop and says something along the lines of “penitent X confessed sin y” and then the ability to remove the sanctions is granted.

 

[ComputerGeek25]

I would think stealing might be grounds for withholding absolution. I can see a confessor instructing a penitent, to make things right to best of his ability before absoultion could be granted.

Meaning the penitent in question must return to the person/company he stole from to make amends, which could be the return of the item, restition, or just forgiveness from the person wronged.

But I don’t know enough to know if that is correct or not, but it would be consistent. If a guy stole his neighbor’s weed eater I don’t know how you get absoultion without going back to fix things. Along those lines, I don’t know if returning the weed eater annoymously, is the same as ringing his doorbell and coming clean. Someone marter than me would have to answer that.

My guess is a penitent would have to return to the confessional after making things right, to receive God’s mercy.

Hey BamaRider,

In a perfect world, I think this would be the case.

However, I don’t think a pentient can be bound (such as being assigned penance) by something that would directly cause harm (i.e. turn themselves in, return the money to the victim). But, they can suggest that a pentient make things right.